full & final settlement advice

bluemonday3

Hi
I have been in a DMP with Stepchange for 9 years and have cleared £29,233 worth of debt with approx £2600 left to pay.
I have learnt some harsh lessons but have remained committed to clearing the debt.
Recently the employer I was with for 15 years lost the contract and I have been tuped across to the new provider with a small pay off in compensation for a significant wage loss of £4k per year.
I would like to make full & final settlements to my existing creditors so that when my wages drop in March next year I will have a small buffer left as back up and the £210 I currently pay to step change will help ease the loss.
I am looking for people's advice on this please.
Am I better off doing this to clear the debt quicker and would stepchange help me with this or am I better off doing this alone ?
Any advice would be appreciated.

sourcrates

After nine years I’d CCA any relevant accounts first, see if they have compliant paperwork.

bluemonday3

Thank you for responding. Excuse my ignorance, what would I gain from this please?
Most of the debts are with wescot & clarity although a couple remain with Lloyds who have been exceptionally difficult to deal with

sourcrates

bluemonday3 wrote: »

Thank you for responding. Excuse my ignorance, what would I gain from this please?
Most of the debts are with wescot & clarity although a couple remain with Lloyds who have been exceptionally difficult to deal with

Under the terms of your consumer credit act agreement, if a creditor cannot produce a copy of your agreement upon request (and with the statutory payment of £1) the creditor is unable to enforce that agreement through the courts.

In some instances, they can and do comply, but in a lot of cases, especially ones like yours when the debt has been passed around a lot, they find they cant.

So what would you gain from this ?

Well effectively you could walk away and pay nothing else to them, they would be powerless to stop you, or you can make them a small offer to settle the debt, so you could gain quite a lot, its not a given, but well worth it for the price of a few stamps and postal orders.

bluemonday3

Thank you for this.
I am prepared to pay something to clear the debt before the squeeze sets in.
I know Stepchange will want me to do this.
so if there are unable to provide the correct documents they cannot enforce me to pay? could they default me again as I'm keen to avoid this?

sourcrates

bluemonday3 wrote: »

Thank you for this.
I am prepared to pay something to clear the debt before the squeeze sets in.
I know Stepchange will want me to do this.
so if there are unable to provide the correct documents they cannot enforce me to pay? could they default me again as I'm keen to avoid this?

Debts can only be defaulted once, if they are already defaulted, and gone from your file, they cannot add further entries.

Its up to you to decide whether you follow advice given to you, or not, most people CCA there accounts first, before they make settlement offers to there creditors, some have saved a considerable amount of money by doing so.

The option is there should you choose to use it.

bluemonday3

thanks again. It is not that I am choosing to ignore advice, I am just very wary of consequences as I have not had the best experience with a lot of the creditors despite being with Stepchange. Also with job changes I am feeling very stressed so keen to not open up more stress. I did not know you can only be defaulted once & I am still in dispute with Lloyds over the original date of default which they keep changing!
I will certainly do as you suggested as I am keen to save myself as much as I can.

sourcrates

bluemonday3 wrote: »

thanks again. It is not that I am choosing to ignore advice, I am just very wary of consequences as I have not had the best experience with a lot of the creditors despite being with Stepchange. Also with job changes I am feeling very stressed so keen to not open up more stress. I did not know you can only be defaulted once & I am still in dispute with Lloyds over the original date of default which they keep changing!
I will certainly do as you suggested as I am keen to save myself as much as I can.

Understand your concerns, but it is your right under the terms of your CCA agreement to request a copy of your agreement at any time, they cannot refuse, they must comply, you cannot be treated any differently for doing so.

As regards the Lloyds default, guidance is that a default can be registered after between 3/6 missed payments, so usually within 6 months of your last contracted payment is acceptable.

If they disagree or won’t comply, then complain to the ICO (information commissionaires office).

bluemonday3

Again many thanks for this information, I will certainly complain as Wescot have not been able to provide me with any information from Lloyds re the default notice, even though I have the original which does not reflect the dates on my credit file.
so just so I am understanding this, I send in £1 postal order to request CCA, and if they cannot provide it, there is little they can do to pursue me for the debt?