Interest written off. Is this possible?

Bolty

Hi all.

I was wondering if anyone has had an success in writing off the interest on a credit card debt?

I defaulted on a credit card back in Feb 2008 and have been on a payment arrangement ever since. I have been offered a full and final settlement of approximately £4,500 on a debt of £6,000. In exchange they agree to clear everything but my credit file is shown as "partially satisfied".

I was made redundant in Feb 2007 and simply couldn't afford to make the full monthly payments. In the 12 months leading up to the default I was charged approximately £2,100 in interest and penalties. When the default was lodged they stopped interest charges which was a big help.

My question is... does anyone have any experience of getting a credit card company to refund/write off some of the interest charges in the past? My thinking behind this is that if I could get them to write off say £1,500 of interest this would leave me with a balance of £4,500 which I could pay in full. This would in turn be shown as fully satsfied which I guess looks much better on my credit file.

I know it is a long shot but would be interested in your views.

Thanks.

zppp

Bolty wrote: »

Hi all.

I was wondering if anyone has had an success in writing off the interest on a credit card debt?

I defaulted on a credit card back in Feb 2008 and have been on a payment arrangement ever since. I have been offered a full and final settlement of approximately £4,500 on a debt of £6,000. In exchange they agree to clear everything but my credit file is shown as "partially satisfied".

I was made redundant in Feb 2007 and simply couldn't afford to make the full monthly payments. In the 12 months leading up to the default I was charged approximately £2,100 in interest and penalties. When the default was lodged they stopped interest charges which was a big help.

My question is... does anyone have any experience of getting a credit card company to refund/write off some of the interest charges in the past? My thinking behind this is that if I could get them to write off say £1,500 of interest this would leave me with a balance of £4,500 which I could pay in full. This would in turn be shown as fully satsfied which I guess looks much better on my credit file.

I know it is a long shot but would be interested in your views.

Thanks.

It may be possible for you to make a full and final settlement. Just be aware that there are pitfalls if not done correctly. Here is a factsheet from National Debline which guides you through the process.

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers

Expect negotiaton. I would suggest offering about 30% of the amount and negotiate with the DCA from there.
It may be possible to put within the offer of settlement that it must show a full settlement as opposed to partial (although this is a long shot)

Bolty

Hi , thanks for your quik reply. I was hoping I could avoid the full and final settlement route if I could get the Halifax to agree to write off some of the interest charges. I would then simply pay the full balance after the interest had been written off.

I suspect this isn't an option but worth a try.

I have been reading several threads about making a full and final offer and from what I can see you have to be very careful to do it correctly.

Thanks for posting the link. I will make sure I use it if I have to make an offer.

Cheers.

stephane_2

Even if they agree to reduce the interest....you already have a default which will stay on your file for 6 years and which they won't certainly remove...your file is already trashed