Clearing Debts - Settle in full or partial?

mjb-is

Hi, I am finally at the point of recovery after 10 years of paying things off after financial difficulties arising from the after effects of 2008 crash.

This resulted in some later CCJ's and Charges, of which 2 CCJ's have been Satisfied and the others had a significant proportion paid under negotiated payment arrangements. Luckily I never had to go down the IVA or Bankruptcy route.

I'm now at the point of being able to pay off all outstanding balances. This will clear 2 outstanding Charges on my property but those CCJs, and a few others still have some time before they drop off my credit file.

The 2 with charges will automatically be settled in full and thus show as Satisfied on my file, which leaves 2 more CCJ's that have smaller amounts remaining, around £1100 and £1800 respectively, that still have 2-3 years before they would come off my credit file.

What I'd like to know is if there will be any effect to my file whether these are fully paid, and thus shown Satisfied, or just partially paid by agreed settlement. The latter would be whatever settlement figure the creditor offers but would not result in the CCJ showing Satisfied on my credit file.

I don't see myself having to borrow any money in the near future (and I've managed without borrowing for 7-8 years), so is it smarter financially to just reach a lower settlement figure on those final 2 accounts to save cash and just wait until the CCJ's go, or pay the full amount so my credit file looks better (if it indeed does)? My integrity tells me to pay every penny I owe, but my brain says why pay out money you don't have to if it still settles the accounts. Those creditors will have made plenty out of the accounts when they were in good standing previous to by financial difficulty.

I'd appreciate any advice. I'm guessing I might be able to save £600-£700 if the creditors offered a lower settlement figure rather than I just pay the total outstanding.

sourcrates

They will still be on your file for the full 6 years regardless of how you settle the debts.

The initial CCJ does the damage, how they are settled now is really irrelevant, if you can negotiate settlement figures then by all means do so, after they fall off your file who will know or even care.

stehouk

I tried to negotiate the ccj figure down but was told no as it had already been to court and the figure was now set by the court and couldnt be negotiated.

sourcrates

stehouk wrote: »

I tried to negotiate the ccj figure down but was told no as it had already been to court and the figure was now set by the court and couldnt be negotiated.

That’s the creditor been awkward, it is factually correct, but they have discretion to do a deal, if they want to.

mjb-is

I have had plenty of previous offers to fully settle a few of these, at times when I didn't have the lump sum, so they can definitely negotiate even when there is a CCJ and Charge associated. I contacted one yesterday that has £1800 left and they offered a £1600 settlement figure. When taking into account I've just settled another account with them in full for £4700 I was hoping for a better figure.

I've another to ring today so it will be interesting to see what that say. On the previous call basis the offered 'discount' was about 15%. At these amounts, if it's only about £300-£400 over the two accounts then It might just be worth paying the full amounts so they show as fully settled on my credit file, since they have 2.5-3 years left before they drop off. At least my file would show everything fully paid.

stehouk

once the debt has done the rounds and been sold a few times the figure to settle tumbles dramatically often by up to 40-50%.
If the account went to default it will still show that you have missed payments but eventually paid in full, i am not sure that a partial settlement would be any worse, personally i would push for a lower settlement figure