cutting a deal with debt collectors?

gascat

ill try and keep the story as brief as possible, around 2005 or so i had a bill come out of a lloyds account which took my account 2p overdrawn, for that lloyds hit me with a £30 charge, i was not happy, so i went in to try and argue the point, i was kept waiting for the manager for over an hour then sent home with a promise he would call me before the day was out, which he never did, young and hot headed at the time my attitude became "if its not important enough for them to even talk to me then screw them" i got another bank account and just ignored the ever increasing charges and letters etc, eventually it got sold on to a debt collector (Lowell portfolio)

it still stands on my credit record as a £432 default, now im trying to clear my record of this one black mark, i know the actual real debt in that is 2p and that collectors usually buy debt for pennies on the pound, so what im wondering is if they would likely be open to taking an offer of say £100 just to get the default cleared, has anyone ever attempted a similar sort of thing? if so how would i go about about making them such an offer and does my offer seem fair?

also for info ive never had any contact from this company at all, the only way i know they own the debt was by checking my credit report.

any advice is greatly appreciated

BillJones

How is the real debt only 2p? Are you claiming that the charges are illegal?

Tixy

If you have only recently checked your credit file then you may find that the debt collectors will now write to you.

It is certainly possible to get reduced full & final settlements accepted by debt collectors and circa 25% of the outstanding balance may be possible.

If you are paying a reduced sum make sure you get written confirmation from the debt collector that it is full & final settlement of the debt (national debtline has a good factsheet and template letters on full & finals)

Monkeyballs

So this is from 9 years ago? Have you during any of that time acknowledged the debt to be yours or paid anything towards it?

MB

gascat

@BillJones

well done! you made me not want to even come back here, thanks for that! im not interested in dragging up the past but if you want my honest opinion legality isnt my concern, i attempted to make it right and have a discussion at the time but i was blanked, they could have had their damn 2p, i would have even paid them a quid but 30 was taking the p*ss, but that is irrelevant, it was years ago.

but seriously well done on digging into a new user, great way to welcome people to a community. i think i explained the situation well enough in the OP if you cant understand it or dont want to help please move on and keep your nit picking and trolling to yourself

@Tixy

Thank you for a proper reply

@MonkeyBalls

no not at all, i havent spoken to them at all since that day, i dont know exactly when the letters stopped coming as i moved soon after, id honestly forgotten about it

Rrushi_Shqiptar

gascat wrote: »

@BillJones


@MonkeyBalls

no not at all, i havent spoken to them at all since that day, i dont know exactly when the letters stopped coming as i moved soon after, id honestly forgotten about it

Well I suggest that the debt maybe statute barred now and not enforceable I am sure someone will confirm that for you. I think there is a thread or info on statute barred debts here. I just can't find it at the moment.

I don't think BillJones was having a dig, just an observation.

Good lucj

National_Debtline

Hello there,

If a debt is barred under statute, it means that by law (the Limitation Act), the lender has run out of time to use certain types of action to try and make you pay the debt. Statute-barred does not mean the debt no longer exists. In some circumstances, the creditor, or a debt collection agency, can still try and get money from you. You can choose to pay if you wish.

We have a useful fact sheet which outlines the key principles in more detail, you can find it here.

Best wishes,

David @ National Debtline.

thebritishbloke

^What David Said

What does it say the default date is? It should come off of your credit report 6 years after the default date. If you didn't touch the account since that charge, it should have defaulted within 6 months of that.