F&F settlement advice please....

wallas74

Hello first time poster on here.

I have made F&F settlement offers to my four debts by using the template letter from the National Debt Helpline on 5th March 2019.
I have been in an arrangement with these debts since 2012, first with Stepchange and for the last few years i've negotiated them myself and i'm currently paying £44 per month to all four debts.

PRA Group - default date 19/05/2015 - £3,677 - i offered to pay £945 - they offered £1,755
Arrow Global (Moorcroft) - default date 31/10/2013 - £1660 - I offered to pay £426 - they offered £830
Wescot - (Cabot) default date 11/04/2013 - £2,113 - i offered £545 - they offered £1,804
Capquest (Natwest overdraft) - default date 28/02/2015 - £1,894 - I've had no reply, i emailed them and have since had two missed phone calls from them, i'd prefer to be contacted by mail.

A few questions, I'd like to go back and make updated offers to the ones i've had a reply from, PRA and Arrow Global offered around 50%, would an offer of 30% be my next step ?
Wescot offered a 10% discount which is not something i can do and i'd really like it down by 60%, how should i approach them ?
Capquest who have not replied should i phone them (i don't really want to) or email or send another letter to them ?

I'm trying not to bury my head in the sand, i've done it too long. I have an offer from my sister to lend me the money to pay these debts off and i want to try and get them settled as quick as possible.

Any advice would be greatfully appreciated.

C

Willing2Learn

If the debts are all from 2012 or earlier, then I would hold your horses for a bit, and submit CCA requests for all the accounts except the overdraft. This will determine whether the DCAs have compliant paperwork or not. If your creditors are not able to provide you with a copy of your agreements, then you could either withhold payment, or alternatively use non-compliance as leverage to get the lowest and best possible F&F settlement figures.

Edit: And welcome to the forum

wallas74

Hello and thank you for your reply to my post.

Wescot (Cabot) was originally a Mint credit card was first defaulted in 11th April 2013
Arrow Global (Moorcroft) originally a Virgin Credit Card was defaulted 31st October 2013
Capquest was originally Natwest overdraft defaulted 28th February 2015
PRA Group originally Barclaycard defaulted 19th may 2015

Should i submit CCA requests ? Should i wait for Capquest to get in touch with me or should i chase them up ?

I'm keen to use this gift from my sister and get these debts paid off, it's just something that hangs over me. I'd like to rebuild my credit score as soon as i can. Apart from these debts my finances are not too bad, i'm due to remortgage at the end of July and as my credit history is obviously poor i really have to stay with my current provider Nationwide, £65k to pay on a house valued at £180k.

I'm just getting my head around all of this, it's been too long.

Willing2Learn

Okay then, the accounts are more recent that first thought. The same theory still applies though. The only problem is that it can be a slow process waiting for CCA request to be processed. It can take many months of waiting, (during which time you can withhold payment).

If you want to just get them paid asap, as it is something you feel is 'hanging over you', then you could simply forget the CCA requests and just continue to make the affordable offers to them. But the CCA can be your best bargaining chip for the best offers. Remember though, the CCA request does not work for the overdraft. As this is the Capquest debt, and they have not replied to your offer, then you could give them a call to see if they have received it.

wallas74

Brilliant thank you. Maybe i should just be patient, i'm probably not gaining anything by wanting to rush things through. My only thought was that it was coming up to the end of the financial year and they may possibly be open to reduced offers to get them off their books.
I'll have a think.

wallas74

My two defaults that are marked as 2015, i'm sure they were defaulted along the same time as the other two in 2013. Is it possible to have these backdated if that is the case ? It just means they would then drop off my credit file this year - i'm sure this is correct - six years from the original default ?

Willing2Learn

wallas74 wrote: »

My two defaults that are marked as 2015, i'm sure they were defaulted along the same time as the other two in 2013. Is it possible to have these backdated if that is the case ? It just means they would then drop off my credit file this year - i'm sure this is correct - six years from the original default ?

Are you saying that you were 3-6 months in arrears of your agreement back in 2013, for the two accounts that were defaulted in 2015? If so, then you are well within your rights to request that the defaults are both changed to 2013, at the point when you were 3-6 months in arrears. This would be in accordance with ICO guidelines. Because they are only guidelines, your creditors are not compelled to comply, but they must have due regard to the guidelines.

Edit: Have a look at the thread linked below. Pay particular attention to post #4, as it directly quotes the guidance.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5598629/punished-for-dmp

Although it is only guidance, the feedback has been mostly positive, when members have tried to use this guidance in this way.

wallas74

I've sent CCA requests off today, i spoke via online chat with Capquest yesterday and they are looking into the offer letter i sent them and they will be in touch soon.

The defaulted debts that are dated in 2015, i started a DMP with Stepchange in early 2013 and they were included in that, once i have a little bit of time this weekend i'll sort through my paperwork and see what evidence i have and i'll then write to Capquest and PRA Group to see why they were defaulted so late after i first defaulted on them and hopefully they'll back date them.

Thank you for the replies, i'll hopefully get on top of things soon.