2020 - 'Nothing in your life will change until you make the decision to change'

Sarahwithlove

Sounds like a good idea to me

jwil

remote_control said:

Sounds like a good plan!

Thank you.  Fingers crossed!

jwil

Sarahwithlove said:

Sounds like a good idea to me

Thank you.  At least you're not all telling me off  

jwil

Letters written.  I will post them later. I've offered essentially 100 x what they are getting as a monthly payment.  I'm not expecting anything, as I think all of them are still with the original creditor, but some are being managed externally.  It will be interesting to see if any counter offer though.

welshspendthrift

jwil said:

Letters written.  I will post them later. I've offered essentially 100 x what they are getting as a monthly payment.  I'm not expecting anything, as I think all of them are still with the original creditor, but some are being managed externally.  It will be interesting to see if any counter offer though.

I will be interested to see how you get on, as I have some back pay coming so could perhaps do this on one or 2 debts. I wonder if there is a recommended % that should be offered? Although I think paying off the debt in full will give me greater satisfaction and learning ( not to accrue debt again) but then again if I worked out the amount of interest paid over the years, that would probably alleviate the guilt of not paying it all . 

jwil

welshspendthrift said:

jwil said:

Letters written.  I will post them later. I've offered essentially 100 x what they are getting as a monthly payment.  I'm not expecting anything, as I think all of them are still with the original creditor, but some are being managed externally.  It will be interesting to see if any counter offer though.

I will be interested to see how you get on, as I have some back pay coming so could perhaps do this on one or 2 debts. I wonder if there is a recommended % that should be offered? Although I think paying off the debt in full will give me greater satisfaction and learning ( not to accrue debt again) but then again if I worked out the amount of interest paid over the years, that would probably alleviate the guilt of not paying it all . 

My offers are just over 10% - there's no way they'll accept them.  I cleared one at around 30% before, so it can vary.  Some won't accept discounts at all, or only small ones.  I think it often depends on how quickly they are likely to get their money back if you continue to pay the agreed amount.

I have had these accounts for years and have paid so much in interest and charges over the years, I've paid the balances many times over.  I don't have any qualms now.  I know I have paid back what I initially borrowed and probably much more than that. I still have a tendency to be a bit spendy if I have 'spare' money, but I have learnt my lesson about spending on credit.

Kitten868

This was always the goal. And as you say they aren't all going to accept and even if they did you don't have to go through with it. I think you're doing the right thing. You've waited and you've got the right time of year. I'm thinking you may prune one or two whilst keeping your pot mainly intact. I remember how freeing you found it when you got rid of one of them so I think it would really build you up. 
I think once this reaches its conclusion you should also consider looking at one of the home improvements. Whether it's the windows or the electrics. You've worked hard to get to this point. You're doing brilliantly xxx

Sarahwithlove

I think lowest I have heard of is 30% of debt. But most want 50% these days if not all of it. Good luck hopefully you'll get some counteroffers 

HairyHandofDartmoor

jwil said:

I swear I can't be trusted with money   I've been sitting here this morning calculating how much money I can gather together for F&F offers on my debts. I'll never have savings at this rate!  Anyway, I'm thinking that I'm going to send a very low offer to each of my creditors just testing the water.  I don't expect any will accept, but of course it would be nice if they did, but they might counter offer which would give me an idea of the sort of discount they might offer.  I keep seeing that the end of the financial year is a good time for discounts.  I figure I've got nothing to lose, and maybe a cleared debt to gain.  If none come back with anything decent, then I'll just carry on as normal and maybe try again next year.

I think you should give it a go, as you say you've got nothing to lose 😀.

I didn't feel guilty at paying my debts via F&F offers as I'd paid back the original loan about three times when I included interest and charges 😡. As you know we paid 50% of what we owed, but we could have maybe offered less. I did get £3,000 back in missold PPI from one of my creditors after the debt was satisfied though 🤣.

jwil

Kitten868 said:

This was always the goal. And as you say they aren't all going to accept and even if they did you don't have to go through with it. I think you're doing the right thing. You've waited and you've got the right time of year. I'm thinking you may prune one or two whilst keeping your pot mainly intact. I remember how freeing you found it when you got rid of one of them so I think it would really build you up. 
I think once this reaches its conclusion you should also consider looking at one of the home improvements. Whether it's the windows or the electrics. You've worked hard to get to this point. You're doing brilliantly xxx

Thank you, it would be nice to clear one maybe.  If by some miracle they all accepted, I'd find that money by hook or by crook   
We'll definitely be getting some of the work done once lockdown ends, even if it's just the kids room to start with.  We'll get the window changed and the electrics there sorted.  We'll have to do the fuse box at the same time I'm sure, but that should be manageable.  If we do nothing else this year, at least we can give them a nice room!

Sarahwithlove said:

I think lowest I have heard of is 30% of debt. But most want 50% these days if not all of it. Good luck hopefully you'll get some counteroffers 

I have seen really low offers accepted in the past - as low as 10%.  I think because mine are all still with the original creditors though, I'll probably be lucky to get a discount of 10%.  I'm interested to see whether they offer anything though.

HairyHandofDartmoor said:

jwil said:

I swear I can't be trusted with money   I've been sitting here this morning calculating how much money I can gather together for F&F offers on my debts. I'll never have savings at this rate!  Anyway, I'm thinking that I'm going to send a very low offer to each of my creditors just testing the water.  I don't expect any will accept, but of course it would be nice if they did, but they might counter offer which would give me an idea of the sort of discount they might offer.  I keep seeing that the end of the financial year is a good time for discounts.  I figure I've got nothing to lose, and maybe a cleared debt to gain.  If none come back with anything decent, then I'll just carry on as normal and maybe try again next year.

I think you should give it a go, as you say you've got nothing to lose 😀.

I didn't feel guilty at paying my debts via F&F offers as I'd paid back the original loan about three times when I included interest and charges 😡. As you know we paid 50% of what we owed, but we could have maybe offered less. I did get £3,000 back in missold PPI from one of my creditors after the debt was satisfied though 🤣.

That's my thinking too.  At worst I just continue as I am.

I agree, I've paid so much, I was constantly getting late or missed payment fees, overlimit charges.  This was going on for years before I finally sorted myself out.  Plus the interest rates were huge on them all.   I'd happily go for 50% on mine, possibly not right now though.

That's great about the PPI.  I had one account - they wrote it off when I requested the CCA.  That was amazing on it's own, but then I also got a big PPI refund from them too!   That cleared one of my other ones