Settling old debts

stu12345_2

the last reported company that collects your debt you write to 
if it's a debt collection company, they then pass your request to their client, eg the original lender.( who then replies to you)

or if it's been completely sold to another company, not a debt collection company,you write to the new owner

the website debt camel is good and the site owner who is an ex CAB advisor says if they can't find it and offer you say 90% off, then why the devil give them 10%, let alone anything  at that point.
they know they can never take you to court and win.
some pay  based on the fear that one day they will find your cca, and reduce your discount ,but debt camel site says if they can't find it within 3 months, they will never find it 

note if you have been paying £1 a month, what are the balances  now after discount, do you have the money saved up to pay them?

and your £1 a month is costing  them more in admin fees to collect, thus another reason why they want  you to make a final lump sum payment to them

jones_guitar

The balances are high.

I just play hard ball, and say 10percent. But, yes, why would you pay if can't they can't find it.

DisabledDan

A lesson for other, do not get into this £1 token payment, just wait it out for 6 years if there is unlikely to be a change in circumstances that make the debt affordable.

jones_guitar

Ok, what happens if they pass the 12 day mark, and they can not produce it? Thank you for all your help.

stu12345_2

12 days refers to an old rule, but they normally take longer, some simply acknowledge your request with 12 days  , then it can take months to find it or not

and if they blatantly ignore your request, you win cos they have technically defaulted on your legal right to demand  a copy of the cca

Floss

jones_guitar said:

Ok, what happens if they pass the 12 day mark, and they can not produce it? Thank you for all your help.

You just ignore them, don't pay anything as your debt is not enforceable until the CCA can be found.

jones_guitar

They acknowledged my emails. I guess I'll cancel the direct debits soon.

fatbelly

DisabledDan said:

A lesson for other, do not get into this £1 token payment, just wait it out for 6 years if there is unlikely to be a change in circumstances that make the debt affordable.

I agree with this. Token payments are at best a short term strategy.

I suppose people start off by making the payments, maybe encouraged by stepchange or similar, and just hope something will turn up.

It's born out of the ethos that debt is a thing to be scared of and the consequences are frightening, when the reality in the vast majority of cases is far from this.

Debt camel has written  about token offers here

https://debtcamel.co.uk/token-payment-debt/

jones_guitar

One more question, would you even bother with a follow-up letter? I saw one YouTuber do this, after 30 days I think of no reply.

sourcrates

jones_guitar said:

One more question, would you even bother with a follow-up letter? I saw one YouTuber do this, after 30 days I think of no reply.

Not much point, the 14/30 day time frames are just guidelines, in reality it will take 3/6 months before its known whether such paperwork exists or can be re-constituted or not.

The stipulation is quite clear, if not actioned within guideline timeframes the debt is unenforceable until such time the request is satisfied, however long that may be.