F&F settlements not being accepted!!!

Hells84

have debts with HSBC, Halfax and MBNA, currently on a DMP (with a fee paying company, wrong move i know!!)

however i have been given some money of which i can pay off around 70% of all of my debts!!! i have sent them letters (a template i got from the nationaldebtline website) and all have come back saying they will not accept my offers

i thought that surely they would jump at the chance of this and i made it clear to my creditors that surely they would want the majority of their debts paid off considering its more than 50% and that i could pay them within three weeks.

so, i didnt get the answer i wanted from my creditors, so what do i dooooo?!?!


any advice would be great - just wanna be debt freeeee!!

DNW_2

How old are the debts and how long have you been in DMP? I think the older the debt the more likely creditors are to accept F&F but if they're quite happy with the repayments at the level you're currently paying, then they'll be less likely to offer hugely discounted F&F's.

How long left of your DMP as it stands currently?

Hells84

7 and a half years left!!! started DMP in january and it is with DFH (mentioned in a previous thread)

shall i just pay off the 70% and continue to pay my DMP plan til everything is paid off? MBNA are the only creditor who have frozen my interest so i am a bit nervous about never being able to get out of this cycle

xx

poppasmurf_bewdley

Did you tell your creditors that you had come into some money? If so, that may be the problem.

fatbelly

Also it's fairlry standard for them to refuse the first offer. The game is negotiation. They think if you're offering 70%, you can probably pay 100%.

Usual advice is to start at 25-30%.

Hells84

yes its all being used to pay off my debts, i thought being honest with them would have been the best policy, what should i do in that case, shall i write to them again asking for them to reconsider or just pay off the debts with the money i do have, and continue to pay the rest off via DMP?

is it worth giving them a call do you think? i just naively assumed as it was over 50% that they would accept it with open arms!!

poppasmurf_bewdley

Don't call, write.

When I was in your situation, I wrote to them one by one on the following lines:

"I owe u £1000, which I am currently repaying you at £1 pm over 50 years. I have managed to get a total of £400 which I am offering in full and final settlement.

If this is agreeable, then please confirm in writing. If not, I will continue with our arrangement."

Don't under any circumstances let them know you are offering more money to other debtors.

Hells84

thanks Poppasmurf, did that approach work? i did not mention any of my other creditors to each other so they will be kept in the dark about that, but i am eager to do something with the creditors that have not frozen the interest on my accounts!

thanks for all your responses thus far

xx

poppasmurf_bewdley

Hells84 wrote: »

thanks Poppasmurf, did that approach work? i did not mention any of my other creditors to each other so they will be kept in the dark about that, but i am eager to do something with the creditors that have not frozen the interest on my accounts!

thanks for all your responses thus far

xx

In most instances, yes. One didn't and I'm still paying them off at £10 per month on a £5.5k overdraft from NatWest that my ex and I ran up in 1992 (They didn't find me until 2001 but unfortunately it wasn't statute barred). I'll try again in the near future and offer them £500. If they don't accept it (It's with NCO Financial Services in Preston), then I'll just keep paying the £10, or ask them to reduce it to £5 as I'm now a pensioner.

The only thing I would say is don't negotiate. Tell them that's all you have and there is no chance of you getting any more