Debt collection agencies

Sean91 · 2 October 2017 at 1:30PM

Hi all,

I have a couple of accounts with debt collection agencies which I am paying off monthly.

They have offered me partial settlement on the accounts at 60% off the total value, should I take this or will it have a big impact on my already tarnished credit rating?

Few silly mistakes I made when I was younger.

Thanks in advance

sourcrates · 2 October 2017 at 2:17PM

Hi,

Depends, if you want to save some money, take the deal.

The account will be ,marked "partially settled" as a pose to "settled".

It depends on various other factors what impact, if any, that would have on you and future credit applications.

Car1980 · 3 October 2017 at 11:07AM

Depends if anything is listed on your file and whether you have a credit agreement. It is possible to do informal deals with powerless debt collectors where their only leverage is that they will increase the amount they feel like demanding if you stop paying them.

National_Debtline · 3 October 2017 at 11:24AM

Hi Sean91

It’s worth looking at whether defaults have been registered on your credit file for these particular debts. If a default has been registered then the debt is removed from your credit file 6 years after the date of the default. If there is no default then the debt is removed 6 years after the account is closed. If you agree to the partial settlement the debt would be removed 6 years after this.

While a fully settled debt may look better than a partially settled one, if the debt is going to drop off your credit file shortly anyway (because it’s nearly 6 years after the default was registered) it may not be that important.

You can find more information on how long information is recorded on your credit file for here https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/credit-referencing/credit-reports.aspx.

Susie
@natdebtline

Smevchenko · 3 October 2017 at 11:45AM

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi Sean91

It’s worth looking at whether defaults have been registered on your credit file for these particular debts. If a default has been registered then the debt is removed from your credit file 6 years after the date of the default. If there is no default then the debt is removed 6 years after the account is closed. If you agree to the partial settlement the debt would be removed 6 years after this.

While a fully settled debt may look better than a partially settled one, if the debt is going to drop off your credit file shortly anyway (because it’s nearly 6 years after the default was registered) it may not be that important.

You can find more information on how long information is recorded on your credit file for here https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/credit-referencing/credit-reports.aspx.

Susie
@natdebtline

I have a partially settled debt, and this will be removed 6 years from the date of the default, not 6 years from the date of the agreed partial settlement.

National_Debtline · 3 October 2017 at 3:14PM

Hi Smevchenko

I'm sorry if my response wasn't clear, I'll certainly try to clarify that. If a default has been registered the debt will always drop off 6 years after the date of the default. And if no default has been registered it will be 6 years after the account is closed.

If a partial settlement is made on a debt with a default, the debt drops off 6 years after the default. If a partial settlement is made on a debt with no default, the debt drops off 6 years after the date of the partial settlement. Apologies for any confusion.

Susie
@natdebtline

Sean91 · 3 October 2017 at 5:34PM

Thank you all for the responses.

Looking at my credit report on clear score I can't see a default some accounts just have a balance of £0 which I am guessing are the accounts that the debt collectors purchased.

These are on the closed section of my report.

Does this mean if I settle them for a partial settlement it will no longer be appearing on my report?

Sean91 · 3 October 2017 at 5:56PM

I have just taken a look on Credit Club too its a little easier to follow,

Some of my accounts are showing a lot of defaults even though I have had arrangements in place with the debt collection agency.

Am I correct in saying the default date on this is the 28/10/2011which is the date the account started ?

nic_c · 3 October 2017 at 9:48PM

Having arrangements doesn't stop the default, as the a/c was defaulted. Once paid off it should be marked as settled, but you did default

Sean91 · 3 October 2017 at 10:19PM

I defaulted but it is marked as defaulted for every single month up until now.

What I am asking is am I correct in saying it is from the first default date that it gets marked then 6 years from then it gets knocked off the report?

StopIt · 4 October 2017 at 9:13AM

Sean91 wrote: »

I defaulted but it is marked as defaulted for every single month up until now.

What I am asking is am I correct in saying it is from the first default date that it gets marked then 6 years from then it gets knocked off the report?

That is correct.

An account leaves you file 6 years after it is closed. So if it closes via default, the record will leave your file 6 years after the default. This isn't affected by any settlements etc.

Debt collection agencies

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