Full and final

Jim557

Hi!

I would love some advice about dealing with settling some old credit card/phone/overdraft debt that I stupidly accrued when I was younger.

I have £577 and £369 with Lowell that both defaulted in 2012. £1600 with Hoist from a default in 2011 and £1600 with PR from a default in 2012. I haven’t made any payments against these accounts since their default dates.

Lowell recently wrote to me offering a settlement figure of £90 against the £369 balance which I am going to accept though haven’t got in touch with them to confirm as yet.

My financial situation has (marginally) improved over the years and I would like to offer full and finals on all 4 balances. I don’t dispute any of the amounts or my liability. I am going to try and get each creditor to accept 25% of the balance on each due to their age but am concerned about how to approach them.

Do I need to write to each creditor to ask them to prove they own the debt? As I say, I don’t dispute any of the balances and each creditor is shown on my credit file. Or should I write/call each one with my settlement offer? I would like to get each account settled as quickly as possible but I don’t want to trip up along the way.

Am I right in saying that once the account has had a full and final accepted the debt can no longer be sold on?

Any advice would be much appreciated

sourcrates

Hi,

No harm in negoatiating over the phone.

However it's imperative anything agreed upon is backed up in writing.

You can send provit letters first if you wish.

Interesting how Lowell want to settle a £369 debt for £90.

Shows just how little they buy old debts for if they can take £90 and still be in profit.

National_Debtline

Hi

There is a factsheet and sample letter and sample letter you can use to make full and final offers here:

www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/fullandfinalsettlementoffers/lumpsumoffers.aspx

The debt shouldn’t be sold on once settled but you can ask them to confirm that in writing before you make the final payment.

James
@natdebtline