Full & Final Payment - Advice

jimbo26

Has anyone any experience of making an offer of full &final settlement to a DCA? I ask because I occasionally get offers from a DCA offering to accept 70%. In the past I've ignored their offer as I didn't have the money. However I am now in a position to clear the outstanding balance and was wandering what sort of percentage they would accept.

Broken_hearted

Try offering 50%, I've had lower accepted but it's very rare.

jimbo26

Thanks, that's helpful to know. I was considering the 55% mark, but will try a bit lower to start with. I have owed it for about 8 years now so they will probably be keen to get rid of it.

fatbelly

I was once involved with a court case where DLC were forced to reveal how much they had paid for a Citicard debt - the answer was 34%.

MBNA routinely offer the chance to settle at about that percentage before selling the debt on to a collector.

So that’s probably where I’d start.

Have you read the National Debtline factsheet?

yorkie1980

I owed a small amount to a DCA (£100) and rang to ask them in late December if they'd accept 50% settlement. They said no way, we'll offer you 90%.
I said I couldn't afford it and I'd just leave it as I knew they wouldn't take me to court for such a small amount. She got a bit shirty as this remark and tried bully tactics. She even asked me to send a signature on a blank piece of paper to "prove it was me she was talking to"!!

Anyway, they sent me a letter on 4th Feb (5 weeks after my call) saying they'd accept 50%. I paid it off yesterday and they confirmed it was full and final settlement and the account was closed.
I told them I was recording the call too.

Dont know if that helps at all. In my case I just had to hold fire, and like fatbelly says, it seems to be routine to offer reduced settlement amounts.