Hoist Finance

Polarbear18

I've been contacted by Hoist Finance who have offered to knock 83% of my debt if I pay within 10 days. This seems too good to be true and I don't want to make a bad situation worse. 

sourcrates

Hi,
Is there a question in there somewhere ?

Polarbear18

Is it a genuine offer? Will me paying the 17% settle the debt? 

sourcrates

How did they contact you ?

By post, phone ?
Make sure you get everything in writing, that the remaining balance will not be chased, by them or their agents.
This is vital !!!

Polarbear18

I was contacted by post with directions on how to pay. This is what worried me as although would have the payment record, I wouldn't have anything in writing to say that the debt was settled. I am best emailing them and attaching their letter and asking them to confirm that if I pay the money I will not be contacted by them or their agents? 

fatbelly

If their opening offer is a 17% settlement  deal then there's something odd about the debt. Could it be statute barred?

RAS

How old is the debt? When did you last pay?

Polarbear18

The debt is approximately 5 years old. I'm not sure what statute barred mean? 

sourcrates

Polarbear18 said:

The debt is approximately 5 years old. I'm not sure what statute barred mean? 

Have a read of this -

Fact Sheet - Statute barred debts | Time limits for recovering debts | National Debtline

RAS

Read the link sourcrates has posted and do nothing in writing (including email) without coming back here with more information. 

Sounds like Hoist think:

it's statute barred so 17% is a lot better than nothing (which would be their legal entitlement)
or 
It's about to become statute barred and if they can panic you into making a payment in the next few days they can enforce the rest of the debt.

lordmountararat

If you're in Scotland and the debt is five years old then it is probably statute barred already.