Full and Final offer - maybe

Hootie19

We have a 2nd charge on our house (came from a CCJ) for £4,690.87. We are repaying this at £35 a month.

We have just heard from my mother in law that one of my husband's relatives passed away. To her knowledge, this person had always said that he was going to leave my husband "a little nest egg". She thinks it could be around £3,000, although no specific sum was ever mentioned.

We'd really love to get rid of this 2nd charge (it's not our only debt, needless to say) so we wondered if it would be good or bad to write to the people administering the debt saying something along the lines of:

"it's possible that we may have some money coming our way, and we'd like to use it to pay off the debt. However, it won't be enough to pay the full amount, so would you be prepared to accept £3,000 as full and final settlement of the debt"

Or should we put the money towards paying off one of the (several) credit card debts that we have instead?

(The devil in me is almost tempted to post and say that we've decided to blow the lot on a holiday, but I know full well what kind of response THAT would bring lol)

Wonder_Girl

What other debts do you have?

Hootie19

This was an earlier thread of mine where I posted the debts.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=2785065#post2785065

Donedoingdebt

Personally, I'd wait until you actually have the cash in your bank as sometimes these matters can drag on for longer than expected. Your bargaining position will be stronger if you can make an offer of payment that you can follow up straight away.

CFC

You would probably be better asking your husband's mother to write and offer full and final settlement (but also consider paying off other high interest debts instead) as otherwise they'll be saying, "Cheers, we'll have that 3k thanks, and keep paying the rest of it off as per normal..." If a third party offers to settle it you might get more joy. I wouldn't hold yer breath, though.

But also, you're the naughty girl who thought about borrowing more money because your windows and doors were now just holes in the wall, insecure, and you are losing heat all the time....if it's really that imperative to put your windows and door right, or at least the door, perhaps you should consider whether it would be more cost effective to do that?

Hootie19

CFC wrote:

But also, you're the naughty girl who thought about borrowing more money because your windows and doors were now just holes in the wall, insecure, and you are losing heat all the time....if it's really that imperative to put your windows and door right, or at least the door, perhaps you should consider whether it would be more cost effective to do that?

GRIN!!!!


Ah, but I'm also the clever girl who took everyone's advice and opinions on board and *didn't* take the remortgage that was offered.

However, I did wonder if it would be more advantageous to get the doors/windows done. I'm not even sure that £3,000 would be enough (assuming of course, that it is £3,000. There's always a chance that it could be less, or even nothing!) would be enough. We had a quote from Safestyle which started off at almost £14,000 (guffaws) and ended up, when I kept telling him I wasn't prepared to sign on the night, at £5,000 for the whole house. My husband's friend works for a double glazing company and he said that realistically Safestyle's final price was probably a little bit on the high side. We don't like exploiting friends' employment though, so we haven't asked him if he could get us a cheaper deal from his own employers - although we might if it's decided to go ahead with this

Anyway, as I say, I did contemplate it, but from the advice and opinions I was given in my earlier thread, I thought it best to throw extra, unexpected money, at the debts (see - I do listen!) and thought that getting the 2nd charge removed would be the best bet.

What do you think then - yay or nay? Mother in law hasn't a clue about our debt situation and there's not a cat in hell's chance that we're going to enlighten her, but I could pass the money to a friend and ask her to write the cheque if clearing the 2nd charge would be the best option. What's the point of getting someone else to do it though??

p.s. sorry if this appears twice. I posted a reply earlier today but it seems to have disappeared into cyberworld!

Dan2779

Hello

If you want to pay some off your debts the 3 grand will take a considerable amount off your debts which I think would be the practical thing to do, however when you receive an amount which is unexpected from inheritence it is always nice to do something nice with it for both you and your OH.
That person has left you that money to enjoy, it would be a shame for it to be swallowed up by your debts.
You could treat yourself to new windows and then you would be able to see where the money went and it may add money onto your house so it would be a kind of investment.

It depends on how comfortable you are with your debt; repayments and time taken to pay off your debt.

Danielle

Wonder_Girl

My opinion is to leave the charging order alone, it's secured, it's not going anywhere, it's not charging you interest and they can't enforce anything else, this debt is at the end of the line.

However you have several other debts that are costing you a bomb in interest, can still turn nasty and pursue other forms of enforcement. my personal opinion would be to get rid of some of the others debts first, concentrate on these and worry about the charges last.

WG xx

CFC

The benefit of a third party offering to pay a debt goes something like this:

"Oh Mr £7000 Loan being paid back at 50p per week by Mrs Hardup, I am a kind and disinterested benefactor who has Dough.
I owe you nothing, but Mrs Hardup owes you 7 grand. Because I am a nice person, I would like to pay Mrs Hardup's loan off in one swoop. But I am also Not Stupid and 50p per week means that this debt will be paid off in 15 years time. As you are aware, inflation means that 50p per week in 12 years time is worth about the same as 5p now. I would therefore be taking that into account. My full and final settlement offer would be £3000 to clear this loan. You'd have the money in your hand next week. So what do you reckon, eh?"

As you can see, this works best with an unsecured loan because they have that uncertainty over whether it will all be repaid or not. You wouldn't tend to have much of a chance with a secured loan, cos they've got their beady little eyes on your house if you don't pay.

Yes, you were also the clever girl who didn't remortgage! As to new windows and a front door, you'd probably be able to get it done, or most of it at least, for 3k. Get a lot of quotes if you're wanting to pursue that line, and use your friend in the trade. Rip off merchants are rife!

Or if you can live with the windows, get a carpenter or builder in to properly fix the front door and door frame. That would not cost anything like 3k, more like 200-300. Your house insurance may be negatively affected in the event of a claim if your front door is not secure, so it may well be worth it if you think that a good push would take the door off the hinges.