Debt Settlement Letters Do I have to include a budget planner?

Amberelli

Hi All! 
I'd like to offer 5 creditors a full and final settlement of extremely old debts of my partners. I found some templates online - do I HAVE to complete and include a budget planner when offering the lump sum? He's been paying £1 a month for years and years and some are now are now asking for a budget planner to be completed.
I am going to be gifting the money to my partner to clear debts but the amount we have available versus the total debt, I can only pay about 15% to each.
He plans to offer this and just wait and see what they come back with.

Can you advise on whether the budget planner is essential for sending the settlement offer and also which template is best to use? Thanks!

Grumpelstiltskin

No you don't have to send a budget planner.

How old are the debts? What are they, credit cards, loans?

Have you ever let them default?

Have you requested CCAs if appropriate?

fatbelly

As above, you need to be 100% sure these are enforceable and not going statute barred. Shame about the £1 payments

The catch-22 is that enforceable debts are not likely to settle at 15% but I do understand that you are starting low.

You don't have to do anything. I like the National Debtline standard letter but if you are not sending them a budget delete that bit.

It shouldn't be that difficult to produce an income/expenditure statement that shows zero surplus

sourcrates

You should do things in such a way that the outcome is a positive one.

You don`t have to include your budget, but then they don`t have to accept your offer.

Look at this pro-actively, think about how you can achieve the best outcome for you, if you make an offer to settle, just include a budget that shows zero surplus as fatbelly has hinted at, its all about removing the barriers and making your offer seem as though its the sensible choice.

Sweeten the deal if you know what I mean.

Amberelli

Thank you all. They are debts that are about 15 years old and have been sold on from one debt collection company to another in that time.
They were defaulted originally and then a £1 a month payment set up for all after discussions.

All letters specify the company that the debt was from so I am not sure it's worth trying to go down the CCA route? (I contacted national debt helpline and they seemed to think it was not the thing to do as he's been paying and acknowledging). For the same reason they are not statute barred.

I am more than happy to complete a budget planner as it will show that there is no money surplus and therefore unless they want to carry on receiving £1 for the next 15 years, it's the sensible option to accept the offer of my gift in full and final settlement.

Is there a specific template to complete for the budget planner as the one I saw on the National Debt website included dependant details and house details etc and I would rather avoid that information being given and stick to the - 'this comes in and that goes out' -  this is the deficit structure.

We just want to get these gone now as there are constant emails, letters, texts asking for budget planners, for him to contact them or even one last year where a charging order has been granted as he didn't contact the new company who bought the debt (but we will have to deal with that separately). I find it incredibly stressful.

fatbelly

Knowing where the debt originated and knowing that the original creditor will supply an original copy of the credit agreement from 15 years ago are two very different things.

Your National Debtline rep did not seem to be following their own script

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/guides/credit-agreements-getting-information-ew/

And

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/sample-letters/information-about-your-agreement-under-consumer-credit-act/

Better to pay £1 and find the debt is unenforceable than waste time and money on other strategies.

Amberelli

Thank you @fatbelly - I will request CCAs from all creditors before making an offer.

Now, there is a charging order from 2009 which is about to be paid off and another pending (which the debt collection agency portal says has been granted - by the time we contacted them and they agreed a payment of £1 a month, they said it was too late to stop the CO (Sept 2023 and it's only now showing as 'granted October 2024) - presumably it's not worth asking for CCAs in those situations - and we just pay them off as soon as we can? Assuming there's nothing we can do for that one?

Amberelli

Just to add - I am wondering whether the latest charging order could be contested with the FCA - The debt was bought by another company but he continued to pay the agreed fee to the original lender (I think it was bouncing back into the account though). We could show that we organised a payment plan and did have intention to pay but it was the fact that the debt had been sold on that caused the issue. They DID send letters though - do you think it's worth a shot to try and get it reversed?

fatbelly

The FCA don't take up individual complaints. The FOS do, but I don't think they will take a case that has been through the court.

Your only option would be to try to set aside the underlying ccj. Again National Debtline have a fact sheet on this. For an application to be considered you have to have

• A reason why you did not respond to the court claim

• A defence with a real prospect of success

• To act promptly

you may find that you are throwing good money after bad and the pragmatic thing may be to let it sit there until it is time to sell. Have you checked whether it is a full charge or just a restriction? If a sole debt on a jointly owned property it would be the latter

sourcrates

In the hierarchy of life, a court sits at the head of the table, with any complaints mechanism sat beneath it.

Once a court has decided you owe the money, rightly or wrongly, you can no longer make a complaint, your only recourse is to apply for a set aside, but you must meet the criteria (posted above) set by the ministry of justice.

The cost has also recently risen to £305.00 per application.

So you need to decide whether its worth the time, effort and cost to do that.

Amberelli

I've filled out the budget planner and there's a deficit each month of £117. However, I've included details about rental income/mortgage. He rented out his property and moved in with me so that his mortgage was paid and he didn't lose the house (the rent JUST covers the mortgage payments/buildings insurance) so they really cancel each other out..


My concern - if I mention this in the budget planner and assets is that they will ask about equity in the property and try to get an order. Should I therefore remove all mention of this including income and expenditure for it? Are they likely to check this or just take the budget planner as face value?