📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Trying to get free and out of DMP

Hi, i have been in a DMP with payplan for around 12 years, and still have a long way to go. I potentially may have a gift being offered to partially pay off some of my debt, but the giftor is keen to keep it as a low as possible. I still have £20k to pay off,paying £80  a month, to 11 creditors. How would i go about trying to find a reasonable settlement figure please? Is it worth me asking for CCAs for them all? I've read about some people doing this and then getting a CCJ. My credit file is currently clean as the debts are so old, so am desperate not to derail it. My two biggest debts, at 10k in total are both with link, and I've heard they are hard to negotiate with? So was thinking of offering some money to the the smaller ones (4 are with lovell and around £2k in total) but am wary that it could annoy others. Help, I don't know the best way out of this. 

I want to apply for a mortgage in around 5 years, so need a clean credit file. 
Any advice much appreciated thankyou 

Comments

  • RAS
    RAS Posts: 35,798 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The starting points for any old debt is that you send a CCA letter to the current "owner". If they can not produce this the debt is unenforceable.

    In some cases it may be appropriate to make affordability claims. If Buggins increased your limit every time you reached close to it, it's most likely they need to repay some of the interest etc. Debt Camel are your best source of information on this. An OP here recently reduced the amount owed by over 30% average over three debts.
    If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing
  • Grumpelstiltskin
    Grumpelstiltskin Posts: 5,553 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Don't rush into making any payments or indeed don't think about making offers at the moment.

    Stop paying and send CCA requests, if any of them do come back with valid CCAs then start with an offer of 20%.

    CCJs don't just appear out of thin air the creditor have to go through a legal procedure, the only slight problem may be if they don't have your current address.

    They have to send a letter by snail mail and if they haven't produced a valid CCA that is your defence and no CCJ, but if for any reason the letter is sent to a different address and you can't  defend then a CCJ can be issued.

    Don't worry about that at the moment as it is only a slight possibility and way down the line.
    If you go down to the woods today you better not go alone.
  • Rob5342
    Rob5342 Posts: 2,442 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Getting the best outcome will take time. To start with ask for CCAs, if they can't produce it then you can ignore those debts completely. If they can then make a low offer, if they reject that the put your payments down to a small token amount and try again in 6 months. 
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 31,703 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    Making a request for information under sec 77/79 CCA is a statutory right under the consumer credit act.

    You cannot be penalised for these actions, and there is no link between exercising your rights and creditors taking legal action, its pure fantasy.

    If they don`t possess the correct legal paperwork, they cannot take legal action anyway, lenders do not do things out of spite or "throw their toys out of the pram" decisions are mostly automated, with cost to spend ratio been the bottom line here.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
  • ManyWays
    ManyWays Posts: 1,431 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper
     My credit file is currently clean as the debts are so old, so am desperate not to derail it.
    Making CCA requests will not affect your credit record, whether or not the CCA irs produced. It is only a CCJ that could and it isnt peoples experience here that a  CCA being produced leads to a CCJ being applied for. 

    These are pretty old debts so asking for the CCAs seems like a good idea to me; you cant guess which will be produced and which wont. I personally don't see the 

    I am afraid this whole process is uncertain, no one can say what the best amount to offer is or which creditors are most likely to be able to produce the CCA. But if you want to minimise the amount your relative may need to pay, then CCA requests followed by a settlement offer only to those that do produce the CCA making it clear the money is not yours and comes from a relative seems like the best way forward. 
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.3K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.8K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 599.6K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.1K Life & Family
  • 257.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.