PRA Partial Settlement

JohnStHelens

Hi. This is my first post on here.
I entered into a DMP around 3 years ago for multiple credit cards. I have since sold my house and have money to pay a good chunk off so contacted the debtors myself seeking 'partial' settlements. One debt was with Morrcroft who have accepted £2K for a debt of £2,900 which I have today paid.
Back in November I contacted PRA who hold the other 4 debts at a total of £16.5K, but the discount they offered was around 5% - compared to the almost 33% from Moorcroft seems very poor.  Has anyone had any luck with PRA in gaining any better deal? I have read through various forums and will be requesting paperwork in the meantime from PRA to determine if the debt is enforceable. My DMP management company informed me that the discount they can get from PRA is very minimal and wouldn't be able to improve on my 5%.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
John

sourcrates

Hi,

Unfortunatly PRA group appear to be a law unto themselves when it comes to settlement deals, they are few and far between.

I must also add that you should not settle any debts unless you obtain the creditors agreement in writing, not to chase any remaining balance, this is essential, as otherwise they can quite legally come after you for the rest of the money, and most likley will do.

danielhewson1

PRA negotiated with me and accepted 71% of the debt in a partial settlement fee.

tigergambit

JohnStHelens said:

Hi. This is my first post on here.
I entered into a DMP around 3 years ago for multiple credit cards. I have since sold my house and have money to pay a good chunk off so contacted the debtors myself seeking 'partial' settlements. One debt was with Morrcroft who have accepted £2K for a debt of £2,900 which I have today paid.
Back in November I contacted PRA who hold the other 4 debts at a total of £16.5K, but the discount they offered was around 5% - compared to the almost 33% from Moorcroft seems very poor.  Has anyone had any luck with PRA in gaining any better deal? I have read through various forums and will be requesting paperwork in the meantime from PRA to determine if the debt is enforceable. My DMP management company informed me that the discount they can get from PRA is very minimal and wouldn't be able to improve on my 5%.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
John

The whole partial settlement side of debt is a game in itself. I managed to settle with PRA a few weeks ago for 23% ( 77% off), an offer they had refused but most others had accepted 20 months earlier. My circumstances are worse than many but it doesn't make a lot of sense. Details were posted in this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6599735/mortgage-dmp-and-looming-retirement#latest

I guess I caught them on a good day!

sourcrates

PRA Group as a whole are under pressure due to continued debt funded portfolio purchases and a weaker than expected improvement in collection efficiency, according to the net.

They are also experiencing a significant increase in legal collection costs, they need to maintain a 60% cash efficiency ratio, apparently, and they are currently below that figure.

All of which could explain the softer approach to settlement offers we are seeing at present.

So if you have debt with PRA Group, and you`re looking or hoping to settle, now is the time to act.