paying off in full with wescott / lowell

hannahkaty

Hi all,

I recently got a tidy little tax refund and want to use it to pay off some old debt that i've been making monthly repayments on. If i pay the debt off in full is it usually the case that these debts will then be marked as settled?

Finally, I wondered if anyone had ever had any success in negotiation a settlement amount with the above collection agencies? One of my first chase letters from Lowell said that if i paid in full they would accept a lower amount but at the time i wasn't financially able to do so.- As i am now able to pay off I was thinking i might try and negotiate a settlement amount (probably unlikely i know, but i figured it can't hurt to try?).

EDIT:Just found the full and final settlement thread, so currently having a read on there about final settlements!

Anthorn

In my personal experience Lowell and their collection agent Fredrickson International offer part payment in part settlement. At the time I didn't do that because I was advised that part settlement could be viewed by some lenders as debt relief and affected the credit history just as much as a default. I proceeded to pay off the bad debt and get the settled status.

Now I'm not so sure. With a settled account the history of the account remains. As I see it the only difference between settled and part-settled is a few words. Whether settled or part-settled lenders are still aware of the past status of the account.

National_Debtline

Hi

You might find this Full and Final Settlement factsheet useful.
www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/fullandfinalsettlementoffers/lumpsumoffers.aspx

There is also a sample letter here you can use to make offers with if you decide to go that route.
www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Full-and-final-settlement-offers-%28sole-name%29.aspx#

James
@natdebtline

forgotmyname

I did a part settlement, i told them in no uncertain terms that it was accept or i file for bankruptcy. I even sent the same letter to all of them with the account numbers and figures to show they all agree or nobody gets a penny.

No idea if they contacted each other, but it worked. Depends on what you have to lose/gain. For me my CF had been trashed for so long there was nothing to lose.