Advice on dealing with creditors please

overdrawn_of_redditch

I am currently just over £15000 in debt. Except for a mail order bill which I am struggling to pay. I have been making regular payments to all other creditirs and have never missed any payments. My credit rating is not the best but as I don't want any more debt I am not overly concerned. My husband is giving me £15000 to help pay off my debts on the understanding I save £200 a month for family holidays and give him £250 a month to help towards the mortgage. I am more than happy to do this as I am currently forking out about £700. I have to get my debts to below £15000 as I will not be able to continue to pay any shortfall. What are the chances of my debtors accepting a lower amount for a full and final settlement?. One of my loans was for £5500 (beneficial finance) I have paid over £3000 back and they are asking for £4400 to clear the loan. Although I appreciate that they need to make a living and that there are certain early resettlement clauses, is there any way I can get them to bring it down to about 3500 they have still made £1000 from me. I have told them that I will struggle to make any further payments? Can anybody advise if I have any rights at all in this and what is the best way to go about it all.

GeorgeUK

If your debts are still with the original creditor then i'm not sure you can really do much as the contract will have the terms well laid out. When you repay a loan early, there is an early settlement fee - you won't be paying as much as you would if you went full term on the loan though. For the loan, are you currently paying PPI on this? If so, i'd advise stopping it.

I'd have a look at the reclaiming options, both PPI and CC charges. The court case for bank charges is still to be decided, but you could make a start on reclaiming if it's applicable.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/

Poosmate

overdrawn_of_redditch wrote: »

I am currently just over £15000 in debt.......... My husband is giving me £15000 to help pay off my debts............

I don't understand the problem!

You have (just over) £15k of debt, your husband is giving you £15K to pay it off. What's the problem?

Oh! I see what the problem is..... it's not that you can't pay the debt - you just don't want to!!!

You spent it - now PAY IT BACK!

People like you really annoy me! There are many people on this site who are desperately in need of help and advice on clearing their debts that they are really struggling to pay - but they still pay them.

To come on here and blatently state that you don't want to pay the money you spent is an insult to every decent person on here!

Don't be so deceitful (to the creditors AND your husband)! PAY UP!!

Poo

overdrawn_of_redditch

How rude!

These forums don't need people like you who sit and judge people without knowing their full situation.
The forum is here for people to seek impartial help, advice and support not be lectured by the ignorant.
You should be ashamed of yourself.

GeorgeUK

It was a very straightforward question.

OP has £15k available - debts are more than £15k. Is there a way to balance the two? We don't need a life story to say what the options are or how to see if there are any possible savings to be made.

Poosmate - get off your soapbox. OP has already made it clear in the post that they want to pay off the debts but are not sure how to do so as there are not enough funds available for the full debt.

overdrawn_of_redditch

Fair enough, but people like that have no right to jump down your throat when you are stressed: struggling to pay off debts regardless of how they were obtained. That attitude is not encouraging for people who are already traumatised and embarrased by their situation.
Any way as I was saying I am more than happy to pay all my bills. My hubby is not just handing over 15k with a big smile on his face. I have to pay towards the mortgage for next 9 years in penance for my financial incompetence. I just wanted to know if I had any negotiating power with the settlement figures without leaving anybody out of pocket and ensuring I can clear all my old debts and not have to struggle to clear any overspill. (My hubby will kill me if I receive any statements at all) and I don't blame him.

overdrawn_of_redditch

Thanks George UK

GeorgeUK

Something you may want to look at for any residual debt is 0% BT cards.

You may be able to get one (such as Virgin Money) which offers 0% interest for 15 months. This should allow you to deal with what's left over if the debt isn't too high. There is a 3% fee for the initial Transfer and 1st month is also 3% minimum payment, but after that only £25pm. Might be worth looking at - if you don't think your credit rating is going to be good enough, possibly asking hubby is an option if you can show him you will be able to make the payments etc.

Try the snowball calculator too to see how long it will take.

Poosmate

I'm not being rude or ignorant - I say it as I see it.

How can you say you will struggle to make further payments when your husband has given you the money to pay the debt?

If you don't want to pay the extortionate settlement fee then don't settle that debt! Either negotiate them down to a figure you agree with or work out how many more payments are left and open another bank account put some of the £15k in to cover those payments, set up the DD and forget about it. That money will earn a bit of interest for you whilst you pay off the debt.

You clearly state in your original post that you are hoping to pay off less than you owe,

"What are the chances of my debtors accepting a lower amount for a full and final settlement?"

If these debts are credit cards you will have to pay the full amount owing then they stop charging you interest.

If they are loans then you have to accept that they always offer a full and final settelment which is more than you actually owe - it's their compensation for the lack of interest you would have paid had you followed the loan through it's natural course to the final payment.

I stand by what I said. You are in a much better situation to pay off your debts than many of the people who visit this site.

As Incisor said, it's your lack of clarity that has caused any mis-understanding. Your post does infer that you would rather not pay all that you owe even though you have the means to do so.

Poo

p.s. I'm a she not a he.

overdrawn_of_redditch

I do not have any financial connection to the mortgage and my husband has actually re mortgaged to get this money, hence the reason I will pay it back to him. These debts built up in the past when I was on a very low income and struggling to make ends meet with 2 young children then snowballed. I am not proud of them and just want to clear them up. I am well aware of how lucky I am to be in this situation. I will still have to pay the debt back but will struggle if I am paying back the 15k and any other loan. I just wanted to know if I could pay off everything. I will not actually see this money he is taking control of everything. Thanks for all the good advice.

rog2

overdrawn_of_redditch wrote: »

What are the chances of my debtors accepting a lower amount for a full and final settlement?. One of my loans was for £5500 (beneficial finance) I have paid over £3000 back and they are asking for £4400 to clear the loan.

Have you actually 'defaulted' on this loan? It is, as George says, much easier to negociate 'Full and Final Settlements' when either the loan is in default, or has been passed/sold on to a debt collection agency.

However, and based on the assumption that 'if you don't ask you won't get', it may be worth trying to negociate a 'F&F' with beneficial finance, but first you should let them know that you are not in a position to continue the normal monthly payments - assuming that is the case.
Also, the road to achieving 'Full and Final Settlements' is far from straightforward - many creditors/dcas will tempt you with 'settlement' and 'partial settlement' offers that lull you into a fase sense of feeling that you have, indeed, cleared your debt, only to pursue you, after a couple of years, for the balance, on the 'technicality' that you only made a partial settlent payment.
You would be best advised to talk to National Debtline - 0808 808 4000 or CCCS - 0800 138 1111 about your overall situation, but you should, and certainly before making any final settlement offers, at least read the following link:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers