Do I qualify ?

coops024

Sorry to start a new thread but Can anyone advise me on the following:

A few years back I took out a consolidation loan :mad: for £15000 with A&L

Now as things stand this is the only debt i have (apart from the Mortgage :eek: ) and so far I have never missed a payment :A as I can afford to pay it

Now my question is can I write to A&L and ask them to settle for a lower amount or to freeze the intrest on the loan ?

The reason I ask is some people on these forums have mentioned that if you write to the creditor they sometimes do this ? or do you have to have an IVA or a DMP ?

If that is the case am I better off going down this route ? seing as I think my credit rating is currently in good health (as Ive never missed a payment for anything )



Sorry for the rambling

Emmzi

I think it will be a futile exercise. If it looks like they will get all the money back from you with no concessions, what's in it for them to give you a reduced settlement or lower the interest?

shamu95

Hi, i got aquote for a new loan for amount outstanding on the loan i already had then rang up my company and told them.
I now have a lower interest rate that equates to £70 less a month. Maybe that is worth a try?

coops024

Yeah I guess thats worth a try :rolleyes:

The worst they can do is say no ?

Does your credit score recover over time ? cos I could miss a couple of payments then ask for a reduced sum or frozen intrest ?

A friend of mine is in about £20,000 debt and after he went to the CCCS,they wrote to all his creditors and 3 of his smaller CC's wrote the debt off and the larger ones have frozen the intrest ... so he now owes less than me and wont have to pay intrest on what he does owe :mad:

He's also self employed and is on every tax fiddle known to man !:mad: :mad: :mad:

shamu95

I am no expert on this at all but i just wouldnt go down that route at all.-think ive heard that it takes about 6years to recover from and i personally would only do as a last resort.
Why dont you ring and ask for a settlement figure and search and see if you can get it lower elsewhere then ring em back with your findings-or make it up as they prob wont want proof. and no effect on credit score then

immoral_angeluk

coops024 wrote: »

Does your credit score recover over time ? cos I could miss a couple of payments then ask for a reduced sum or frozen intrest ?

Usually you have to be at least 6 months in arrears or the debt passed to a debt collection agency. Wouldn't recommend it if your rating is otherwise fine...

blackangeluk

If you can afford to pay it, why do you want to deliberately miss payments?

PigginSkint

Not a good idea in my opinion!

GettingThingsDone

Yes, coops - why? You took out the loan, you spent the money and you can afford to pay it back.

I'm assuming you're looking for a way to escape your responsibilities???

From a responsible DFW point of view, you could find how much A&L want if you were to pay the loan off in full now and shop around for a loan with a different lender for that amount. However, I'm guessing that that will be an expensive option.

Seriously, just try and think of all of the things your friend won't be able to do because he's cheating the system, and thank your lucky stars that you're in such a relatively good situation...

gtd

PigginSkint

(sorry - for some reason I managed to post before I was ready!!)

Not a good idea in my opinion! If you have a good credit score why would you wanted to jeopardise that by missing payments? Why not try to see if you can refinance it instead?

Burlesque_Babe

If you can afford to pay it, then you have to carry on.

If you deliberately miss payments, you would have to go quite a way down the road before they froze interest and by that time your credit report will be trashed for 6 years.

You will kick youself because you could well have the loan paid off in 6 years and have an intact credit file at the end of it.

You never know where life might take youover the next 6 years and you might want to move and get a new mortgage.

A trashed credit report will impact upon your next mortgage application and then in turn on the interest rate offered (ie an awful one)

I would say grit your teeth, pay each month (as well as overpaying if you can to clear even quicker) and thank your lucky stars you asked the question now before regretting keeping a few pounds in the bank just because you have a friend who is fiddling the system and you don't think it is fair. They will get their comeuppance at some point