Credit Card Settlement - How much reduction?

ezmok2

Sorry if this is already somewhere else, if so I must be using the wrong search terms as I can't find it!

Anyway, I've had letters today from a couple of my credit card debts offering settlement for a reduced amount.
I'm not in a position to do this but out of curiosity I rang them up to find out how much they were talking about.
One said they'd take £2700 for a debt of £4200 and one said £2900 for a debt of £3700.
However, both said they would be willing to accept an 'offer' from me but obviously wouldn't tell me how low they'd be willing to go.

So... my question is, how much have other people been able to get knocked off their credit card debts?
Just curious for future reference so if I ever can do it I know how low to go!

edinburgher

I managed to get 34% taken off one bill, but if the accounts are in default your credit history isn't going to be looking very good for 6 years, regardless.

Anecdotally, the worse you've been at making payments, the lower some of the credit card companies will settle for. I'd been making regular payments without missing any for years, so wasn't really able to negotiate much.

ezmok2

Not sure if I'm in the minority but I'm actually quite glad I'll have a bad credit file for many many years to come as it means I won't get in any more bother and it's stopped me from borrowing from Peter to pay Paul!

It'll just be nice to know that one day I can save some off the debts by paying them a lump sum (if I ever get a lump sum!) in the future as it's money that's better in my pocket than theirs

edinburgher

Not sure if I'm in the minority but I'm actually quite glad I'll have a bad credit file for many many years to come as it means I won't get in any more bother and it's stopped me from borrowing from Peter to pay Paul!

Yeah, you probably are. I've been putting off buying a home for over a year because of my credit report (steadily improving) and regret defaulting, as my life is entirely different now. Still, can't change the past!

DNW_2

ezmok2 wrote: »

Not sure if I'm in the minority but I'm actually quite glad I'll have a bad credit file for many many years to come as it means I won't get in any more bother and it's stopped me from borrowing from Peter to pay Paul!

Minority maybe, but I'm part of that minority club I know I can't be trusted with, and don't ever want any form of credit (apart from the mortgage, but not planning on moving in the forseeable future) ever again. I doubt I'd ever be offered credit again either, but even if I was I wouldn't want it! It's taken me a very long time to have my true LBM, but now that I have there's never any going back.

ezmok2

Exactly the position I'm in DNW - never ever again!!

And as for the true LBM, that was a few weeks ago when I had a charging order hearing rapidly approaching and when I actually sat down and put all my debts in a spreadsheet it's actually 23K (not including the mortgage) not 12K as I thought!