Full and final settlement offer

emweaver

I am considering making a full and final settlement offer to the companies I owe money too. Some are with debt collection agencies, so I was wondering do I make the offer to the agencies or the company the debt was originally with?

Also, does anyone have any experience of making a final settlement offer as Im worried they might reject it.

Tixy

Have you read the national debtline factsheet on making F&Fs. You usually would make them to whoever is chasing you for money, so if you have been paying a DCA then make the offer to them.

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

Best advice would be to start your offers low, so that if you need to and can afford to you can negotiate up a little. Don't accept their first counter offer to you - you can almost always get them to come down from that.

emweaver

I made an offer to Barclaycard but they wont take less than 70% .

Tixy

emweaver wrote: »

I made an offer to Barclaycard but they wont take less than 70% .

Did you make the offer in writing?
Is this an account you have arrears on?
Does the account have a default registered on your credit file?
Have they frozen interest & charges on the account?

Generally the best settlement offers are obtained on debts that have been sold to third party debt collection agencies and when the debtor is only able to afford low monthly payments.

emweaver

yes its in arrears and im sure it has a default as been making low monthly payments on it for over a year. All interest and charges have been frozen.

Tixy

Did you make your offer in writing? what amount did you offer them first?

Scotty_Dog

Who was the DCA involved? Reason i ask is that I made a F&F offer to Lewis Group for a Barclaycard debt (on a CCJ) and they just flatley rejected it saying their client didn't accept offers. Pay it all or carry on with the monthly payments for the next 4 years. Wondering if i have the monkey or the organ grinder at the DCA.

emweaver

Tixy wrote: »

Did you make your offer in writing? what amount did you offer them first?

I started low at 35%

emweaver

Scotty_Dog wrote: »

Who was the DCA involved? Reason i ask is that I made a F&F offer to Lewis Group for a Barclaycard debt (on a CCJ) and they just flatley rejected it saying their client didn't accept offers. Pay it all or carry on with the monthly payments for the next 4 years. Wondering if i have the monkey or the organ grinder at the DCA.

Its still with Barclaycard not a DCA, its one of the few still with the original company.

Maybe they cant take a F&F because its a CCJ?

Scotty_Dog

My recent experience is that people will settle on a CCJ. The main difference is that debts will get sold on typically for between 6p and 10p in the pound for it. In theory, anything more than that they can get is a profit. I started on offers at about 40% and settled at between 50% and 80%. Seems easier to settle if the amount is larger. Also, my first offer was rejected by everyone. As though they expected a counter offer. One rejected an offer and said 80% minimum. I said, sorry, can't do that. Week letter they wrote to me offering 70%. In many ways it's all a game with high stakes.....

emweaver

I certainly can't afford more than 50% unless a few do take my original 35% offer.