Best course of action?

pab233

Hi All,

Just looking for a bit of advice here.

One of my very long-standing creditors (to whom I owe £2421.07) has written to me with a "Matched Payment Offer". Basically, this means that (for one month only) any payment I make over and above my regular payment will be "matched" by them, i.e. written off.

The example they give is that if I owed £3000 and paid £500, they would also "pay" £500, thereby making the remaining balance £2000.

They make no mention of how this would show up in credit files/records/scores/ratings. My partner is concerned that it wouldn't be flagged as paid-in-full and be seen negatively in the future if we needed credit for any reason.

The offer sounds pretty good to me but I am in two minds about whether to take it. I can potentially rustle up just short of £1000, which would effectively reduce the balance to about £300. This would obviously have an effect on how much I pay other creditors this month but reduce my overall debt by an quick-win £1000.

So my question is - can anybody come up with a good reason why I shouldn't take advantage of the offer?

Thanks
Paul

andyfromotley

I cant comment on how its reported but assuming that you are committed to repaying your debts then i would snap up this offer. In fact i'd be a bit cheeky and contact them saying i could rustle up £1k but they have to take that in full and final settlementof the debt. It sounds like they are in the deal making business so what have you got to lose?

pab233

Thanks Andy

Definitely committed to paying my debts - condition of not paying OH any rent for next 2 years

You're right - it may be a cheeky request but might be lucky and get a result. Certainly nothing to lose as I expect to have to pay for next 6 months anyway.

cheers
Paul

National_Debtline

Hi Paul


I would second Andy's advice about pushing for a better settlement. The creditor's offer should be seen as simply the opening gambit - you should see this as an opportunity to haggle for the best outcome you think you can achieve.


You should be seeking confirmation that the account will be definitively settled prior to making any such payment - please note that the creditor will most likely mark it as a "partial" settlement on your credit file, as opposed to an account where the balance has been settled in full. The relative effect on your credit report would not be as good, but you would at least be free of the debt.


It's worth familiarising yourself with our guide to settlement offers if you haven't done so already:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/24%20EW%20Full%20and%20final%20settlement%20offers/Default.aspx


Dennis
@natdebtline

pab233

So I phoned Experto Credite with a view to paying £960 for them to match. Asked how much it would be to close the account and they came back with £1073.42 and my record would be marked as fully settled.

Since my monthly payment was due to be £75 it meant I only needed to find another £38 to write off over £1200. Looked at my budget (thanks YNAB!) and found it quite easy to do so paid them off

Thanks Andy & Dennis, as I wouldn't have even thought to ask for a settlement figure. Made my Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!
Paul

sourcrates

pab233 wrote: »

So I phoned Experto Credite with a view to paying £960 for them to match. Asked how much it would be to close the account and they came back with £1073.42 and my record would be marked as fully settled.

Since my monthly payment was due to be £75 it meant I only needed to find another £38 to write off over £1200. Looked at my budget (thanks YNAB!) and found it quite easy to do so paid them off

Thanks Andy & Dennis, as I wouldn't have even thought to ask for a settlement figure. Made my Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!
Paul

Wow, well done !!

Read your post yesterday, have never heard of this before if I'm honest, must be wanting to tie up lots of lose ends before the end of the tax year.

Excellent result for you !!!

andyfromotley

Get in! Thats a huge chunk of your debt gone and another £75 per month fro you to throw at your remaining debt. Happy Christmas!

Marktheshark

I trust you have done the obvious like CCA request all these "long standing" debts.
Debt charities are set up to help you pay, so take advice with a pinch of salt.
CCA them all if you have not and those who can not provide the required agreements can be ignored and the balance will be £0 on those debts.

Many of these debt firms do not have anything other than a balance sheet as proof you owe anything, many debts have been wiped by making CCA demand requests.

atomic7431

Sounds like a good result to me well done ☺

FireWyrm

This sounds wonderful. I trust you got that in writing too? If you didn't, that is your very next job. What you don't want to happen is this lovely offer to suddenly evaporate and you find that the balance has been sold on as an existing debt.

pab233

Hi FireWyrm

They said they would write to me to confirm everything so fingers crossed a letter will drop through the post early in the new year. No reason to doubt them as they have been pretty good in the past.

Paul