F&F Robinson Way, Will it affect credit

concrete_kid

My sister has a DMP with Stepchange, she's about to sell her house and is going to use some of the equity to pay off her DMP.

She owes about £1000 to Robinson way, I have a couple of questions.

a) If she offers them a full and final settlement, will this adversely affect her credit file - they no longer show up on her file as they are over 6 years, can they go back on if she offers,

b) If it is a good idea to make an offer how much should it be? And should she go direct or through stepchange?

Thanks

longtermplanner

a) If she offers them a full and final settlement, will this adversely affect her credit file - they no longer show up on her file as they are over 6 years, can they go back on if she offers,

no, a F&F will not cause the debt to reappear on her credit file.

Assuming she has been making low payments, I would start by offering about 20%

Tixy

1) no it won't. Once the account has dropped off her credit file then it won't reappear.

2) Often a good idea to offer a reduced figure. As to how much to offer - start low and increase if required.
How much is she paying currently? as in how long will it take to clear the debt if she carried on with the DMP as is?

If she is only planning to offer to one or 2 of several creditors in a DMP then it can often be best to make those offers yourself (national debtline website has a good template and factsheet that is worth a read - though if she uses the template the remove reference to how it the settlement will be shown on her credit file as that wouldn't apply if its dropped off).

If she was planning to make offers to all creditors then some people prefer to do through stepchange (although it is possible and relatively straight forward to do yourself).

concrete_kid

She is paying them £120 on a debt of about £1100.

She has another debt of £1300 with Natwest but from what I've read on MSE they are much less likely to accept an offer.