Offers to DCA's

Colderado

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster.
I am approaching 30, and have realised I need to move out from home soon, so decided to see what damage I did to my credt record in the past, and had a look at all three of my credit records, to confirm who I owe what, how long ago etc.

My aim is to improve my record over the next year as much as possible to be able to get a mortgage, I am self employed, an really have been going from strength to strength with my small business, and hope to earn in the region of £35-45k for this current financial year. I have been trading for 3 full years now.

My past.....I was a bad student, and not much better after, it is only since becoming self employed have I become the best I can be financially. I have 4 defaults on my file, which is the worst of it, 1 is satisfied, the other 3 are still being chased.

It is about 3 years since the 3 remaining have been acknowledged, so a while off being stat barred.

I was considering paying them off over the next couple of months, well making an offer, and was after advice on what to offer on a one off payment.

My first debt is to Lowell, originally a Littlewoods debt, for £1048 that defaulted on 5th July 2010.

My second debt is to Cabot, originally an Aqua card, for £2519, although I am sure I never had a credit limit above £1500, and never let it get above £2000, anyway this defaulted on 2 Sept 2010.

My final debt is to RBS for £1395 which was an old student account. Defaulted on 31 Aug 2010.

By making these three 'satisfied' - will I see an improvement on my score, by a little, or significantly?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Col

mildredalien

You may see an improvement, however probably not massive improvements until the defaults actually drop off your record (which happens 6 years after they were originally registered).

It would probably be advisable to see a financial advisor to see what the chances are of getting a mortgage at this stage, whether or not you are able to satisfy the accounts. You could always rent for a couple of years while you wait for your credit report to improve?

I don't have any experience of offering a full and final offer, but my gut says start low and work your way up, they can only say no :P

Asbestross

Hi Colderado,

First thing I would do is get some formal CCA requests (see below) sent off to each of the three companies. If they claim you owe them money, make them work to prove that you do. If they provide these documents which they are legally obliged to do then you need to check these methodically to ensure all is sound, and that the outstanding amounts all add up correctly. DCA's are well known for adding substantial fee's and charges to accounts regardless of whether they can collect or contact has been made.

Dear Sirs,

Account No:

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days). You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request; the provisions of s.77 will apply.

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA 1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties.

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR). I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee and then remove the incorrect entry from your systems.

I do, expect the main actions to be dealt with, as matter of course, and look forward to hearing from you within the prescribed timescales quoted.


Yours faithfully
Print your name, never sign it

This will need to be sent to each creditor via recorded delivery with a postal order for £1 (can get from the postoffice and will cost you £1.50). They should also send you a full statement of account detailing any charges and interest that has been added.

Once you've received these, then you can start considering the next course of action.

What I would say also, is that Littlewoods are reknown for not keeping their paperwork up to date and usually do not provide a copy of the CCA to Lowell who will probably request it, but if they cant provide after 14 days you can legally put the account into formal dispute (which will ultimately lead to the debt being unenforceable and the default being removed completely, but we'll come to that later if it occurs).

As for a F&F offer, I would only make this once you are completely aware of any charges and interest. And also make it a clear condition of the F&F agreement that the defaults are removed completely, and not just marked as satisfied. If these debts are 3 years old with no prior contact you will probably get this accepted, but not guaranteed.

Hope this helps, and let me know how you get on

Ross

Colderado

Many thanks to the above posters, I will get these letters off and report back with results.
I had a satisfied default from 3 years ago, is there also a template letter to use to have a cheeky ask about getting this removed?

bargainbetty

You can ask about having the defaults removed, but it doesn't happen too often. If you reach a full and final settlement, you can have it marked as satisfied, but ultimately the default is a fair reflection of your credit history. If it was applied incorrectly, then you might have a case, but very often, they will not agree to remove it.

Sorry, I suppose it's worth a shot, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Colderado

Hi
Just revisiting this with a question and update. Three letters got sent to the people I owed to, with the letter above, and also to the company I had paid up to a few years ago requesting to remove the default.
A week and three days has passed, nothing heard, till tonight, I got an email saying something had changed on my credit report and to log in, so I did, I got the following details;
Previous Alert 1
23 September 2012
Addition or deletion of a credit account by CABOT FINANCIAL (UK) LTD
Hide

Name:
MR Xxx xxx
Address:
, Xxxx AVENUE, NG18xxx
Date of birth:
31/03/19xx
Company name:
CABOT FINANCIAL (UK) LTD Who's this?
Account type:
CREDIT CARD/STORE CARD
Started:
27/03/2008
Current balance:
Settled
Settled on:
02/09/2010
File updated to:
09/09/2012
Status history:
[] brackets indicate most recent months status
[ ] What's this?
What does this alert mean?
See how this alert is reflected in your report
Download a copy of this alert
Previous Alert 2
23 September 2012
IDENTIFICATION: GENERIC CHECK search of your credit report by EXPERIAN INTERACTIVE

Does this mean they have wiped the debt? Or just something else sneaky?

Also noticed vanquis, the company I had defaulted with, paid up but and requested its removal have also credit searched me today, is this a good or bad sign?

Thanks in advance

forgotmyname

Sold it onto the next DCA maybe?

They credit search you to see if your address is current and see if you have taken out new credit and worth taking to court for the full amount.

Or see if you have paid any debts off.

Not sure if its true, But i read the naughty ones sometimes randomly credit check you to lower your chances of getting credit in future.

Colderado

I was going on it now saying settled, as no new accounts are on my credit report, and Cabot have held the debt for a while.

Colderado

Sorry to bump this a little, its bugging me, I don't know whether to be excited or not, will they follow up with a letter, or just leave it?

Colderado

Just a minor bump again, if anyone can help...

Asbestross

Hi Colerado,

If they've marked the debt as settled without any letters in response; I would say they've sold the debt onto a DCA and merely forgot to remove the defaulted account from your credit file in the past. Just be weary though if this is the case you'll have another account appear on your file in the next few weeks by the DCA in question

I know it may be a tedious time but all you can do is wait to see if you have any notice of assignments via post over the next few days. If you're lucky they reviewed your account, noticed your paperwork wasnt in order and realised you're willing to fight it; hence cleared the debt. But the chances of that are slim at best, cross your fingers and pray time

Good luck