advice please re buchanan clark and wells full and final settlement

lauzt1987

Hi there. Looking for a bit of advice regarding a full a final settlement figure. We have a debt with Buchanan Clark and Wells for an old electricity bill. The debt is currently for around £200 and we are currently paying £23 a month to them.

We are now in a position to pay this debt and have noticed that there is a facility on their website to make an offer of full and final settlement. We want to do this but i'm concerned of what will appear on my credit file. Do they have to mark this as settled on my credit file?

Would appreciate any advice from anyone with similar experiences.

Thanks for reading!

costaerer

bump!!:beer::beer:

fatbelly

lauzt1987 wrote: »

We are now in a position to pay this debt and have noticed that there is a facility on their website to make an offer of full and final settlement. We want to do this but i'm concerned of what will appear on my credit file. Do they have to mark this as settled on my credit file?

The usual mark is 'partially settled'

It would be unusual for an electicity debt to appear on your credit file.

You are unlikely to give much of a deal when your payment plan clears the balance in 9 months.

lauzt1987

To be honest, we're not that bothered about the discount, we just want it paid off but obviously if we can settle it for less, that would be great. They are offering to accept 80% which is fine and I would pay it right now if I wasn't so concerened about my credit file.

Is the best plan maybe to write to them and ask if I were to settle what they would mark my credit file is?

Thanks everyone.

BackOnTrack

lauzt1987 wrote: »

Is the best plan maybe to write to them and ask if I were to settle what they would mark my credit file is?

Thanks everyone.

You are still going to have a default marked on your account so you may as well try and pay as little as possible. With things the way they are fully satisfied or partially satisfied isn't going to make any difference to the chances of you getting credit until it falls of your credit file, 6 years from the date it was added.

lauzt1987

Thanks back on track. A bit anxious now as I didn't realise that one small debt would mean I would get no credit for 6 years. Not interested in credit cards etc but a bit scared now that this will affect my ability to get a mortgage in a few years time. Seems disproportionate.

BackOnTrack

lauzt1987 wrote: »

Thanks back on track. A bit anxious now as I didn't realise that one small debt would mean I would get no credit for 6 years. Not interested in credit cards etc but a bit scared now that this will affect my ability to get a mortgage in a few years time. Seems disproportionate.

Well the default will be marked from around 4 months after you failed to pay your bill, not when the DCA got in contact with you, so it may be less than 6 years but yeah with how things currently are even people with good credit histories can have real trouble getting a mortgage. Best just to think about it as having a few extra years to save up a bigger deposit so you ge a better mortgage rate.

fatbelly

Is it on your credit file?

Have you checked Experian?

I'd be surprised to see it there

And the 80% deal isn't a bad one in your circumstances

lauzt1987

Thanks for the advice everyone! Only reason we have the silly debt in the first place was because e-on were sending our bills to the wrong address after we moved. Going to check my credit file and see if it appears.