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Full and Final Settlement Success
strawberryblonde
Posts: 75 Forumite
I just wanted to share the !!!!!! success that my husband and I have had in the hopes that it will give hope to others who are struggling.
We had our LBM in January 2010 when at the time we had debts of almost £30, 000 and were unable to manage our payments. We set up a DMP and hoped that things would improve but in April 2011 I had to stop work due to ill health and we then were unable to pay our mortgage. Luckily we were able to sell our house through the mortgage rescue scheme which kept a roof over our heads but which added another £30, 000 to our debts. We also had to reduce our debt repayments to token payments.
In July 2013, I returned to work and we recommenced our DMP. My husband changed jobs in 2014 and we were advised by Payplan that we could apply for an IVA. We did so but it was rejected by our biggest creditor Enact and so we continued on our DMP before we decided what to do next.
We were at the point of thinking that bankruptcy would be our only option but it was not a choice we wanted to make as there is a chance my hubby may be made a director of the company he works for.
However, in the summer of this year, a family member offered us £10, 500 to help us try to negotiate !!!!!! as a last ditch attempt.
Using the letter from National Debtline, I sent off pro rata offers to each of our creditors and was shocked that after some lengthy discussions and provision of further information, 6 out of 7 of them accepted our first offer with only 1 pushing us higher than our original offer.
So we settled as follows
Enact £4714 on a debt of £28410
CapQuest £1374 on a debt of £4581
PRA £2113 on a debt of £12739
PRA £ 58 on a debt of £347
M and S £ 941 on a debt of £5672
Santander £ 1320 on a debt of £7955
Santander £ 93 on a debt of £561
The highest percentage we negotiated was 30% but all of the others were approximately 16.5%.
The relief we have is overwhelming particualrly as we have not had to resort to bankruptcy which was absolutely not the right decision for us. We feel that there is hope after many years of believing our situation was one we would never get out of.
I would like to thank everyone on the forum who has helped us when we have asked questions and just been supportive and to anyone else going through similar difficulties I would like to say hang on in there because situations can change for the better.
We had our LBM in January 2010 when at the time we had debts of almost £30, 000 and were unable to manage our payments. We set up a DMP and hoped that things would improve but in April 2011 I had to stop work due to ill health and we then were unable to pay our mortgage. Luckily we were able to sell our house through the mortgage rescue scheme which kept a roof over our heads but which added another £30, 000 to our debts. We also had to reduce our debt repayments to token payments.
In July 2013, I returned to work and we recommenced our DMP. My husband changed jobs in 2014 and we were advised by Payplan that we could apply for an IVA. We did so but it was rejected by our biggest creditor Enact and so we continued on our DMP before we decided what to do next.
We were at the point of thinking that bankruptcy would be our only option but it was not a choice we wanted to make as there is a chance my hubby may be made a director of the company he works for.
However, in the summer of this year, a family member offered us £10, 500 to help us try to negotiate !!!!!! as a last ditch attempt.
Using the letter from National Debtline, I sent off pro rata offers to each of our creditors and was shocked that after some lengthy discussions and provision of further information, 6 out of 7 of them accepted our first offer with only 1 pushing us higher than our original offer.
So we settled as follows
Enact £4714 on a debt of £28410
CapQuest £1374 on a debt of £4581
PRA £2113 on a debt of £12739
PRA £ 58 on a debt of £347
M and S £ 941 on a debt of £5672
Santander £ 1320 on a debt of £7955
Santander £ 93 on a debt of £561
The highest percentage we negotiated was 30% but all of the others were approximately 16.5%.
The relief we have is overwhelming particualrly as we have not had to resort to bankruptcy which was absolutely not the right decision for us. We feel that there is hope after many years of believing our situation was one we would never get out of.
I would like to thank everyone on the forum who has helped us when we have asked questions and just been supportive and to anyone else going through similar difficulties I would like to say hang on in there because situations can change for the better.
0
Comments
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Thats great news, I am so pleased for you and gives me hope that in 5 years time we may be able to do something similar.
Have a lovely Christmas knowing you are debt free, well done xxDMP Number 437
LBM May 2015 47k in debt
Starting DMP 1st July 20150 -
Very interesting figures/percentages and thank you for posting. There is a chance that this might happen for me, and knowing where to start the negotiations on !!!!!! is very helpful.0
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Great post, thank you!0
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Congrats on your success ☺Still hoping that eventually money will grow on trees then we can all live happily ever after ☺
In the mean time we are 31k worth of debt but it is coming down slowly....:eek:0 -
Well done. It’s great to hear some positive feedback!
James
@natdebtlineWe work as money advisers for National Debtline and have specific permission from MSE to post to try to help those in debt. Read more information on National Debtline in MSE's Debt Problems: What to do and where to get help guide. If you find you're struggling with debt and need further help try our online advice tool My Money Steps0
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