Defaults Running Out

bcs7

It appears that all the defaults I have will run out between Feb-May 2027, so in about 18 months.
Does this make any difference when making F&F offers? Or is it not going to make any difference to creditors?
All 5 of my remaining debts have been CCA'ed and they provided the paperwork so I'm currently paying small amounts to the debts and trying to get discounts on F&F's.

sourcrates

The only difference it will make is that after 6 years all credit reporting will cease.

So any deal you do to settle your debts will not affect your credit report in any way, shape or form.

So the advice would be to settle for as little as you possibly can.

RAS

are they making any discount offers?

Rob5342

In itself it won't make any difference but as time goes on they will become more likely to want to get rid of your debts. I wouldn't be in any rush to clear them, take your time and settle for as little as you can. 

bcs7

Rob5342 said:

In itself it won't make any difference but as time goes on they will become more likely to want to get rid of your debts. I wouldn't be in any rush to clear them, take your time and settle for as little as you can. 

That's answered my main question. Basically the defaults dropping off are not going to influence what they do in terms the offers they give me. So it looks like it's just going to be a game of patience and paying not much until they start getting desperate as more time goes on.

bcs7

RAS said:

are they making any discount offers?

I've had some counter offers which range from 45% off to just 10% off.
I'm not even going to consider them until they're more than 50% off, but looking for more like 60-70% off.

This is the current state of the offers I've received:

Debt - % To pay
£770 - 40% (£308) - I've agreed this and now just have 1 last payment next month for it to be paid off.
£1200 - 90% (£1080) - a pretty poor discount, I assume because it was an overdraft and couldn't be CCAed.
£1600 - 55% (£880) - not bad but don't have the money yet, and would like it to be closer to 40%.
£4600 - 77% (£3542) - don't have enough to pay yet, and looking for below 50% anyway.
£9800 - 60% (£5880) - don't have enough to pay yet, and looking for below 50% anyway.
£16600 - 90% (£14940) - another awful discount, don't have enough to pay yet, looking for below 50% anyway.

tigergambit

bcs7 said:

RAS said:

are they making any discount offers?

I've had some counter offers which range from 45% off to just 10% off.
I'm not even going to consider them until they're more than 50% off, but looking for more like 60-70% off.

This is the current state of the offers I've received:

Debt - % To pay
£770 - 40% (£308) - I've agreed this and now just have 1 last payment next month for it to be paid off.
£1200 - 90% (£1080) - a pretty poor discount, I assume because it was an overdraft and couldn't be CCAed.
£1600 - 55% (£880) - not bad but don't have the money yet, and would like it to be closer to 40%.
£4600 - 77% (£3542) - don't have enough to pay yet, and looking for below 50% anyway.
£9800 - 60% (£5880) - don't have enough to pay yet, and looking for below 50% anyway.
£16600 - 90% (£14940) - another awful discount, don't have enough to pay yet, looking for below 50% anyway.

If you haven't got enough to pay F&Fs  it's a rather moot point anyway.

Have you resubmitted a SO A recently which takes into account the cost of living crisis which has reduced the amount you are able to pay quite considerably? (And reduced your payments proportionally).

bcs7

tigergambit said:

If you haven't got enough to pay F&Fs  it's a rather moot point anyway.

Have you resubmitted a SO A recently which takes into account the cost of living crisis which has reduced the amount you are able to pay quite considerably? (And reduced your payments proportionally).

I am trying to put aside some money to build up a pot which means that if some of the discounts get better I may be able to pay them. My lowest debt I got down to 40%, so was about £300 and in a couple of weeks I'll pay the final instalment which means it's gone. That was with Intrum.
The remaining 5 are all with Link. The lowest of those is an overdraft debt so couldn't be CCAed but they are being stubborn with a 90% offer. If they were to bring that down to 30-40%, I'd likely be able to pay that in a few months too which would knock another off.

In the last few months I've already halved what I was paying to all the debts (from £180 to £90) as a result of cost of living and also hoping the lower payments will encourage them to offer bigger discounts.

Makingabobor2

We have found that when we didn't have enough money to accept any F&F deals with them, they kept sending them, for things like 30%.  Now we are in a better financial position, every time I write to offer them an amount, they come back with stupid replies like 90% etc.  Would just really like them settled and done with now, as at the amount we are paying it will still take us years to pay them all and I am not getting any younger....already on a pension

bcs7

tigergambit said:

Have you resubmitted a SO A recently which takes into account the cost of living crisis which has reduced the amount you are able to pay quite considerably? (And reduced your payments proportionally).

Makingabobor2 said:

We have found that when we didn't have enough money to accept any F&F deals with them, they kept sending them, for things like 30%.  Now we are in a better financial position, every time I write to offer them an amount, they come back with stupid replies like 90% etc.

I should say that they have no idea what my financial position is, as I've never filled in any of their affordability assessments even though they've asked for them. 
Although they always word it as them needing to know the payments are affordable, it's clearly a way for them to see what your finances are to get as much out of you as possible.

sourcrates

bcs7 said

I should say that they have no idea what my financial position is, as I've never filled in any of their affordability assessments even though they've asked for them. 

Although they always word it as them needing to know the payments are affordable, it's clearly a way for them to see what your finances are to get as much out of you as possible.

That may or may not be the case, but the FCA introduced improved guidance on treating those in debt fairly some years ago.

So to keep in line with FCA rules on affordability, they must ask you if any payments or lump sums settlements are affordable to you, and to enquire about the source of any settlement funds to make certain you are not paying off one debt with another.