Debt Managers Ltd and other debts

clairaloulah

Hello there. I am hoping for some help or advice...
Several years ago I fell into serious money troubles, resulting in debts of approximately £8500. For a couple of years I had help from StepChange, as my problems were largely due to poor mental health, and they arranged token payments of £1 per month to each of the creditors.
Recently I have come into a small windfall of around £4000, and I'd like to take back responsibility for my finances and get my debts cleared so I have a new opportunity to start fresh and build up my credit so that I may even be able to get a mortgage one day. I understand that many creditors will accept a token amount of money as a 'full and final' payment to clear the debts, so I would like to try and arrange this. I signed up to Experian for a free month to see my credit report. My creditors are:
Vanquis
Capital One
STA International 
Bristol and Sutor
Simply Be - although this seems now to be under Debt Managers Limited
Does anyone have experience of doing this? The plan will fall on its face if not all of the creditors agree to an offer, as there is not enough to pay everyone the full amount. 
I'd be really grateful for any advice. I know it was bad to get myself into this position in the first place so please don't get in touch just to tell me that, but if you can offer some help I'd really appreciate it.
Many thanks.
Kind regards,
Claire

[Deleted User]

Just FYI you can see your free report via MSE Credit Club, ensure you cancel Experian before they bill you
Clear Score and Credit Karma are the other 2 you can use

clairaloulah

Great, thank you

sourcrates

You say several years ago, how long since you made payment to any of these debts ?

Also Bristol and suitor are certified bailiffs, they normally chase outstanding council tax debt via a liability order from the council, you must have had correspondence about this one ?

It would be a priority debt, the rest are not.


National Debtline provide a good example of a template letter for settlement offers, it can be found here -

Sample Letter - Settlement offer | Sample letter | National Debtline | National Debtline

We need to establish if they are statute barred or not first, the debt with the bailiff is a priority as stated earlier, the rest, if already defaulted, you should send a CCA request to establish the debts legal status, they may be unenforceable.

Should you decide to make offers, you can start really low, about 10-20% of outstanding balance, you can always increase your offer, never fire your first shot with your best offer, build up to it.

This is more of a marathon rather than a sprint, it can take a while to reach an outcome.

clairaloulah

Thank you for this info. I am actually making payments of £10 per month to Bristow and Sutor - this debt originated as a result of an unpaid parking ticket - ridiculous, I know. The rest I haven't done anything with for at least a couple of years. Sorry if this is a daft question - what is a CCA? 
The sample letter is exactly what I was after, thank you.

[Deleted User]

clairaloulah said:

Thank you for this info. I am actually making payments of £10 per month to Bristow and Sutor - this debt originated as a result of an unpaid parking ticket - ridiculous, I know. The rest I haven't done anything with for at least a couple of years. Sorry if this is a daft question - what is a CCA? 
The sample letter is exactly what I was after, thank you.

CCA is the original credit agreement, the debt collector must have this to enforce the debt