What has been your best offer on Full Settlement % amount on Debt ???

Mr_Nice_Guy_2

Hello Everybody,

I have been reading this site for months and this particular post could be just what I need.

I wont go into too many details, but in short my Dad has a couple of debts, in good faith they were taken when he was working, but last year he was diagnosed with an ilness and can no longer work, as much as he would still like to.

Things have got bad financially and each month the support he recieves does not cover our outgoings, I am giving every spare penny I have to keep us a float but the 2 debts are worrying us.

The biggest is £5k, as we can no longer make the payements to the finance company they say we have defaulted and are demanding £8k, we tried explainig to them about the ilness and offered to make token payments, but they said in as many words, we want the whole lot paying now, the bloke was very agressive and ended the call saying he will get at us through the mortgage company, what the hell is that supposed to mean, and can they really talk to you like that?

As much as it angers me I am thinking could this full and final thing work out for us if i could borrow some money myself or scrape enough together to clear it? From what I gather, this could be an idle threat if they actually sell the debts on? it is the collections department who called so am guessing it is the same company.

I would greatly appreciate any advise from people who have been through this themselves.

Kind regards and thanks for reading.

Mr Nice Guy

thefoolonthehill

hi Mr Nice guy.

Please dont borrow money to pay the debt. this is never a good idea.

Get your dad to speak to the cccs or payplan. they will explain his options to him.

In the mean time write to the creditors and advise them that he can no longer meet the min payment but he will pay them x per month (even if only a pound). The people that you spoke to one the phone will demand payment in full immediately as they have targets to meet. this results in people trying to bully / scare people into paying what they cant afford

The most important thing for him to is to speak to someone from cccs, National debtline or payplan asap. Please dont use one of the fee charging DMP's

dubs1967

Keep the faith!!Theres some good people on here!:beer:

Mr_Nice_Guy_2

Thanks, thats quite helpful.

We have spoken to the debtline, basically they sent us a form, which we then sent to the finance company, it clearly shows that an overspend of over £100 occurs each month. They sent a letter back saying they reject our offer of 0p, which they obviously would and then said it was being passed to the collections people. Would they actually accept £1?

The thing that concerns me is the bit he said about getting at us via the mortgage company, i mean does this happen? and if so how please?

We went to the CAB today, which i have to be honest didnt seem much help, the one thing they did say was something about my Dad giving me the house as a gift? so the finance people cannot get to it? This is all above my head so if someone could explain it would be very helpful indeed

dubs1967

Mr_Nice_Guy wrote: »

Thanks, thats quite helpful.

We have spoken to the debtline, basically they sent us a form, which we then sent to the finance company, it clearly shows that an overspend of over £100 occurs each month. They sent a letter back saying they reject our offer of 0p, which they obviously would and then said it was being passed to the collections people. Would they actually accept £1?

The thing that concerns me is the bit he said about getting at us via the mortgage company, i mean does this happen? and if so how please?

We went to the CAB today, which i have to be honest didnt seem much help, the one thing they did say was something about my Dad giving me the house as a gift? so the finance people cannot get to it? This is all above my head so if someone could explain it would be very helpful indeed

They are probably talking about a charge on the property.According to CCCS they have take you to court,get a ccj against you and then apply for a charge on the property.This will not force you to sell but will be a guarantee for the DCA that they will(eventually)get there money.CCCS said this a common approach in the past 4 years.These things will happen to someone who in my opinion has ignored any impending doom.I think the offer of a pound will stop this route,as that is all you can afford!If it helps we are in the same position.Keep smiling and remember that CCdebt is non priority.:beer:

Mr_Nice_Guy_2

Hello again, and thanks for the information.

Initially I tried talking a woman at the finance company, we managed to make 2 payments, it then got to a point where we could not make any more payments, she advised to cancel the direct debit to avoid bank charges, since then it seemed to escalate at a stupid speed, it was passed to i believe collections, they called once and demanaded the money as i said and were rude, since then, Saturday we recieved a letter from a solicitor saying unless a cheque for the FULL amount is recieved in 7 days, proceedings will be instituted against you, this has me very worried, what exactly does this mean?

We have tried to talk to them but they litterally didnt want to know

This charge thing doesnt sound good

I guess the pound offer is too late? I know my Dad said to them bloke on the phone if he had £10 spare he would gladly give it to them, the bloke actually laughed and said they would not even accept £100

Should we call the solicitor or what do you think? I dont want to ignore it and make it worse

thefoolonthehill

Hi dont ignore it and dont call them.

write to them and advice that all you can afford to pay is 1 pound.

these people are rude and arrogant so dont be upset by what they say to you. they can demand payment in full - but they cant have what you havent got.

Basically by laughing off your offer they are just trying force your hand.

As I said write to tehm. advise you will not speak to them over the phone. if they call refuse to answer security questions or speak to them at all.

I am no expert on charging orders but as far as I am aware these only come into play if the house is sold. so if your dad has no intension of selling the house it is all a bit academic. Also I am not 100% sure they would go to the cost for a debt as low as your dads. But it may be adviseable to follow up on the CAB advice and put the house in your name. You can always change it back once the debt has cleared.

Mr_Nice_Guy_2

Thanks thats great help, how does it work putting it in my name? Is it really that simple as there is the mortgage to pay each month.

Do they ever really agree to £1?

DarkConvict

Even if they don't send it anyway is the advice i have read.

It shows if they do attempt court action, the judge will see you are trying to pay with all you can afford, or in your case more than you can afford.

Mr_Nice_Guy_2

Ok that sounds good then thanks.