Full & Final Settlement on DMP

debtwarrior100

Hi I have a DMP through stepchange. I have inherited some money and am thinking about making an offer for an F+FS. I have seven creditors. I understand it is risky paying off some and not others as those who haven't been paid off may feel they have been treated unfairly making it more difficult to negotiate, or they could even take action. Based on this I feel it is my best bet to see if I can make an offer to all creditors. What I really want to know is: 

Should I write to them all directly and negotiate myself OR ask stepchange to negotiate on my behalf. Stepchange have been really helpful up until now. What concerns me is that they are funded by creditors. Are they REALLY acting completely within my best interests? Creditors like them and when people are in debt they are more likely to negotiate with debtors engaged with stepchange. That, however makes me a little suspicious. 

fatbelly

I'm assuming you posted on the bankruptcy board by mistake.

You should make offers yourself AFTER doing cca requests on all relevant debts.

The usual guidance applies: start low, make the first offer in writing, don't make payment until the deal is confirmed in writing

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/credit-agreements-getting-information-ew/

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/sample-letters/full-and-final-settlement-offer/

thewad

I was on a DMP and paid about 80% of my debt off this way....managed to start a successful self employed business and paid the last 20% off in one go.....didn't go down the F andF S route as I felt they had been more than fair with me given how much I owed them.

sourcrates

Asked for your thread to be moved to the correct forum.

sourcrates

This gets asked a lot on here, and I always give the same answer.

Stepchange are very good at what they are there to do, manage debt plans to make it easier for those with minimal knowledge of debt management, to live their life and get out of debt, as long as you fit within there modus operandi, all is well.

If you want to start making settlement offers, this is where it gets a trifle tricky, they would expect you to pay them the money, and they would "consult" with your creditors to see what they might accept in full and final settlement.

There would be little in the way of negotiation, and they may use up all your cash and still leave you owing.

It`s not an option I would chose, as you have no control over matters going forward, and control is everything in these circumstances, it`s something I would only trust myself to do.

Fatbelly provides advice and links above.

debtwarrior100

Thanks so much @fatbelly and @sourcrates. I will go with your advise. Can I ask what is the benefit of making cca requests? Could it cause my creditor to become difficult? 

debtwarrior100

Its this part of the letter that makes me nervous "I understand that, under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account." I don't want to rile my creditors...

Grumpelstiltskin

Why do you think your creditors will be difficult?

You are just a number to them, they deal with hundreds of people in your situation every day.

fatbelly

You are exercising a statutory right.

If they can't provide a copy of the original agreement it's game over

tigergambit

debtwarrior100 said:

Hi I have a DMP through stepchange. I have inherited some money and am thinking about making an offer for an F+FS. I have seven creditors. I understand it is risky paying off some and not others as those who haven't been paid off may feel they have been treated unfairly making it more difficult to negotiate, or they could even take action. Based on this I feel it is my best bet to see if I can make an offer to all creditors. What I really want to know is: 

Should I write to them all directly and negotiate myself OR ask stepchange to negotiate on my behalf. Stepchange have been really helpful up until now. What concerns me is that they are funded by creditors. Are they REALLY acting completely within my best interests? Creditors like them and when people are in debt they are more likely to negotiate with debtors engaged with stepchange. That, however makes me a little suspicious. 

Hi DW100,

Just want to wish you well with this. I started down this road at the end of July and still haven't resolved anything so be prepared for an extended process. Three creditors (of 6) have still to provide the CCAs and two of those haven't responded at all. Even Tesco Bank who were first to provide CCA haven't replied to my F&F made on 14 August!

Regarding Stepchange I am with PayPlan and have kept them informed at every step. They aren't happy that I have stopped payments (even though this has been agreed with the creditors) and have actually been pursuing me harder than any creditor. They are now threatening to cancel our agreement. They can if they like as I'm going to continue to follow the strategy outlined above.

TG

sourcrates

debtwarrior100 said:

Its this part of the letter that makes me nervous "I understand that, under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account." I don't want to rile my creditors...

I have yet to see a computer get "riled", as 90% of the time its the computer you deal with.

Section 77/79 of the consumer credit act is there to be used as one of your statutory rights, you cannot be penalised for that, you are but an account number to them anyway, nothing more.

As has been said many times before, the best time to use section 77 is with quite old accounts that have been sold on at least once, or prior to making a settlement offer, this allows you to ascertain your position as to whether the debt is enforceable or not.

No point in throwing money away on an unenforceable debt is there, if they can`t provide what they are supposed to according to guidance, then you can just walk away.