full and final settlement

luckycat99

Hi Guys,


I have a debt of £387.18 with Freemans that has been passed to Moorcroft Pre Court Division. They've been pestering me for money and instead of sending my financial statement (where I would end up being told by some snotty so-and-so that I need to cut outgoings and justify every penny to her - this has happened before!) I asked for amount required for full and final settlement. After a bit of haggling i got it down to £290.38 - which is more than I wanted to pay - but acceptable.

So the guy on the phone asked me if I would pay it there and then, but I said that I would not pay anything until I had a letter from them confirming that they would accept this as full and final and would not chase me for remaining amount. So I should be getting this in the next few days.

Is there anything in particular I should look out for in terms of wording of their letter - I don't want to get the letter and then pay them, if their wording was ambiguous or maybe if they phrased it in such a way that they were expecting me to pay the rest too.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ta!

jessicamb

Well done on getting the F&F - why not copy the letter onto here when you have it and we'll pick out any holes in it.

scott_lithgows

Freemans are evil,they put a 6 year black mark on my wife,s credit rating making it impossible for her to get credit.Her crime to recruit a customer (as they ask you to do)this one however didnt pay for her goods.Freemans were kept informed to who was not paying but it still ended up with a court notice for the wife,even though her dad paid this before it went to court,freemans still put the black mark on her credit rating.This was 3 years ago since then her wages have doubled but she still cant get car loans,credit card etc,we can get a mortgage but cant get a loan to buy carpets etc.We,ve still got 3 years to go of this,so my advice would be to pay off balance and tell freemans to f!!k off.

luckycat99

Thanks jessicamb I think I'll do that.

When I pay them do I need to ask them to remove the default from my credit record or anything - so that it shows as settled - I know it will stay on my credit record til after 6 years of default, but I want to improve my credit rating.

Thanks

james32_uk

Scott, obviously cant tell without a lot more detail but this doesnt sound right. Have you tried speaking to a credit agancy about this?

in_my_wellies

I really can't see the problem. Presumably you ordered and received the goods and knew how much they were. Now you have to pay for them. Why are you asking them to reduce the price - or have I missed something here? Is this what everyone does? Is this why the goods are always so expensive? Why do you expect the cost of the goods you bought to be subsidised by everyone else?

davesgirl_2

hi, luckycat99 i just settled a debt via moorcroft lat week only £30 off it (wish i had of haggled for more but it was my first time) anyway they were really nice and the chap said that he would send a reciept in the post along with comfermation that the amount was settled

Broken_hearted

Anybody who can a deal with Moorcroft has my respect all the y give me is a headache and a lot of abuse.

scott_lithgows

james23_uk wrote:

Scott, obviously cant tell without a lot more detail but this doesnt sound right. Have you tried speaking to a credit agancy about this?

Yeah have but just been banging our heads against a wall,the defaulter declared themselves bankrupt and the debt came back to the wife looking for immediate payment.It,s not a impossible problem as this all happened just when we started going out together,i already had a mortgage so it just means we save up for everything now(way i,ve always done it anyway) and any company which annoys me,Freemans,Abbey etc gets the account closed,but i do know that others arent in such a strong position,so my attitude is still pay the money and close the account in this case.Freemans make their money through agents,so if they dont have agents..........

Macduff_3

in_my_wellies wrote:

I really can't see the problem. Presumably you ordered and received the goods and knew how much they were. Now you have to pay for them. Why are you asking them to reduce the price - or have I missed something here? Is this what everyone does? Is this why the goods are always so expensive? Why do you expect the cost of the goods you bought to be subsidised by everyone else?

Companies are willing to accept reduced lump sums as Full and Final settlements as they will recoup the cost of the goods/loan/service with bit left over as they just resign themselves to losing a bit of the interest on the debt.
Most creditors will accept around 70% of the balance as a F&F settlement and some (mainly credit card companies) will accept less as they would rather lose the interest than have the debt paid in installments.
That is why some companies will send you 'one-off settlement offer' letters, giving you a decent reduction if you pay in full within 7 days. For most people these offers aren't feasible but they are a good deal if you have access to the money.
The goods are not expensive because of people not paying the full balance - the goods are expensive because the companies like to make a vast amount of profit.:eek:

Macduff_3

luckycat99 wrote:

Is there anything in particular I should look out for in terms of wording of their letter - I don't want to get the letter and then pay them, if their wording was ambiguous or maybe if they phrased it in such a way that they were expecting me to pay the rest too.

What you need to look out for is the offer to register the debt as satisfied with credit reference agencies. A lot of creditors will accept a payment as settlement of the account and not chase you for the remaining balance but they will not register the debt as satisfied on your credit file, therefore not really helping at all. :mad:

If they offer to register it as satisfied, make sure you get a letter from them confirming that the balance is £0. Wait a few months (it can sometimes take a while for info to get to Experian et al) then get a copy of your credit file. If it is not registered as satisfied you can send a copy of the letter to Experian (or whoever) and they will update your file.:D