Hello. I am in the fortunate position to be able to pay off some of my previous creditors in full. What is the best way of doing this, I am thinking a letter explaining I am settling the balance in full, attaching a cheque and asking for a receipt. Would this be the best way to approach the situation?

Yes, I had thought of that, should be a non issue as my plan of action is to F&F anyway. I was reading the previous F&F offer made by Apex last year (which I couldn't afford at the time so never went ahead), everything seems fine, though I noticed their offer was to update the credit file (if relevant) and mark the account as partially satisfied. Now I know the general advice is to get agreement that the file will be marked as settled in full. However as none of these debts including Apex show on my file - would it really matter any more what we agree in terms of the CRA?

Okay, thanks. Another question, let's say, for arguments sake, I stop paying the creditors, CCA request them and go ahead with the house purchase. I now own my home, with a 65% deposit and the remainder I am paying on a mortgage. If one of the creditors realises I now have an asset, is the only way they can try and claim a stake and/or try to secure the debt against the house to go through the county court and apply for a CCJ?

Hi DX. Thanks for the reply, please understand that I am considering all options at the moment and F&F is one of them, though I've not yet committed to a plan of action. If the above is true, then is there any point in including the terms in the F&F letter that the creditor must mark my default as settled if there is no default on my CRA?

Thanks for the reply, so just so I can get my head around the CRA business. If the default was applied in say 2006/2007 it would show on my file as a 'D' or Default at that point. Then each month thereafter, it would update, so would it show a 'D' each month or would it show the amount that I was repaying each month, but the line of credit itself would be recorded as defaulted? So even though I am still repaying these debts to this very day, which defaulted well over six years ago, no repayment information whatsoever will be on my credit file for these creditors? i.e. the Creditors are not reporting this any longer to the CRA or the CRA are not accepting any reporting from the creditors because the account defaulted and now six years has passed since that date? Does my question make sense? I'm trying to get my head around why none of these creditors are on my credit file any longer. I understand the default dropping off, but there is still effectively a balance which I am repaying, so I thought this information could be reported still to the CRA?

Thanks for the replies, I'll pick up on some of the other questions/points tomorrow when I have chance. The defaults/debts no longer exist on my CRA records, so paying them off won't improve my credit score, it would just resolve the outstanding debt. Here is a question for you though.... In the F&F letter, it asks the creditor to mark the debt as satisfied/settled and the account closed. Am I asking for trouble by including this on the F&F letter if the account no longer shows anyway? As in, would it make a reappearance if the original creditor was to update their records? I don't want to damage my credit rating which is now much repaired and better.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it may perhaps be more tricky when it comes to dealing with DCA and the non legal owners of a debt. However if I approach two of the debt buyers (and I do have notification letters from both the OC) and they agree to the F&F then they cannot surely pass any debt on to anyone else. If the legal owner of the debt agrees to the F&F and a third party sends payment then surely any comeback would be pure folly on the part of the pursuer? At that stage I'd quite happily fight the issue. Also, I wouldn't plan on telling the mortgage lender, as by the point of application, I would have settled the debts anyway, so there would be no debts to divulge. If I'm correct, the CCA defence is all around the wording on the original CCA document, correct? So, I would need to get my hands on the original CCA, let someone on here inspect it, to cast opinion on whether it's valid, then stop paying the debt, assuming the CCA was deemed invalid, then what, let the creditor chase me and perhaps risk a court case over whether it's enforceable? I'm nots sure I want to risk it if I am honest. Here is a question, if I defaulted on these debts over six years ago, the default drops off my file, but does the account remain on my file? So will existing and new creditors see these old debts? If so, the mortgage lender is going to see the debts anyway.... When you say your neighbour wiped 74% off his debt, did he get written confirmation from the DCA, debt owner or OC stating they would no longer pursue the debt or something along those lines? I have exhausted all reclaiming in regards to PPI and charges, so that only leaves the CCA as a defence not to repay and as I say, I do owe this money, which is why I felt the F&F was a fair compromise, I pay a proportion back and for that I then in theory have a clean slate with no further issues. If anything was to rear it's head then I would just refer to the F&F agreement, which I would ensure is from the OC or the legal owner, then tell the new pursuer to get lost and at that point I wouldn't at all object to fighting the case in court as I would be able to demonstrate to the judge that I was debtor with integrity that had religiously repaid over the past eight years, offered a F&F, which was accepted and now someone is attempting to pursue for the remainder. The little bit of case law that I have read around this area suggests that if you have a letter confirming F&F from the OC or debt owner then it is pretty water tight, especially if a third party makes the payment. Also, as this is not disadvantaging myself financially and the family member in question will not feel this loss financially, I am not really seeing any downsides to proceeding with an F&F. I absolutely would love in some ways not to pay a further penny, especially considering how I was treated in the early days of the debt collection, however I'm not sure risking my future home and chances of a property on a CCA argument alone is an acceptable risk. If it is a choice between F&F and CCA, then the way I currently see it is that the F&F would hold more water, if done correctly, then fighting a debt based on a potentially dodgy CCA. Hope that makes sense and explains my viewpoint - though I'm willing to be convinced otherwise!

Thanks, I appreciate the advice and I agree, I could probably fight some of the outstanding debt and win, but I think I'd prefer a clean slate, if they are willing to accept the lower F&F amounts then I look at this as being a 'draw'. Securing a mortgage and having to worry about all the other associated costs is a hassle in itself on top of then having to fight, challenge and deal with creditors etc. I'll look into the CCA requests. Am I correct in my thoughts around who I should approach when offering F&F? Also, if I draft a letter, it would be great to get feedback on it if I post it up on the thread. I seem to recall that as as family member is willing to settle the debt, that this makes the F&F that more legally binding, is that correct?

They may no longer be on my CRA but the monthly payments are clearly shown on my bank statement to which I will need to explain to any mortgage lender. I also do not want to lie to a mortgage lender as I assume this would be seen as fraud. I cannot ignore the fact there are outstanding debts and I know at least one of the four has an enforceable CCA it also happens to be the largest debt at around £14K. It has since been sold off to Apex which is why I assume they swooped in with a 30% offer of F&F as they no doubt bought the debt of Egg for far less. If I decide to proceed down the route of F&F. I know that two of the creditors are the "legal" owners of the debt as I have letters from the original creditors confirming this fact. So I will make my offers directly to them. The other two debts are being managed by DCA. Would I approach the original creditor or legal owner of the debt and bypass the DCA or would the DCA have authority to act in this matter? Thanks. Those threads are likely to be over four years old as I rarely post on CAG since I've not had any call for advice or support up until now.

It's been a long time since I reviewed the standing and legality of the CCA however the issue is that these debts exist irrespective of whether they are enforceable in court. A mortgage lender won't want to accept the risk of providing me with finance and I can't exactly sit there and say "Oh, a percentage may not be enforceable, but I'm not sure and it may take a court case to prove that either way." Having these debts, which I continue to repay each month, will likely, from the research I have undertaken, impact my ability to secure a mortgage. I guess there is also the concern that I would now own an asset which might be quite appealing for the creditors to then take action to secure against my new property. Even if two out of the four creditors cannot provide, what would be deemed, at least from advice on here, an enforceable CCA, I'm not sure it's worth the hassle or risk to try and secure a mortgage on that basis. The only way I will get a clean break that I can see is by settling the debts with low F&F offers and to be honest it is the "right" thing to do considering I do owe the money, albeit I have been through the mill with these creditors and debt management companies.

Hello. I have four outstanding defaulted debts (2x Credit Card, 1x Loan and 1x Bank Overdraft) which I have been repaying on a self managed debt management plan since 2006. The remaining balance is around £25K though originally was about £40K. The defaulted accounts have all dropped off my credit file and my credit history is now fairly decent though I continue to repay these debts at a pro-rata rate every month. I have been through the mill over the years with the various creditors and debt management agencies. I have reclaimed PPI, sent CCA requests and Subject Access Requests and exhausted most avenues. I do owe all these debts and intend to repay what I owe. However, I now wish to get a mortgage and a family member has said they will help me clear the remaining debts, so that there is nothing outstanding. I therefore wish to go down the route of F&F and would like a little advice before I do so. Firstly, what % in the pound should I be looking at offering? One creditor (Egg/Apex) already made a previous offer of 31% around twelve months prior. My thoughts are to aim for around 15% to 20%? Also, I've seen some threads on here that suggest the wording of the F&F letter be water tight to ensure if accepted that the debt is truly regarded as being settled. I notice the template F&F letter on the site is fairly basic, does anyone have any recommendations on the content of the letter? Is it important to emphasize that it will be a family member making the payment? Appreciate your help.

Thanks - edited.

Yeah it had crossed my mind but I don't know whether it's worth it especially as they seemed to have handled the complaint well and the figures and correspondence they have provided so far all seems above board. I would basically be double checking they have calculated it correctly. I guess my post was more about trying to understand why I received the lesser amount as opposed to the quoted 'PPI rebate' amount which was substantially higher.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I don't have any previous paperwork to obtain those figures. Guess I will just have to take Egg at their word.

Hey. Was hoping a fresh pair of eyes could take a look at two letters from Egg. I received PPI compensation to the tune of £1214.24 thought on a follow up letter it says total rebate amount £2852.82. I think I am confused because of the way they have calculated what I am owed and due to the fact the loan was 'topped' up on a number of occasions over the years I had it. I basically just want to make sure they have calculated and paid the correct amount so would be very grateful if someone could look over the paperwork below!