DCA Settlement Counter Offers - PRA & Intrum

DJB343

Hey MSE! It's been a hot minute, alot has happened since I was last active - and you'll be happy to know I'm on the home stretch .  For those that are currently drowning in debt, make sure you stick to these forums - they have helped me through some dark times, but they ultimately gave me the tools to get myself out of the hole and on to better things!

A little bit of background - I was repaying my DMP via Stepchange for a number of years, however I decided to take matters into my own hands and deal with the remaining balance of my debt in the hope of reaching a F&F settlement.  All 5 accounts have now passed the 6 year threshold and dropped off my credit reports.   I have 2 DCA's that I'm having the pleasure of dealing with, PRA (3 accounts) and Intrum (2 accounts).  They've both received my CCA requests last year, and to my knowledge the documents I have received back make them enforcable.

Fast forward to now - I've sent F&F requests for all debt, requesting I pay 30% of the debt (low ball).  Intrum has called me, but I've refused to answer until I receive a letter.  PRA on the other hand have just sent me a counter offer, requesting I pay 60% of the debt.  To be honest, this surpised me as I've read PRA can be notoriously bad when it comes to settlements.  Anyway, with this offer in hand I decided to give them a call and asked them if we could meet half way at 45% - unfortunatly the computer said no, and when the lady put the new offer in - apparently the system came back offering me only 10% off the debt - in which I was already receiving letters with this offer for a few months prior. 

The 60% offer offer still stands up until the 5th Feb - I'm just curious to to whether it's worth fighting the long fight, or whether to accept and move on.  I understand that's ultimately my decision, but I'm intrigued to see if others have been in this sitution, and what did they do ?

For reference

MBNA - £1290.30
My offer £400 | PRA offer £774
-

Natwest - £387.78
My offer £120 | PRA offer £223
-

Barclay - £540.39
My offer £180 | PRA offer £324

PRA's current offer takes off - £897 across all 3 debts

Any insights would be really helpful, I'm tempted on just taking the offer and moving on - however a further reduction would be very much welcomed (if possible)

Look forward to any replies

DJB343

Following on from my recent post - Intrum have got back to me and it looks like they are playing hard ball.

I offered to pay 30% of the total debt (low ball), however they've come back with a offer to pay 95% of the total debt ...

For reference

Debt 1 - £1868.22
My Offer - £580 | Intrum offer - £1774.81

Debt 2 - £2137.32

My Offer - £650 | Intrum offer - £2030.46

Intrums current offer takes off - £200.27 across 2 debts

Though I expected it to not be exactly straight forward, I'm surprised to have received such a low counter offer.  I'm tempted on taking PRA up on their initial offering, however I really would like to fight Intrum with the hope on getting that number down. 

Has anyone got any advice on how I go about dealing with this new information?

Rob5342

Intrum are having a laugh, they will only have paid 10-15% for the debt in the first place. I'd walk away from that, reduce my monthly payments and try again in 6 months time.

Chasing_Squirrels

I can't offer any advice per se but one of our accounts was purchased by Intrum. The balance is just shy of 8k and they send a letter most months offering an 80% discount. We are in a token payment plan though paying £1 per month. I've often wondered if they know something we don't, but I wish they owned more of my accounts