Historic debts on long term repayment plans 26 January 2022 at 3:26PM in Loans 9 replies 211 views

JPLINCOLN

Hi have a question regarding long-standing historic repayment plans. I would appreciate the advice of the community!

Some background - In 2012 loss of a job and huge reduction in income meant that I needed to renegotiate a lot of unsecured debt.  At the time the organisations agreed to a small monthly repayment and over time as my circumstances improved, these were increased to £40 per Month for all 3.  The debts are no longer managed by the original companies - One is with Link and the other two are with Wescot.  I have never missed any payments and am happy to continue paying until the debts are cleared (Balances are very roughly now at £4K, 7k and £10K) interest is frozen on them all.  - So you can see they are quite decent agreements.

None of these items appear on my credit Karma credit report as either old defaults or open agreements 

Periodically I get asked to carry out affordability reviews and there is a possibility I could pay more based on their interpretation.  (They don't chase very hard tbh)  The question I have is what power (if any) do the organisations have to make me pay more money per month?

Thanks,

James 

Thrugelmir

How quickly do you want to improve your credit worthiness? 

[Deleted User]

They can ask but ultimately you can say no.

If they got too fed up with waiting, they could potentially go for a CCJ, putting them back on your files for another 6 years. 

JPLINCOLN

Thanks for the replies - My credit worthiness is very good these days.  I think this is because everything from back then has ultimately dropped off.
Clearly I don't want a CCJ on my record though.

[Deleted User]

Bear in mind that the original lenders are likely to still have records and you'll need to declare the debts if asked.

Clearing the debts would obviously improve your credit worthiness.

Chris_English

JPLINCOLN said:

Hi have a question regarding long-standing historic repayment plans. I would appreciate the advice of the community!

Some background - In 2012 loss of a job and huge reduction in income meant that I needed to renegotiate a lot of unsecured debt.  At the time the organisations agreed to a small monthly repayment and over time as my circumstances improved, these were increased to £40 per Month for all 3.  The debts are no longer managed by the original companies - One is with Link and the other two are with Wescot.  I have never missed any payments and am happy to continue paying until the debts are cleared (Balances are very roughly now at £4K, 7k and £10K) interest is frozen on them all.  - So you can see they are quite decent agreements.

None of these items appear on my credit Karma credit report as either old defaults or open agreements 

Periodically I get asked to carry out affordability reviews and there is a possibility I could pay more based on their interpretation.  (They don't chase very hard tbh)  The question I have is what power (if any) do the organisations have to make me pay more money per month?

Thanks,

James 

They have the power to take you to court, and a court could order you to pay the money back more quickly.

Would it not be better, if you're in an improved situation, to just up the amoungt or even pay it all off if you are able?

Nebulous2

It's not something I have direct experience of, but from what I've seen on here companies that have bought debt will often take a settlement offer which is lower than the outstanding amount.

Additionally, while as zx81 says, the original lenders are likely to have paperwork, they don't always, and in some cases historic debts aren't enforceable if they don't have adequate records. 

It might be worth posting in the debt free wannabe part of the forum. They have more experience in this area. 

PRAISETHESUN

Keep in mind that there are two different 6 year timers in play here - the 6 year timer where defaults are visible on your credit files, and a separate 6 year timer for actually enforcing the debt. Assuming a CCJ hasn't already been granted, by continuously paying the debt you keep resetting the 6 year enforcement timer so if you were to decide to just stop paying, then the lenders would be able to take you to court to get a judgement to enforce the debt. 

It possibly might be worth contacting them and asking for full and final settlement figures (which might be a substantial discount) otherwise it sounds like they are happy with the token repayments you are currently making so maybe don't rock the boat. Personally I'd rather get these debts sorted so I can move on, but everyone's circumstances are different.

Thrugelmir

JPLINCOLN said:

Thanks for the replies - My credit worthiness is very good these days.  I think this is because everything from back then has ultimately dropped off.
Clearly I don't want a CCJ on my record though.

You'll need to declare the debts whether they appear on your credit record or not. Any potential lender will factor this into their decision in terms of their internal criteria.

sourcrates

JPLINCOLN said:

Hi have a question regarding long-standing historic repayment plans. I would appreciate the advice of the community!

Some background - In 2012 loss of a job and huge reduction in income meant that I needed to renegotiate a lot of unsecured debt.  At the time the organisations agreed to a small monthly repayment and over time as my circumstances improved, these were increased to £40 per Month for all 3.  The debts are no longer managed by the original companies - One is with Link and the other two are with Wescot.  I have never missed any payments and am happy to continue paying until the debts are cleared (Balances are very roughly now at £4K, 7k and £10K) interest is frozen on them all.  - So you can see they are quite decent agreements.

None of these items appear on my credit Karma credit report as either old defaults or open agreements 

Periodically I get asked to carry out affordability reviews and there is a possibility I could pay more based on their interpretation.  (They don't chase very hard tbh)  The question I have is what power (if any) do the organisations have to make me pay more money per month?

Thanks,

James 

In answer to your original question, debt buyers/collectors have no more power than you or I do.

They can request you up your monthly payment, you are equally free to say no.

As your accounts are fairly old now, its unlikely they will still retain compliant legal paperwork, so the threat of any court action diminishes with time, but lets for example say it did happen, a court will base its judgement monthly payment according to your budget, as affordability is everything these days, so not even a court can force you to pay more than you can afford.

You may want to send CCA requests to your creditors (use Google if your unsure of that term) failure to comply with an information request renders accounts unenforceable, so you may be able to agree settlement terms on a more favourable basis.