full and final/partial/satisified???

danjberry

Hi all, thanks for reading this to begin with.

A quick explanation is my dad has a couple of credit cards with outstanding balances, he actually lives in the US and find it hard to pay for these debts in the UK. Its gotten to a stage where i have made a couple of payments for him so have agreed to try and negotiate a settlement on the account. The accounts are in arrears and one is with a DCA now. I can afford to maybe go to 50% but will obviously start out lower.

The trouble im having is trying to work out the best way to do this and dont fully understand the reduced settlement process. I have read so many posts on here and it appears that you need to ask this to be a full and final settlement, first of all what does this actually mean compared with a partial settlement?

There is also a major worry on here about the comnpanies accepting the money but then selling on the balance! we will of course ask for this in wiriting before i pay them but Im finding it hard to see how they can sell this on. Is this when they word their acceptance as a partial settlement that still has a balance on your credit file?

Also why are the letters needed to be signed electronically?

Im sorry if this sounds a bit dippy but im just mainly trying to work out the jargon


thanls

Tixy

Hi

You need the written words in a letter to you that it is full & final to ensure the debt is fully extinguished and nobody will ever chase your father for the remainder.
Otherwise there are a number of instances of people being chased for the balance 5years down the line.

Ideally you'd also ask that the credit reports say show as fully satisfied as then other creditors wouldn't know that you had paid less. Some won't agree to this though and will only mark your credit report as partially satisfied. That could look bad in terms of your credit report but I guess how important that is to your Dad depends on whether he has any plans to get more credit in the UK in the next few years.

So its the wording on the letter that is probably more important than what they agree to write on the CRA. (Obviously that letter then needs keeping safe for at least the next 6years).

Hope that helps.