Advice on settling credit cards and personal loan

Mstryhard

Hello,

I have been on a DMP for about two years (with the lovely CCCS) and their estimated debt-free date for me is December 2014. I have £5142.60 outstanding. I am soon to move in with my boyfriend and we have managed to get together about £3550 to pay off this debt.

Do you think it is likely that my creditors will accept a settlement even though they have been getting their regular payments through the DMP? I owe to (deep breath!) Barclaycard, Capquest, Credit Solutions, Metropolitan collections and RBS credit cards.

Clearly, I don't have enough money to pay the full amount- I have enough for nearly 70%. As we are just about to set up home, anything I can keep back from that £3550 would be really helpful. What offers can I reasonably make and/or would likely to be accepted? Is it acceptable to make a low offer and come back with another?

Any advice would be appreciated. I look forward to a debt-free future.
Many thanks

DVardysShadow

A quick calculation shows that if you put all of this money to your debt, and carry on paying at the same rate, you will be clear in 6 months. If the creditors do a similar calculation, they may not be too motivated to settle much below 100%. But if you don't try, you will never find out.

If you are able to save £3550, then I imagine you may be able to save even more than your DMP payments, so you could be clear of debt even quicker than 6 months even if you have to pay it all in full.

Mstryhard

Thank you-I shall try making them an offer and if they don't accept then I'll keep plodding on! My own budget is tight- I have got the money from partner and family so apart from that sum will not be able to raise extra to pay off more quickly, unfortunatley.