Advice re final settlement

sassypie

Hi there, hope someone can advise.

For some time now I've been making higher payments to a DCA (Capquest) than my initial SOA required. I should pay a token £1 per month, but I've managed to rework various things over the (many) years and now pay £25/month.

My question is that I have now scraped together some extra money, which would amount to roughly 50% of the total debt. If I make on offer to settle with this, would they be likely to refuse on the basis that they would get more from me if they waited? (I know any offer has that consideration, but just wondered as I've been paying more?)

Would it be wise to say this is from a family member (which it kind of is, they've cut other expenses for me so I could save a bit)?

And has anyone had any special good/bad experiences of Capquest and final settlements?

(Apologies in advance, I'm not able to log on v often to check for replies, I'm not being rude!! )

Many thanks,
Sas

averageguy11

Ive tried a f/f with CAPONE recently and had no joy...u might hav a btr experience

never-in-doubt

averageguy11 wrote: »

Ive tried a f/f with CAPONE recently and had no joy...u might hav a btr experience

Capital One is the lender, they do not do deals - they want 100% repayment. The only way to negotiate a F&F is when the account falls into arrears and gets passed to an internal collections team or a DCA - if a DCA then better cos they buy debt for pennies (some as low as 8p in the £1) - if you have a debt with a DCA (like the OP does - i.e. CapQuest) then they should offer 20% of the debt balance as a start and then move to a higher value....

sassypie

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Capital One is the lender, they do not do deals - they want 100% repayment. The only way to negotiate a F&F is when the account falls into arrears and gets passed to an internal collections team or a DCA - if a DCA then better cos they buy debt for pennies (some as low as 8p in the £1) - if you have a debt with a DCA (like the OP does - i.e. CapQuest) then they should offer 20% of the debt balance as a start and then move to a higher value....

Wow never-in-doubt, would it really be worth a shot at offering just 20%? (I guess so, from your username! ) Whats the most likely scenario, they refuse and offer say 75% (which they already have, get real!!)? and then just haggle till we hit the middle?

I never considered a v low offer, I'd have tried around 45% first. Would it not look a bit odd if I claim I can manage 20%, but then can suddenly manage 40%? Don't want to blow it before I start!:o

But boy, that would be great!!!!! Thanks for the tip!

averageguy11

Just because someone will is the lender doesnt mean they wont do deals...I have done deals with MBAN and Barclaycard...however with CAPONE so far its a no no....ty have just passed me to a DCA...but as yet i havent been informed officially and until such event nothing is going to happen on this side of the fence

Tixy

Hi sassy, always best to start low. And yes its usually best to say the money is a gift from a relative that is only available to clear a debt (so maybe the relative agrees to lend a bit more if you meet in the middle)

- look here for info and a template letter - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers
you might want to add in a deadline date for them to accept the offer (say a couple of weeks or so).

never-in-doubt

averageguy11 wrote: »

Just because someone will is the lender doesnt mean they wont do deals...I have done deals with MBAN and Barclaycard...however with CAPONE so far its a no no....ty have just passed me to a DCA...but as yet i havent been informed officially and until such event nothing is going to happen on this side of the fence

Lenders do not do deals, why would they? Yea, on the odd occasion they will do but in general they don't which is what I was saying. Put simply, why would a bank accept 50% of the balance - if we all though about sending offers in then what would that mean for our banking industry? Thus as norm, lenders do not accept 'deals' - only DCA's.

So whilst you may have got lucky for whatever reason, generally speaking the banks don't do deals - they want 100% or they write it off as a loss and sell to a DCA. When the account is live, if they took a deal then the difference would come from that department profits - if they sell it as a bad debt it comes from the company profits within their write-off allowances.

never-in-doubt

sassypie wrote: »

Wow never-in-doubt, would it really be worth a shot at offering just 20%? (I guess so, from your username! ) Whats the most likely scenario, they refuse and offer say 75% (which they already have, get real!!)? and then just haggle till we hit the middle?

I never considered a v low offer, I'd have tried around 45% first. Would it not look a bit odd if I claim I can manage 20%, but then can suddenly manage 40%? Don't want to blow it before I start!:o

But boy, that would be great!!!!! Thanks for the tip!

Hiya - as Tixy says, start low (20%) and argue it for a few letters before increasing it - make it look as though that's all you have and you begged/borrowed/stole to get it - they will see this as a good chance to get something from you.

Then if you know they will not budge, you increase by 5% and argue for a few letters again - same process...... I'd say for a debt less than £10k you will not have to pay more than £2,500 if you do it right. Make sure you do not discuss this verbally - you must have it in writing confirming that the account will be closed/cleared upon repayment of £XXX (whatever you agree).

sassypie

Big thanks to Tixy and Never-in-doubt, I'm going to sit down with my calculator and work out what I can afford to pay them without putting myself in a stupidly skint situation (again). It really is so encouraging to know that if you've got a problem/question, SOMEONE on here will probably know what to do! :j:j:j