Wescott/Link settlement

Clive1980

Currently have a debt of 18k off an old Halifax loan, defaulted 5 years ago.

Haven’t paid much at all in the last year or so.  Previously tested the water with a settlement offer and they came back with a 20% discount offer.

looks like Link are a bit stubborn, realistically what is the best discount I can hope for? They haven’t responded to CCA request but I am keen to clear debt so I can move on but want a favourable settlement, else it’s back to token payments.  Not sure if they’ve become a bit more generous with the cost of living crisis.

sourcrates

Clive1980 said:

Currently have a debt of 18k off an old Halifax loan, defaulted 5 years ago.

 They haven’t responded to CCA request but I am keen to clear debt so I can move on

Then your account is currently unenforceable, and you could just walk away, or remind them of this fact, and make them another offer, based on this information.

Your statutory rights were hard won, you should use them.

January2015

Hello.  I'm not around often but popped in for a catch up tonight.  My hubby had a personal loan with Halifax which had a balance of just over £16k when we went into our DMP (back in January 2015).  It was being collected by Wescot at minimal payments for a few years. The CCA was fine and we were on the hook for the debt, however they eventually accepted an offer of 10% of the balance in full and final settlement - which even after quite a few years on the DMP was still at over £16k owing.  So we paid just in excess of £1,600 to settle the account.   It did take a few offers and many years of paying either nothing for a long time or £1 per month to each of our debts to get the settlements down to low percentages. Had to play fairly hard ball but on our side was that our personal circumstances and health changed significantly (which I told them drastically changed our income) and I think our creditors saw they writing on the wall for what we would be able to pay going forward - which obviously helped when we were pushing for low settlement offers.

January2015

Just checked - and our settlement to Wescot was made end of 2018 - so just under 4 years into our DMP.  Hope this helps and good luck with organising a good settlement figure.

Rob5342

If it defaulted 5 years ago then in a year's time it will drop off your credit report irrespective of what you do with it.

The best way to get a discount is to stop paying, then they will keep offering you larger and larger discounts, but it's unenforceable so you don't have to pay anything at all.

Clive1980

Thanks for the responses.  I’ve offered approximately a third of the amount owed.  If they don’t accept then they’ll get nothing.

if the Cca shows up they can have a fiver a month.