Need advice regarding a debt collection agency!

MrFrank

Way back in 2008 whilst I was a student I stupidly acquired a 2nd student overdraft (the first overdraft is my main account which I still use now.) Consequently through my flippant spending I ended up not paying anything back and it defaulted in 2012. They thankfully reduced the balance from £2000 to £1000 and then stopped any added interest at £1500. I have had many different phone calls and many different letters from various companies of varying degrees of threat and as I've moved house at least 5 times since then I'm not sure whether my old addresses still recieve them. I have stayed in contact via my phone though - the lastest company is AIC. They were quite persistant for a while but I ignored the calls as I couldn't afford anything and they all of a sudden stopped.

Fast forward a few weeks and I'm now in a slighty better paid job and want to start paying it off. I rang them today with a figure in mind and they said they'd have to do an assessment of my income and expenditure. My question is, are they able to check the information I provide them with? I'm worried they'll ask for a payment which eats into other things I need to save for, and some months I get paid less than my average, so I wonder if it's worth saying I'm getting paid less than I am to give me a bit of a safety cushion?