Writing off remaining debt, possible?

continualdiamond

Just after opinions please....

Currently in a DMP and have paid £14,050.33 off already with a estimated remaining balance of £9,344.13

We have only been paying £21 a month since February as my husband was made redundant then. He's back in work now, been working for the last month however has taken a considerable drop in wages, gone from earning just over £18,000 a year to now just over £12,000 a year as it's a minimum wage job, however we couldn't afford for him to be picky as he was offered this job by his friend and of course a job is a job, better than staying on JSA.

However I am now on maternity leave so now my wage has taken a considerable drop as well. I can't see us being able to afford to pay anything more than £21 a month, even if that.

Would creditors consider writing off the remaining debt due to what we've already paid in or are they likely to get very annoyed and send us bankrupt?

Don't know what else to do. I have a phone call with payplan on Oct 1st to update our income and expenditure but the expenditure bit is going to be difficult to work out in terms of cost involved with a baby being in the picture at that point.

sourcrates

Hi,
Unsure how DMP`s work in that regard, but my circumstances changed last year, and I was in an IVA, my creditors accepted all payments made to date as full and final settlement, paid 17k, owed 34k, so that was a good result, DMP`s not legally binding though, but you could try this tack if you have little hope of ever been able to clear the debts fully, they wont make you bankrupt out of spite, its all about there likleyhood of getting a return, suck it and see ?

continualdiamond

Thanks for sharing sourcrates, that's made me relax a little bit.

dancingfairy

It's certainly worth a shot. They probably wouldn't write the debt off but may consider full and final settlements. There is a factsheet on the National Debtlines website which is really helpful. It depends on how long you have been paying the debt off for and whether the debts are with the original creditors or whether they have been sold off to DCAs for a few pence in the pound.
Generally offers start at 30% of the remaining debt.
You might be able to settle with a few of them, probably best to start with the largest if you can.
In terms of getting any money for a settlement, well that is obviously a lot harder. Have you got any family that could help you out to get shot of this?
You can, of course push for the debt to be written off but many companies would probably rather get a small amount per month indefinitely than write the debt off I feel. This is especially true because you are not terminally ill or retired.
df

dancingfairy

I can't see that they'd necessarily bother to make you bankrupt (unless you flat out refused to pay them anything and they had reason to suspect you could actually afford to pay).
It would cost them time and money and they wouldn't be guaranteed any return.
Do you own your own home and does it have any equity in it?
If you have nothing of value then I can't see they would bother with bankruptcy.
Even if there was some money in your house etc, unless it is vast sums, again I can't see them bothering to be honest.
df

continualdiamond

I wouldn't like to ask family for money to settle, I'm not that kind of person, would feel funny asking. But yes like you said getting sums together would be very hard.

Yes we own our own place, but it has no equity in it at all.

Thanks for mentioning the website, will take a look.