Negotiating final payment

LisaPea

Hello all

I have a debt of £2263.20 which is now owned by PRA Group. I'm paying them an agreed £4.44 a month following their calculation of my disposable income.

Having just received some money, I have offered them £2000 as a final settlement. I've made it clear that I am not expecting any more money to come my way any time soon. They have rejected the offer saying that they won't take less than 80% of the debt (£2266.87).

Each time I speak to them, they ask whether my major liabilities (rent, utilities etc) are all up to date, whether my income is secure and whether I can manage on the budget that leaves £4.44 a month for them. I always say yes to each question.

If I said no, would they be more likely to accept the £2000? Or would they be more likely to be worried about their debt and take action to recover it? (Not sure what action they'd take, given that they know I only have the £2000 plus £4.44 a month spare!).

TIA
Lisa

fusionx212

LisaPea wrote: »

Hello all

I have a debt of £2263.20 which is now owned by PRA Group. I'm paying them an agreed £4.44 a month following their calculation of my disposable income.

Having just received some money, I have offered them £2000 as a final settlement. I've made it clear that I am not expecting any more money to come my way any time soon. They have rejected the offer saying that they won't take less than 80% of the debt (£2266.87).

Each time I speak to them, they ask whether my major liabilities (rent, utilities etc) are all up to date, whether my income is secure and whether I can manage on the budget that leaves £4.44 a month for them. I always say yes to each question.

If I said no, would they be more likely to accept the £2000? Or would they be more likely to be worried about their debt and take action to recover it? (Not sure what action they'd take, given that they know I only have the £2000 plus £4.44 a month spare!).

TIA
Lisa

they have to be seen to be showing a duty of care towards your circumstance. £2000 is well over the 80% threshold how much of the balance have you paid off?

you can refuse to stop paying them and say you can no longer afford £4.44 a month it may spur them on to accept the offer. this could damage your credit report etc but if it's with a debt collection agent i doubt your score is any good at present.
They beleive you have more or can afford to back more than you are saying that's why they are rejecting.

why not pay 2k off the amount and continue your 4.44 a month payments till gone.

National_Debtline

Hi LisaPea,


Your offer of £2000 is approx. 88% so they are not making any sense. I would suggest you write to them as opposed to calling them. Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case that the person you speak to on the phone has no authority to accept this sort of offer, so take them out of the equation. We have a sample letter that you can use to make sure that the correct terms are agreed to in writing before sending any money.


Do you have any other debts at all? If you do then really this lump sum should be split amongst them all fairly. If this is your only debt and they do continue to reject your (very high) offer then you could pay the £2k off the balance and then continue with your £4.44per month payments to clear the debt quicker (as fusionx212 says), as long as you don't need that money for any other essentials. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

LisaPea

Sorry! Sorry! I got my figures muddled!

I owe £2829.19. They want £2266.87 and I've offered £2000.00 which is 70%.

My credit rating is shot to pieces and I've had defaults from this debt since September (and from others for years but they're paid off now). So I don't really see that they could make my rating any worse if I say I can't afford the £4.44 a month.

I can afford it... But I just want the debt gone! Paying off £2000 and then £4.44 a month will take another 4 years and I had really hoped this was the end... That sounds like I'm whinging which I don't mean to do but I am disappointed at their refusal.

fusionx212

LisaPea wrote: »

Sorry! Sorry! I got my figures muddled!

I owe £2829.19. They want £2266.87 and I've offered £2000.00 which is 70%.

My credit rating is shot to pieces and I've had defaults from this debt since September (and from others for years but they're paid off now). So I don't really see that they could make my rating any worse if I say I can't afford the £4.44 a month.

I can afford it... But I just want the debt gone! Paying off £2000 and then £4.44 a month will take another 4 years and I had really hoped this was the end... That sounds like I'm whinging which I don't mean to do but I am disappointed at their refusal.

they know it's a waiting game. simply put you could stop paying 4.44 wait for them to come back around and then offer 2k in a couple of months.

the only risk you run is them putting a ccj on you?

can I ask what the debt was for and do they have a copy of the credit agreement, if they do not have this then they cannot go to court etc.

LisaPea

The debt was originally an Egg Card... they then transferred it to Barclaycard before PRA bought it last year. The girl on the phone didn't realise it had been an Egg Card debt so perhaps they don't have the credit agreement...

engineer_amy

if it was an egg card, it would have been taken out before April 2007?
If so, you could do a CCA request and they would have to supply a copy of the original agreement. If they cant supply this, then the debt is unenforceable. Chances are if it has gone through Egg, Citibank, Barclaycard and now PRA, the records are long gone.


If it is found to be unenforceable, then they can whistle for their money, and once they are aware that you know its unenforceable, they might be willing to accept any amount as F&F, if you were so inclined.
Worth a punt for the sake of £1 plus the cost of a stamp

fusionx212

engineer_amy wrote: »

if it was an egg card, it would have been taken out before April 2007?
If so, you could do a CCA request and they would have to supply a copy of the original agreement. If they cant supply this, then the debt is unenforceable. Chances are if it has gone through Egg, Citibank, Barclaycard and now PRA, the records are long gone.


If it is found to be unenforceable, then they can whistle for their money, and once they are aware that you know its unenforceable, they might be willing to accept any amount as F&F, if you were so inclined.
Worth a punt for the sake of £1 plus the cost of a stamp

I'd say hold onto your £2000 ask for a copy of the cca, i reckon you have a good chance here.

Mrs_Nobody

I have a similar debt LisaPea - Egg card taken out before 2007 went through various owners and is now with PRA. I've been on a DMP with them for four years and just last week sent the CCA request letter. Had one back from them today returning the £1 postal order because they say they don't need it and that they've put my account on hold and won't make any more collections until they've received it from Barclaycard.

Curiously, Link, who own two more of my debts have acknowledged my request but *haven't* returned my postal orders and *haven't* said they'll put it on hold. They have said they will ask MBNA for the information. But, MBNA took them over from I can't remember who - they were bespoke cards - one from the IoD and one from Arsenal FC but I can't remember the actual bank behind it they were taken out so long ago!

sourcrates

Egg were fairly notorious for having unenforceable credit agreements pre 2007.

CCA request is good advice

If you decide to make any further offers to this account in the future, then do so the correct way, in writing, as National Debtline says above, the call handler you spoke to won't know ham from eggs, and will have had no authority to accept offers on the account.

Get the results from the CCA request in first before you do anything else.

LisaPea

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll bang in a CCA request and see what happens.