Full & Final does this sound right?

inepta

Hi,
any advice would be gratefully received. I am in debt to the tune of 21.5k and have been paying £125 p/m into a step change debt management plan for 6 years now. My estimated debt free date is 2030! A relative has kindly offered a lump sum to help me out but I'm not sure if it's enough.

I currently owe money to the following:
Debt Managers (citi bank) £3500
Cabot (Barclaycard) £3400
Wescot (Natwest) £3150
Capital One £2900
Robinson Way (Tesco) £2600
Robinson Way (Halifax One) £2100
Wescot (RBS) £1700
IDEM (BOS) £1300
Capquest (Marbles) £611.00

They have all defaulted me apart from Marbles which is the smallest balance. They are all with debt collection agencies bar one which is Capital One. My relative has offered £8,000 and at a push could extend this to £10,000. Do you think this is doable?

I am slightly worried that Marbles has not yet defaulted me, would you recommend paying that balance in full? I really don't want to trigger a default because as of the end of this year all bar one of the defaults will have dropped off my file.

My other question is...is it possible to negotiate a default to be removed from your file? One of my creditors didn't default me until we'd been in the plan for two years so we will still have this on our credit file for another two years. We need to get a better deal on our mortgage if possible.

I'm hoping we are in a decent position to negotiate as we have no hope of increasing out monthly payments and 2030 seems a long, long way away.

Hope you can help, thanks for reading

sourcrates

Hi,

Do you intend to borrow money again anytime soon ?

If not defaults, and your credit file in particular, should not be your first priority.

You should CCA all relevant accounts first, see if they can muster the correct paperwork or not.

Then make offers to all who produce the CCA, start low, see what you can negotiate, then take it from there.

snowbean

Sorry to jump on your thread OP, but your situation sounds quite similar to mine. I'm concerned too about whether making offers to a couple of creditors who hadn't yet defaulted me would be wise, or better to pay those in full if possible? Would a partial settlement trigger a default to be lodged? Would it matter anyway, given that whether or not it was defaulted now, partially settled now, or settled in full now, the debt will still show on my credit file until 6yrs from now?
I appreciate that defaults / credit rating are not the first priority, and we're certainly not wanting to go borrowing again, but I'm just concerned with regards to our mortgage, getting a new deal when our fixed rate ends etc

eberneeza

Snowbean, as long as you don't borrow additional money you should be ok for getting a new fixed rate deal with your existing lender.

inepta

Thank you for your reply.

Do you intend to borrow money again anytime soon ? - No, but I do want a better mortage deal than I've got - if possible.

If not defaults, and your credit file in particular, should not be your first priority. My defaults barring one will be dropping off my credit file in the next few months anyway. - Can a default be applied more than once?

You should CCA all relevant accounts first, see if they can muster the correct paperwork or not. - I'm not sure what this is exactly but I'll look into it. Do I ask the debt collectors for the paperwork? If they can't provide it and I stop paying can the debt be passed on or revert back to the original creditor? Sorry if this seems like a silly question but I've not looked into this.

Then make offers to all who produce the CCA, start low, see what you can negotiate, then take it from there. - What would you say was low, 20-30%?

thanks.

inepta

Hi, how long do you have left on your DMP?

mrsbee17

Would this lump sum be a loan or a 'gift'?

inepta

Sourcrates - I just came off the phone with an advisor at step change and he advised that asking the creditor to prove the debt would be futile as I have been repaying it for the last 6 years. He said that they would only need to provide an unsigned agreement which would have been available at the time I took out the credit for it to be enforceable. Does this sound right? Confused more than ever.

inepta

Mrsbee17 - it would be a gift.

glentoran99

inepta wrote: »

Sourcrates - I just came off the phone with an advisor at step change and he advised that asking the creditor to prove the debt would be futile as I have been repaying it for the last 6 years. He said that they would only need to provide an unsigned agreement which would have been available at the time I took out the credit for it to be enforceable. Does this sound right? Confused more than ever.

When was the credit taken out, that has a bearing on whether its enforceable or not, Paying them doesn't come into it,

inepta

glentoran99 - they were mostly credit cards so do you mean the date that the cards were taken or the date that borrowing occurred? The debt management plan has been ongoing for about 6 1/2 years, the credit cards were taking out at various times prior to this, some more than 15 years ago.