Settling debt with Asset Link

philb82

Hello

I have a debt with Asset Link (original debt was with Ford Credit). I am paying it off weekly but soon will receive some PPI and i shall be paying off some debts with it. Anyway my wife was on the phone to Link earlier and she enquired on my behalf about settling off the debt. The person on the phone said that they won't allow the debt to be paid off in one go, it has to be paid off like we are doing now (weekly). Surely this can't be right? The debt is a CCJ but older than 6 years and not attached to the house or anything like that. If they really can't accept a settlement then i will put aside the money and pay large weekly amounts to pay it off.

Can they refuse to allow us to settle the debt by paying it off in a lump sum?

Thanks

Phil

chanz4

no they wont refuse, likely person didn't understand

National_Debtline

Hi phil

Asset Link are within their rights to refuse lump sum offers of less than the full balance; however there's every possibility that you can persuade them to accept. There's just very little point in making such an enquiry by phone, as you would still need some agreement from them in writing to be on the safe side before you went parting with a big one-off sum.

Can I suggest you have a read of our fact sheet on the subject - it includes some letter templates you can use in your negotiations:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/24%20EW%20Full%20and%20final%20settlement%20offers/Default.aspx

Good luck

Dennis
@natdebtline

philb82

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi phil

Asset Link are within their rights to refuse lump sum offers of less than the full balance; however there's every possibility that you can persuade them to accept. There's just very little point in making such an enquiry by phone, as you would still need some agreement from them in writing to be on the safe side before you went parting with a big one-off sum.

Can I suggest you have a read of our fact sheet on the subject - it includes some letter templates you can use in your negotiations:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/24%20EW%20Full%20and%20final%20settlement%20offers/Default.aspx

Good luck

Dennis
@natdebtline

Thanks for your help. I will also have a look at the link.

Right, so they can refuse an amount lower than the balance. However they should be fine with us wanting to pay off the exact amount due...?

Thanks
Phil

National_Debtline

philb82 wrote: »

Thanks for your help. I will also have a look at the link.

Right, so they can refuse an amount lower than the balance. However they should be fine with us wanting to pay off the exact amount due...?

Thanks
Phil

Hi again

I've realised I slightly misread your original post and missed your reference to paying the full balance, sorry!

In that case there's no reason whatsoever for them to refuse one lump sum. Most likely explanation here is that the person on the phone just wasn't paying proper attention - it can be repetitive work and they are probably more used to dealing with people who are unable to pay.

Dennis
@natdebtline