Moorcroft Debt Recovery - need some advice?

xxsalxx

Hi All

I defaulted on a Barclays student overdraft in 2013 and the debt was passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery, who I have been paying £25 a month to, in order to reduce/pay off the outstanding amount.
The original amount was for just over £1300 and I currently have an outstanding balance of around £950.

I have managed to save some money up in the last year, and wondered whether Moorcroft would accept a lower amount that £950 to settle the account, as a final settlement, and then mark it as settled? If so, what sort of figure should I offer?

Any help is appreciated

sourcrates

xxsalxx wrote: »

I have managed to save some money up in the last year, and wondered whether Moorcroft would accept a lower amount that £950 to settle the account, as a final settlement, and then mark it as settled? If so, what sort of figure should I offer?

Any help is appreciated

Hi,
The correct term would be a partial settlement, as your hoping they will take less than what is owed.
It should be fairly easy to get some sort of discount, I would offer £500 and see what they come back to you with, remember, it's all a matter of negotiation, so be prepared for some letter tennis.

National Debtline have a great template letter on there website, I would use that, you should always do these things in the correct way, in writing, so as to limit any future comeback that may or may not materialise.

fatbelly

Here's your factsheet - sample letter at the end of it

Full and final settlement offers

At a balance of £950 I'd start a little lower than £500 - remember you can always go up

xxsalxx

Thanks to both of you for your replies - that's really helpful. I wasn't really sure where to start with it all, but I will make contact with them to see if they will take a partial settlement and 'close' the account/mark it as settled. Do you know if it will show as just 'settled' on my credit file or whether it will be visible that I only partially settled? Would this look worse to potential lenders in the future than if I had continued paying monthly?

Thanks

sourcrates

It would show as a partial settlement, which would be correct.
It will show on your file for 6 years from the original default date, after that it will be gone.
So if you defaulted in 2013, it will be gone in 2019.

Hard to say what effect it would have as all lenders score differently.

xxsalxx

Thanks sourcrates. I've contacted Moorcroft initially by phone today to see what they would settle for. They said the lowest they will go is to 75% of the total balance ... so a 25% discount (£720 out of £958) Does anyone think this is reasonable? I've asked them to send me confirmation in writing before I do anything anyway. I am in a position to pay £720 without a problem just to get it wiped off and have 1 less thing to deal with, if I stay on my current payment plan I wouldn't end up finishing paying it all until 2019.

debtfreeby50

sal,

I dealt with Moorcroft on a Santander card debt and they held firm on 75% for a couple of years, the balance was a similar amount to yours. This was most likely because we were paying £60/month off it so they knew it would cleared in just over a year. In your case you might get them down to a lower amount, remember they will have bought the debt at a fraction of what you actually owe.

dobbollah

i had a moorcroft account, and there stance waa because I wasnt paying interest on the account they wanted the full balance.......

xxsalxx

debtfreeby50 wrote: »

sal,

I dealt with Moorcroft on a Santander card debt and they held firm on 75% for a couple of years, the balance was a similar amount to yours. This was most likely because we were paying £60/month off it so they knew it would cleared in just over a year. In your case you might get them down to a lower amount, remember they will have bought the debt at a fraction of what you actually owe.

Thanks for your input debtfreeby50. I initially went in offering 50% of the £958 which they flatly refused, and said they would go to a 20% discount which I said was not affordable. They then dropped to a 25% discount, I said it was still not affordable and they just said that is the best offer they can do. I might consider it, once I receive their written confirmation, just for my peace of mind so that's it's dealt with.