Full & Final Settlements advice needed please-urgently

[jcl]

Hi Everyone,

Just spent last month trying get finances in order, i have written to 4 creditors that myself & oh have between us offering final settlements though only one has replied (today).

3 have not responded and 1 being tsb credit card has replied via fredrickson dca saying offer rejected and to contact them as my monthly

payment of £50 which i have been paying (with no missed payments) is not enough as length time it will take pay back, but i cant afford pay more

than that.

what are fair offers to offer creditors? Advice much appreciated i am trying to deal with matters to no avail please could anyone advice best way forward.

jcl

[spamheed]

The way to look at a f&f is that they want as much as they can get and you want to offer as little as possible, simple finances really.

 

Most of these debts are picked up by DCA's for as little as 10-15% so that would seem like a logicalplace to start, although as the saying goes, "shy bairns get nowt" offer them what YOU regard to be a realistic figure, however low, the worst they can do is refuse.

 

If you do finally get to the polint where a suitable figure is agreeed, make double sure that the acceptance is in writing (template letters are available in the template library) these letters whilst not guarantees, will give you a good chance of sorting it without the risk of another bloodsucker coming after you for the remaining balance.

 

on the subject of them wanting to up your payments. YOU decide what you can afford, not them, make an offer you can reasonably afford and pay them regularly, disregard their threats, they carry no weight whatsoever. it may be worth requesting the cca from Fredrickson and see what they come up with. if they don't have a cca it would put you in a much stronger position to negotiate, the same goes for the other debts should they refuse to co-operate

[Michael Browne]

This may help:

Debt: Negociating with DCA's - Consumer Wiki

[jcl]

Hi Spamheed,

Thankyou for your reply, i used the template link to use when i first wrote to them with my offers. Do you think i should re-write to them or to the dca's that are acting for them and work on the 10-15% though i did point out to them payments already made to dca's.

one dca wrote back saying they would supply cca but would take 4-6wk (my oh cca'd them) but said when they had supplied it my oh would have to settle balance but they were asking for original balance even though monthly payments made.

many thanks

jcl

[jcl]

Hi Michael, thankyou for the link

jcl

[photoman]

There are some very useful bits of advice and a guide here.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-forums-website-questions/53182-cant-find-what-youre.html

 

You may find this section particularly useful (I think letter D may suit your circumstances)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

 

I'm no expert in this area, and I'm just trying to help out a bit, so maybe try sending a PM to one of the Mods or site helpers for more detailed help on this.

 

Can you post up a few fact about these debts too (don't post up anything that could make you personally identifiable though), so when they come to your thread they will have more info.

 

ie:

 

1/ How old are the debts?

2/ When did you last make payments regards them?

3/ Do any of the debts relate to credit cards or bank accounts which had charges applied to them (eg: late payment charges, unpaid item fees etc)?

4/Have any of them threatened you with court action?

5/ Are the debts being called in by the lenders themselves, or through a debt collection agency. Have the agency added any charges or interest of their own onto the debts?

 

 

Good luck

 

PM

[jcl]

Hi Photoman,

Thankyou for your reply, there are four debts which are two credit cards, 1 is hfc bank, and 1 is littlewoods all are in dca's hands and have been paid by dd each month except littlewoods by standing order, the poeple dealing with that are threatening to take to court as they say march then it was february payment not recieved so they are going to send someone round they said amount owed is down to £200,

the others are £1100, £280, £600 approx amounts. We have another that is in dispute as bank charges are owed to us. There have been charges added to them, i just want to get them sorted but only recieved one reply as i said before and that was rejected on the £1100.

 

regards jcl

[jcl]

Hi All

Had no replies to my requests of full and final settlements and not sure what to do next, should i send out more letters ?

 

Regards jcl

[cherrypie1]

Hi- if your looking for a settlement for these debts ask the dca what percentage they can give you off the debt. they will start off with a low amount eg. 5% depending on which collector you get (some being harsh some being a push over).

 

you need to sort out an amount that you can afford. the dca may ask you to send in and income and expend for them to beable to recieve low payments.

 

some dca's do try and make the urgency of a SIF (settlement in full) over the top but there is never a date a SIF has to be paid by.

 

hope that helps you, any Qs ill be happy to help

 

[jcl]

Hi Cherrypie1,

Thankyou for the advice i will get in touch with them again, your help is much appreciated

 

jcl