HELP - Part Payment Settlement Offer Rejected

Velli

Hi there

I have just had a settlement offer for an old payday debt rejected by Asset Collections and Investigations.

Debt - 397
Offer - 120

' In receipt to your email, as previously discussed, the lowest settlement offer we are able to provide is £280.00. We understand this may be unaffordable, in this case the full outstanding balance of £397.40 can be paid up in instalments.'

I am not sure where to go from here as the 120 is a gift from a relative which will not always be there and I have nothing more to offer??

Please help

National_Debtline

Hi Velli,


Unfortunately, settlement offers are discretionary and they are not obligated to accept. Their acceptance may be influenced by things such as whether or not you have other debts (and what settlement offers they have had), how likely you are to repay the full balance (even over a long time), etc.


You could make them aware that the offer will not always be available and ask them to reconsider. You can highlight what the alternative monthly payment would be and how long it would take to repay in full. If at all possible you could try and improve your offer, if only slightly.


Remember, that if it is accepted you shouldn't send any money until the terms of the settlement have been agreed in writing. Use our sample letter to help if necessary - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Full-and-final-settlement-offers-%28sole-name%29.aspx


Laura
@natdebtline

Velli

Hi Laura,

Thank you ever so much for you advice.

How are they aware of any other debts I have and what payments I may be making on those?

At a squeeze I may be able to offer £150 but outside of this I can only make token payments. I used the very same offer letter template and was wondering if there is one for token payments?

Finally the account was defaulted in Feb 2014 and if I make token payments for the next couple years when will the default drop off my credit file?

Once again thank you so much for your help.

National_Debtline

Hello again,


The key issue here is to make sure you treat your all your debts fairly. If there are other debts then it normally helps to do all of the settlements at the same time, that way you can show each creditor what you are offering and that they are all getting the same percentage (if you want to).


Creditors can be aware of other debts you have if they are still showing on your credit file but I should clarify that one creditor won't know exactly what was paid to another. They may decline an offer if they believe they aren't getting a fair amount, however, it is important to remember settlement offers are at the creditors discretion and they may decline a settlement offer for another reason all together.


If you improve the offer to £150 that is closer to 40% of the debt (rather than 30%). You should adapt the full and final sample letter with the 'additional information' about token offers being an alternative, but we do have a sample letter for people to make token offers, should it be needed in the future.

Debts will show for 6 years from the date of default whether they are settled or not, but the lender would reserve the right to use the county court and if they get a CCJ that will show for 6 years from the date of judgement unless it is paid in full within 1 month of the judgement date. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

poppasmurf_bewdley

You have to be as devious as the DCA companies.

Tell them that a relative has offered you a gift of money to settle your debts, and your offer is the best you can do. Tell them if they don't accept, then you will withdraw your offer and increase your offers to your other debtors. Also add that the best you could offer them on a monthly basis is £5, and if they take you to court this is what you will offer to the judge (which the DCA know would be accepted).

You have nothing to lose.

[Deleted User]

Having borrowed from a PDL your credit file is trashed anyway.

sourcrates

Velli wrote: »

Hi Laura,

Thank you ever so much for you advice.

How are they aware of any other debts I have and what payments I may be making on those?

At a squeeze I may be able to offer £150 but outside of this I can only make token payments. I used the very same offer letter template and was wondering if there is one for token payments?

Finally the account was defaulted in Feb 2014 and if I make token payments for the next couple years when will the default drop off my credit file?

Once again thank you so much for your help.

Are you aware of the massive payday loan refund campaign currently been waged ?

Lots of info and template letter here :

https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/

If you have defaulted on a payday loan, chances are it was unaffordable to begin with.

Geoff1963

the 120 is a gift from a relative which will not always be there

So the gift is conditional on it being accepted as final settlement of the account ?

If the company won't accept it, then it doesn't happen.
Maybe some day in the future : the debt will be lower, or the gift will be higher, or a lower percentage will be accepted. Until then, just keep paying the token amounts as you were.

fatbelly

I suspect they'd meet you hallway at £200.

But looking at your other threads you have had a succession of payday loans from at least 3 lenders. You are a prime case for compensation if you follow sourcrates' advice. Any compensation from the other two would help you pay off this one.

It sounds like you are almost debt-free. If I am wrong, and you actually have a larger collection of debts, no surplus income, no savings, no assets and live in rented accommodation ... then maybe you should be looking at a DRO.

Velli

Geoff1963 wrote: »

So the gift is conditional on it being accepted as final settlement of the account ?

If the company won't accept it, then it doesn't happen.
Maybe some day in the future : the debt will be lower, or the gift will be higher, or a lower percentage will be accepted. Until then, just keep paying the token amounts as you were.

Thank you for your advice Geoff.

in Feb 2020 if no settlement is reached and presumably the default drops off my file I could potentially still have debt collectors on my case?

Velli

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

You have to be as devious as the DCA companies.

Tell them that a relative has offered you a gift of money to settle your debts, and your offer is the best you can do. Tell them if they don't accept, then you will withdraw your offer and increase your offers to your other debtors. Also add that the best you could offer them on a monthly basis is £5, and if they take you to court this is what you will offer to the judge (which the DCA know would be accepted).

You have nothing to lose.

Thank you poppasmurf for your advice.

Ideally I want to settle with what I can offer and put this behind me once and for all. Trouble is I can settle at 30-40% where they are asking for 70%. If no deal can reached what happens when the defaults drops off my credit file?