Do I still have to pay?

Firemonkey

• Hi, my first ever post, I have tried to search for this information in the search bar with no luck. I’m in a management plan with PRG group which was originally a debt with Santander, the debt has been sold a couple of times to different companies. 
• The outstanding balance is approximately £4000, I’ve been paying it back for 12 years now. I had to lower the amount to £10 a month about 15 months ago and have paid it every month without fail. So my question is this, can this be written off? If so how do I go about doing that? Thanks in advance. 

EssexHebridean

 Can you elaborate on your reasons for thinking it could be written off? Was the lending irresponsible in your view, or is your income so low that making payments against it is problematic and you have no prospect of ever clearing the debt? That might help people to make suggestions around how best to approach it, and whether you are likely to have an argument for it being written off or not. 

enthusiasticsaver

You can ask them but you need to give a reason.  No likelihood of your income increasing and affecting your mental health are sometimes reasons they will write it off. Or just stop paying the £10 a month.  Presumably if you have been paying it for 12 years the default dropped off your file ages ago. Does it show up on your credit record? 

Firemonkey

EssexHebridean said:

 A you elaborate on your reasons for thinking it could be written off? Was the lending irresponsible in your view, or is your income so low that making payments against it is problematic and you have no prospect of ever clearing the debt? That might help people to make suggestions around how best to approach it, and whether you are likely to have an argument for it being written off or not. 

It’s  simply the information that’s advertised on debt sites saying that your debt can be written off after certain amount of time. Obviously this is too good to be true but just wanted to check if there is any period of time that they can pursue it.

Firemonkey

enthusiasticsaver said:

You can ask them but you need to give a reason.  No likelihood of your income increasing and affecting your mental health are sometimes reasons they will write it off. Or just stop paying the £10 a month.  Presumably if you have been paying it for 12 years the default dropped off your file ages ago. Does it show up on your credit record? 

It’s no longer on my credit file.

sourcrates

Firemonkey said:

• Hi, my first ever post, I have tried to search for this information in the search bar with no luck. I’m in a management plan with PRG group which was originally a debt with Santander, the debt has been sold a couple of times to different companies. 
• The outstanding balance is approximately £4000, I’ve been paying it back for 12 years now. I had to lower the amount to £10 a month about 15 months ago and have paid it every month without fail. So my question is this, can this be written off? If so how do I go about doing that? Thanks in advance. 

Well the short answer is yes, but in the same vein, if you asked "could I win lotto tonight?" again the answer would be yes, as anything is possible, you need to give us reasons why you think it could be written off.

Trouble paying, ill health, old age, would all be acceptable reasons why a creditor would look to cut their losses.

Firemonkey

sourcrates said:

Firemonkey said:

• Hi, my first ever post, I have tried to search for this information in the search bar with no luck. I’m in a management plan with PRG group which was originally a debt with Santander, the debt has been sold a couple of times to different companies. 
• The outstanding balance is approximately £4000, I’ve been paying it back for 12 years now. I had to lower the amount to £10 a month about 15 months ago and have paid it every month without fail. So my question is this, can this be written off? If so how do I go about doing that? Thanks in advance. 

Well the short answer is yes, but in the same vein, if you asked "could I win lotto tonight?" again the answer would be yes, as anything is possible, you need to give us reasons why you think it could be written off.

Trouble paying, ill health, old age, would all be acceptable reasons why a creditor would look to cut their losses.

I am going treatment with Community mental health team and have been for a while, What hoops would I have jump through to have this written off. For example, would I have to give them access to medical records .

sourcrates

Debts you have been paying can be pursued forever, the limitation act only applies to debts where no payment or written acknowledgement has been made in any period of 6 years.

If you want to get a debt written off on medical/mental health grounds then there is a standard form you fill in.

You would have to have some kind of supporting evidence obviously, Doctors letter, or copies of medical reports, you don`t give them access pur-say, you choose what you want to share with them.

Its not really a question of jumping through hoops, a few posters to this forum have had success with debt write offs just by sending a letter.

enthusiasticsaver

Firemonkey said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

You can ask them but you need to give a reason.  No likelihood of your income increasing and affecting your mental health are sometimes reasons they will write it off. Or just stop paying the £10 a month.  Presumably if you have been paying it for 12 years the default dropped off your file ages ago. Does it show up on your credit record? 

It’s no longer on my credit file.

Just stop paying it then. 

Firemonkey

enthusiasticsaver said:

Firemonkey said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

You can ask them but you need to give a reason.  No likelihood of your income increasing and affecting your mental health are sometimes reasons they will write it off. Or just stop paying the £10 a month.  Presumably if you have been paying it for 12 years the default dropped off your file ages ago. Does it show up on your credit record? 

It’s no longer on my credit file.

Just stop paying it then. 

Will that not result in them sending the bailiffs out?

sourcrates

Firemonkey said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Firemonkey said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

You can ask them but you need to give a reason.  No likelihood of your income increasing and affecting your mental health are sometimes reasons they will write it off. Or just stop paying the £10 a month.  Presumably if you have been paying it for 12 years the default dropped off your file ages ago. Does it show up on your credit record? 

It’s no longer on my credit file.

Just stop paying it then. 

Will that not result in them sending the bailiffs out?

There is so much wrong in that sentence, let me just, briefly, explain the debt collection process.

You should stop paying as you cannot afford it, at the same time write to them explaining the situation you find yourself in, explain about your health issues and anything else that is relevant.

In this country bad consumer credit debts are mainly collected by debt collectors who work in a call centre, if you are unlucky, and your creditor takes legal action, and you fail to defend the claim, get a CCJ and then don`t pay what you are ordered by the court, a county court bailiff is just one option for a lender to re-claim the money, but their use is very rare.

So from you stopping payment, there are an awful lot of stages to go through before even the possibility of a bailiff.

If you write and tell them of your health issues and ask them to make a commercial decision to write off the debt, then they will probably do so, forget about consequences which won`t happen, you just need to start the process.

Did you mean PRA Group now own your debt?