DMP - advice on settling earlier

Nearlydebtfree

Hi

I wonder if anyone could offer me some advice on what to do? I have been on a DMP with Stepchange since May 2011 and to date have paid a whopping £42,149 off my debts. It really has been the best thing as I was in a terrible financial mess and it has taught me a huge lesson. My DMP is due to run until January 2021 but I would like to try and see if I can settle at least some of them early if possible. My partner has offered me some money to pay them off so that my credit rating clears and we can get a mortgage together next year. I do have a mortgage at the moment but it is a high rate and I will continue to be restricted on rates until I can pay my DMP off.

My current debts are:-
Cabot Financial (Wescot) £934.72
Cabot Financial £8,329.67
Link Financial £1,868.71
Link Financial £193.00
Santander £1,338.91
Robinson £1,233.11
PRA £469.45
Total £14,367.57

I have a few questions if you could help me:-
(1) The only debts which currently show on my credit report are Link financial x 2, Santander and PRA. PRA was defaulted in May 2012 and so will drop off at the end of this month. Link and Santander are showing as up to date. Link took over from Barclaycard who defaulted me in May 2011. Santander have never defaulted me even though they accepted my DMP in May 2011. Can they default me again now or mark my record negatively?

(2) Should I do a CCA request as a first port of call to see if they have any agreements prior to making full and final settlements and if they do not have the CCA will this help me in reaching a lesser settlement?

I have kind of just trundled on with the DMP but I now feel it is at a manageable level that I can try and deal with it and would just love to try and pay it off earlier.

Thank you in advance

National_Debtline

Hi Nearlydebtfree


First of all fantastic news on how much debt you've cleared. That's a real achievement. In answer to your questions:


(1) If a default is registered it should usually be done once arrears are between 3 and 6 months. It would be unreasonable for Santander to default you now as the debt and default would then not be removed from your credit file for another 6 years. If they did register one you would want them to backdate it to the time that arrears first started building. Without a default the debt will be removed 6 years after the debt the account is settled.


(2) There's no harm in making a CCA request. You may find they can provide the required information, but if not it could help you in your negotiations.


One thing to add, the fairest way to treat your creditors would be to make each one of them a full & final offer. By only making the offer to certain debts you may find your other creditors become harder to deal with. StepChange may be able to help you with the offers so it's worth getting in touch with them.


I hope it all goes well.


Susie
@natdebtline