Old debt, charge on house but most of it was bank charges and interest
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Gillsfan
Posts: 48 Forumite
Okay, so am certainly not trying to excuse my stupidity at the time but back in 1998, I had a 2k MBNA credit card debt. I had my then pregnant gf to take care of and tried to arrange a payment plan through a debt plan company to act on my behalf (back then they took a hefty fee for the trouble too!).
Their advice was to ignore the letters stop paying it, as it was unsecured and they would write to them to negotiate. Fast forward a rocky couple of years on a low wage having a family and I have a CCJ that turned into a charge on the house.
Original credit card debt was £2k.. MBNA then added each month charges and interest, that accrued until the debt was taken legal and I had a CCJ for £4k
The court then added on legal costs and interest that took it to £7200. The charge was then applied and I made token payments since.
Now.. nearly 20 years later, I want to take care of it. Being much older, but not much wiser I am wondering if I stand a chance of getting this reduced at all since so much were charges and interest.
I have a lot of paperwork from back then, so can probably provide whats needed but am wondering how do I remove the charge.. or is it a negotiation with the debt company?
Any advice appreciated.. I kept it to basics early on but can provide more specifics if it helps
Thanks for any help given.. I very much know I have been a fool
Their advice was to ignore the letters stop paying it, as it was unsecured and they would write to them to negotiate. Fast forward a rocky couple of years on a low wage having a family and I have a CCJ that turned into a charge on the house.
Original credit card debt was £2k.. MBNA then added each month charges and interest, that accrued until the debt was taken legal and I had a CCJ for £4k
The court then added on legal costs and interest that took it to £7200. The charge was then applied and I made token payments since.
Now.. nearly 20 years later, I want to take care of it. Being much older, but not much wiser I am wondering if I stand a chance of getting this reduced at all since so much were charges and interest.
I have a lot of paperwork from back then, so can probably provide whats needed but am wondering how do I remove the charge.. or is it a negotiation with the debt company?
Any advice appreciated.. I kept it to basics early on but can provide more specifics if it helps
Thanks for any help given.. I very much know I have been a fool
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Comments
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or is it a negotiation with the debt company?
Charges and interest are a fact of life.
However, if you were to offer a lump sum repayment, they may be willing to cancel some of the debt. Most do.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
Charges and interest are a fact of life.
However, if you were to offer a lump sum repayment, they may be willing to cancel some of the debt. Most do.
Very much understood, my attitude is I accrued it.. I pay it, but if there is an option of reducing the debt due to charges then it would really help
Will def try an offer though, thanks for the comment0 -
You might wish to try offering 25% and letting them know, provided it's true, that you still don't have any expectation of leaving the property. Twenty years on and some money beats waiting until you're dead and inflation has continued it's remorseless march to making the amount they would eventually get worthless.
They would need to get £11,820 off you just to get the RPI inflation adjusted amount that they started off with twenty years ago.0 -
Good point James! Worth a try0
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