Settlement Offers - Anyone with any experience?

100mel

Anyone with any experience of making any settlement deals with a DCA? What kind of % do they accept if any?

Any advice and experiences welcome

Mel

Tixy

There are lots of cases of full & final settlements on here.

The percentage accepted will vary depending on how long they have held the debt, how high (or specifically how low) your monthly payment is, whether you have done a CCA request (to check whether they have a legally enforceable credit agreement), and whether the debt is statute barred.

Typically a DCA may accept as little as 25%-40% if there is no compliant credit agreement. If they do have an agreement then it could be 40%-60%. Some will state they will take no less that 80% but people have often found that persistance and time can pay off.

If you are putting together such an offer then start low as you can always go upwards. You need to get them to put in writing that neither they nor anyone else will chase you for the remainder of your debt - and that your credit agreement should be marked as satisfied - a fact sheet and template letter can be found here http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers
(although it is a good idea to ammend the letter to say that your offer is only available until Xdate (around 3weeks from the date of your letter)).

If you haven't yet requested a copy of the CCA then it may be worth doing this first, as it can give you more negotiating 'power' with the DCA http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11636295&postcount=8

Finally - Has there been a period of 6years where no payments were made against this debt (or 5years if in Scotland)? If so the debt may be statute barred and you would not need to pay it at all.