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Clearing Outstanding Debt Help, Please

god.of.chaos
Posts: 9 Forumite
Hi all im a newbie here, i think this forum is exceelent and i have learned so much over the past week or so, but now i am looking for some advice about the situation i am in with regards to clearing an outsnding debt i have.
The debt i have is £5421.40, i have been paying this debt off at £5 a week since september 2003, the interest has been frozen on the debt since then also, i am now in the position where i am able to clear this debt so i dont have to worry about paying it for the next 1084.28 weeks. :eek: . So i gave them a call to offer them a percentage of the debt to clear it completely, i had around 40%-50% in mind (probably a bit cheeky i know but you dont get if you dont ask!), i asked if they would accept a settlement but she told me that they would accept nothing exept the full amount of £5421.40, because the interest had been frozen since september 2003, interest came to £1900.??, but i dont have to pay it. is there anything at all i can do to, to try to get them to accept a lower amount as a settlement? i dont have a lot of knowledge when i comes to things like this so any advice would be greatly appreciated :A Many thanks
The debt i have is £5421.40, i have been paying this debt off at £5 a week since september 2003, the interest has been frozen on the debt since then also, i am now in the position where i am able to clear this debt so i dont have to worry about paying it for the next 1084.28 weeks. :eek: . So i gave them a call to offer them a percentage of the debt to clear it completely, i had around 40%-50% in mind (probably a bit cheeky i know but you dont get if you dont ask!), i asked if they would accept a settlement but she told me that they would accept nothing exept the full amount of £5421.40, because the interest had been frozen since september 2003, interest came to £1900.??, but i dont have to pay it. is there anything at all i can do to, to try to get them to accept a lower amount as a settlement? i dont have a lot of knowledge when i comes to things like this so any advice would be greatly appreciated :A Many thanks
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Comments
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Put it in writing instead.
Try https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk and they have lots of templates for letters as well as a template for offering a settlement figure. Getting my info from these boards, companies appear to sometimes accept offers at around 75/85%, so maybe they thought 40% was a bit derisory?
If you put it in writing, then its highly unlikely that the person who answered your call will open the post too, and it makes your offer much more serious.0 -
Mind you - I've just read another thread who says that they've known offers to be as little as 10%!!!!!0
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hi thanks i will take a look thankyou, i didnt actuall get the chance to make an offer i just mentioned the words settlement figure and they told me straight that no offer at all would be accepted.0
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If you are in a position to clear the debt, why are you only making an offer of 40-50%?:snow_grin"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........":snow_grin0
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ceegee wrote:If you are in a position to clear the debt, why are you only making an offer of 40-50%?
even though i am in the position to pay it off i would still like to save a little and pay a reduced amount as anyone would in my position.0 -
What about a sense of responsibility? Did you run up these debts or did someone do it for you?:snow_grin"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........":snow_grin0
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god.of.chaos wrote:even though i am in the position to pay it off i would still like to save a little and pay a reduced amount as anyone would in my position.
Now whilst I can understand your logic I think you were being abit cheeky.
If you can pay up, pay up.2014 Target;
To overpay CC by £1,000.
Overpayment to date : £310
2nd Purse Challenge:
£15.88 saved to date0 -
Surely your credit rating will look a lot better if you pay it off in full, thus entitling you to the moral high ground and also better credit deals/mortgages etc in the future?
Whilst I have every sympathy for people who are in debt and struggling to get out of it, you seem like a bit of a freeloader to me! Pay it off and have the satisfaction!0 -
When we were in troubles about 3 years ago and had to sell house etc etc to repay debts, several lenders let us pay our debts off with discounts for the lump sum amount (negotiated by our solicitor). However, one did'nt which were already paying off at £30.00 a month with the interest frozen. Just paid off the last instalment in February and we feel great! Still have a big credit card bill but that is the last thing left of our life in the mire - slowly climbing out but it does feel great when you eventually pay these debts off - however if you have the lump sum just pay it!0
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If they've frozen the debt and saved you £1900 I'd pay and get rid, they may say if you are angling for a settlement that they want the interest as well! Worth asking for a discount but you've already had a good one!:D0
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