Here we go!

sHAYM4N

Hi guys & gals, after saving up, and a lump payment to me, I'm now in the position to go debt free! At 29 this is the first time since I was a teenager I've got the chance to go back in the black, and its a good feeling but... got the hard work to do in about 10 mins... thought I'd start a quick thread to show how this goes.

My total debt is around £5,500 and with 4 DCA's (need to track which ones - these things have been sold on more than times than Nicolas Anelka). They originate from the following

Northern Rock Loan £3,100
Cahoot Loan £1425 or £1100*
Egg Credit Card £590
Tmobile unpaid bill £350

The Cahoot loan is a strange one - I had previous agreements with the DCA's and the balance went down to £1,096 then jumped up to £1425 later down the line when it was transferred to Santander? Will certainly be questioning this one.

I've had offers for up to 70% discount previously so gonna fight for what I can get. Based upon the offers, I've roughly estimated a £3000 outlay which is my target - and would be over the moon with. Whilst I know the debt is no-ones fault other than my own these DCA's and their actions made me put on my stubborn head. I got in this mess alone so will get out of it alone - I've saved the dosh rather than any agreements, because in the past - they up the payments, change companies still call you continuously & I've preferred to deal with this myself.

I know how these calls often go, and I'm shaking at the thought of it tbh - I shall have to bite my lip if things aren't going my way - shall remain polite as ever

sHAYM4N

..gonna hang fire. Still talking solid amounts of cash and obviously I want this in writing, so gonna call the CCCS first for a little advice.

I'm wanting to clear this off my report & hopefully help fix my credit rating as quickly as possible - so need clarification from them as well about whether its partially settled or settled in full with any discount.

Originally I had intended to call and play them off against each other, but I can hardly trust the value of a phone conversation.

sHAYM4N

Ok, gone through the motions with CCCS, and wasn't really what I wanted to hear, but that's down to my circumstances a bit complicated.

Basically I've taken redundancy in my job, so technically unemployed between now & setting up my own business, since I can't set up a budget with them & technically still unemployed - debt is not a priority so token payments of £1 should be sent. Appreciate their help, but I've been saving to clear this debt and my outgoings at the moment are so low - may never have this opportunity again. My redundancy figure was bumped during application & along with my savings - I can't help but think now's the time to clear this... so..

Just called 1st Central, and they've accepted a settlement offer of 70% discount so £3,100 becomes £978. Will be marked as partially settled, but hey ho - my own fault, and I don't think it's worth over 2k to have it fully cleared.

They're emailing the offer to me now, will make sure I get the settlement confirmed before payment.

sHAYM4N

After about 15 calls thats another one at discount, Barclaycard (Egg) played the cards & got roughly a 60% discount. £590 down to £323, first one to be settled yay! I like this

Recieved the email from 1st Credit (not Central) re their offer and that was £928 not £978 so thats a huuuge discount, they're calling back today.

Even if the remaining two now only accept the full balance, I've hit my target of £3000

Hoping to eventually raise my rating so I can look at a mortgage someday.

Can't complain, only slight concern is how badly does it affect your credit rating having partially settled, instead of fully settled? Surely not enough to warrant paying double?

SusieT

Well done, once you get these paid off the others will see that you have got good discounts and should follow.

Only thing to be aware of is that if you are out of work for a while the DSS or jobcenter or whatever they call themselves will take the redundancy payment into account before you get benefits so worth keeping that in mind as you may be needing money to live on. Well done in trying to clear them, and by the time you save enough for a deposit on a house the markers should be old enough to have less impact on a mortgage decision.