Help ,debt company refused my offer....

snowboardalleycat

hi all

I am on a DMP and have been since 2005, It was an old CC with Mbna which sold the debt on in 2006 to 1st credit.
With interest it mounted up and have paid off £1295.00.

I still owe £4610.00 and it is not likely that I will finish paying for a very long time yet. I currently pay £20 per month.

I just got a small lump sum and decided to call and make an offer of 10% . The call center lady asked her supervisor and she came back offering 30% as final payment but I can not stretch to that.
I asked if there was room for negotiation and was flatly refused. They did say that there maybe offers in the future...

I was hoping they would offer between 10-20% but that's it! I don't know what to do now

I do not want to hand over any money unless they except a final offer however if they do not want to play ball I may as well keep it. I have another 15 years to go to pay off!!!

Can anyone offer good advise please ?
Many thanks in advance

andyfromotley

Not much you can do really. 10% would be a very low figure to settle for. hold tight and see if they weaken after a year or so? Although i doubt it.

30% still represents an excellent settlement so if you could find the money that would be great.

Did you actually offer them 20%? If not call em back and make that offer. You never know.

snowboardalleycat

Did you actually offer them 20%? If not call em back and make that offer. You never know.[/QUOTE]
No, did not get a chance. Thanks for your response.

sourcrates

snowboardalleycat wrote: »

hi all

I am on a DMP and have been since 2005, It was an old CC with Mbna which sold the debt on in 2006 to 1st credit.
With interest it mounted up and have paid off £1295.00.

I still owe £4610.00 and it is not likely that I will finish paying for a very long time yet. I currently pay £20 per month.

I just got a small lump sum and decided to call and make an offer of 10% . The call center lady asked her supervisor and she came back offering 30% as final payment but I can not stretch to that.
I asked if there was room for negotiation and was flatly refused. They did say that there maybe offers in the future...

I was hoping they would offer between 10-20% but that's it! I don't know what to do now

I do not want to hand over any money unless they except a final offer however if they do not want to play ball I may as well keep it. I have another 15 years to go to pay off!!!

Can anyone offer good advise please ?
Many thanks in advance

Hi,

You should not be making settlement offers over the phone, it can backfire in so many ways, it should always be done in writing, using a specifically worded letter template.

As your debt predates April 2007, have you done a CCA request to 1st credit ?
If not, that should be your first move, unlikely to have the paper work from that far back.

No paperwork would mean them possibly settling for peanuts, or you could tell them to get stuffed.

Either way you don't want to be dancing to there tune.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/joint-letters/Pages/Information-about-your-agreement-under-the-Consumer-Credit-Act-(joint-names).aspx

snowboardalleycat

Thank you Sourcrates. What is a CCA and how can it help me?

sourcrates

snowboardalleycat wrote: »

Thank you Sourcrates. What is a CCA and how can it help me?

Ok,
Long post, but very worthwhile information for you.


A "CCA Request" is a request for a copy of your original account agreement.
In a nutshell, if they cant provide it, the account can be made unenforceable, and you may not have to pay it.

For an account to be binding, from the period you describe, under the consumer credit act, 1974, the original creditor is supposed to keep the original signed document, and you are able to request a copy of it, at any time your account still has a balance owing on it.

The law was changed in April 2007, so that a reconstituted copy could be supplied, if the original was not available.

This is known as a "CCA" request, and is a right under the above act, if a creditor is unable to supply a copy of your original agreement, the account becomes unenforceable in court, until such time as they do comply, however long that may be.

As your account dates from before April 2007, the correct response would be a copy of the original, however, bare in mind, only a court can decide what constitutes a valid copy, if you make an official CCA request to 1st credit, two things will happen, first, your account will automatically be put "on hold", second,1st credit will then attempt to obtain the document you requested, from the original creditor, the OC will search there files, and either, supply the document requested, say they don't hold a copy, or, they may reconstitute a version of it, using information already held about you.


This process can take 4-6 weeks, longer sometimes, the consumer credit act states 14 days to comply, but those are just guidelines, and are not written in stone.

If they say they don't hold a copy of your agreement, the simple fact is, they cant obtain judgement against you in court, so all legal routes of recovery are removed, and, under the same terms, you are not obliged to repay any outstanding balance, they can ask you to pay, but can do nothing to force you to, obviously the DCA would still push for payment, but you can refuse, and there would be nothing they could do about it.

If you preferred to offer a small sum in settlement, then the odds would be in your favour again.

Of course if they do provide the requested document, then the balance would still remain payable, as it is now, but creditors are notoriously lax at keeping paperwork, and there is a good chance they will not have it, so its always worth doing a CCA request as a matter of course, for older debts.

snowboardalleycat

Thanks again for taking the time to help me, very much appreciated. I will get on to it right way. Fingers crossed.

snowboardalleycat

Hi sourcrates

I have sent CCA letter and had no reply as predicted ,my cheque has not been banked. Can you advise on what my next move should be?

Many thanks in advance.

sourcrates

snowboardalleycat wrote: »

Hi sourcrates

I have sent CCA letter and had no reply as predicted ,my cheque has not been banked. Can you advise on what my next move should be?

Many thanks in advance.

Send them a letter reminding them of there obligation to fulfil your sec 78 request.
Also remind them the account is unenforceable until they do respond.

Give it another couple of weeks, see if they get back to you.

snowboardalleycat

Thanks again.

snowboardalleycat

My cheque has been banked. Is that a bad sign?