Full & Final Settlement Offers - Any Advice???

[BARFLY]

I agreed four full and final settlements 18 months ago. All four were still with the original creditors or DCs acting on their behalf. None had been assigned. I settled three four 40% of the outstanding total and one for 50% for the outstanding total. My letter stipulated that the payment would be made through a third party and that I wanted the removal of any default from the files of the CRAs. I did not put "without prejudice" at the top of the letter as that would have precluded you from showing the letter to a court in the future should the matter ever arise. A word of warning: although the payments were made and I have heard nothing since all four creditors did not follow up with their agreement to remove the default from the CRFs. When I complained they stated they had to reflect a true representation of the account. Also, on the CRFs the settlement was not marked as a full and final settlement, but as " full and final settlement, although the amount did not cover the amount owed". What can you do? Not much. At least the debts were settled for half of what was owed.

 

N.B. Be careful that everything is in writing and includes all the wording requested. AIC, acting on behalf of Lloyds agreed with the full and final settlement but sent four or five letters stating partial settlement etc and one letter stating that the payment had to be paid directly by the debtor. When I suggested that the funds would go to another creditor who had agreed the full and final they relented and put it in writing. In fact, i had agreed a 50% with AIC but went back with 40% after this and they agreed.

 

Post any letters on here for others to view before accepting.

 

Obviously you'd probably get a better discount from a DCA. These four accounts all had valid credit agreements.

[shinobi101]

A word of warning: although the payments were made and I have heard nothing since all four creditors did not follow up with their agreement to remove the default from the CRFs. When I complained they stated they had to reflect a true representation of the account.

 

It's surely part of the contract? Does that not put them in breach of contract? Maybe you should have included a penalty clause that they will pay you £1000 if the defaults are not removed by a specified date say 3 months after the payment date.

 

Also, on the CRFs the settlement was not marked as a full and final settlement, but as " full and final settlement, although the amount did not cover the amount owed". What can you do?

 

My thinking on this is to offer a silver coin (or anything else of value) as consideration to forgo the balance. That way, if they accept it they have accepted part payment plus "sufficient" (doesn't have to be "adequate") consideration to forgo the balance. This really is full and final.

 

one letter stating that the payment had to be paid directly by the debtor.

 

Maybe they're not so stupid after all They obviously understand the 3rd party payment rule, i.e. they can't sue for the balance.

 

These four accounts all had valid credit agreements.

 

Awesome! Well done:D

[BARFLY]

It seems to be their touch of spite when they know they cannot enforce or when they do not get back their full amount owing. They will mess up your credit file because they know that they can and there is very little you can do about it. Unless your willing to take them to court and take a a chance with a judge who will most likely be biased in their favour. A judge who wouldn't see past the assertions that, yes, there was an account with them, and yes, there were late payments. So why are you here?

[Deb T]

It's surely part of the contract? Does that not put them in breach of contract?

 

I guess it would depend on how it was written into the FFS but the likely scenario of the contract being breached (if pursued by BARFLY) is that the FFS does not then stand meaning that the entire debt becomes payable again (minus what has already been paid) Not something BARFLY would want to contemplate I'm sure.

 

 

I would attempt to write the removal of the defaults from my credit file into a FFS and then get the creditor to state in writing that as part of the FFS they will remove the defaults? You demanding it in a FFS letter but not receiving confirmation of said demand from the creditor is a good indicator that it's not going to be actioned.

 

As for a penalty clause being included in the FFS, I seriously doubt you'd get a creditor to sign up for said clause, it's the debtor that owes the money, the onus is on them to complete the transaction on mutually agreed terms, adding pnalties will almost certainly dissaude a creditor from entertaining an FFS.

[brooooooooooce]

Just a little update:

 

Capital One accepted 15% full & final

Barclaycard accepted 25% full & final

MBNA accepted 20% full & final

Cahoot accepted 15% full & final

 

I'm struggling a bit with Halifax/Lloyds - the Halifax in particular just don't reply to correspondence. Lloyds reply of a fashion but ping pong it from one in house DCA to another. Same with HSBC - they've refused a 20% f & f and now passed the account to Metropolitan Collection Services, which I know is BS because its in house.

 

I'll just keep at em!

[andrew1]

Just a little update:

 

Capital One accepted 15% full & final

Barclaycard accepted 25% full & final

MBNA accepted 20% full & final

Cahoot accepted 15% full & final

 

I'm struggling a bit with Halifax/Lloyds - the Halifax in particular just don't reply to correspondence. Lloyds reply of a fashion but ping pong it from one in house DCA to another. Same with HSBC - they've refused a 20% f & f and now passed the account to Metropolitan Collection Services, which I know is BS because its in house.

 

I'll just keep at em!

 

Well done Bruce you've done really well, but just to make you feel better - I got 18% on Barclaycard for a friend

 

Good results though thus far, good luck with the rest. You need stamina to get through all this, but it does give you hope and a ray of light that living life is not so far away after all. Happy hunting.

[brooooooooooce]

Cheers.

[Dotty50]

Looking good Brooooooooce!

 

Don't keep us in suspense though, let us know how you managed it please.

 

Did you do anything about information registered with CRA's?

[bustthematrix]

Well done Brooocey...

[brooooooooooce]

Looking good Brooooooooce!

 

Don't keep us in suspense though, let us know how you managed it please.

 

Did you do anything about information registered with CRA's?

 

Hi

 

First up, I haven't done anything about information recorded with CRA's. All the settlements will be recorded as a partial settlement, with each CCC confirming the difference is being written off and neither they or any company associated to them or 3rd party DCA will pursue me for the difference. For example MBNA wrote:

 

"Following your recent offer of settlement, we confirm your offer of £xxxx.xx, has been accepted in partial settlement of your account. This offer is conditional upon your payment being received no later than xxxx xx 2010. Upon receipt and clearance of the payment, we confirm your account will be closed and no further action will be taken to recover the remaining balance. A partial settlement will register with the credit reference agencies for six years, which may affect your ability to obtain credit in the future."

 

The payments made have all been made by third parties to protect me further, with strongly worded covering letters setting out the terms of my F & F and they should only cash the cheque if they accepted them.

 

I couldn't care less about my credit file, it was a 'good' credit score that got me into this s**t.

 

Crap 1 - provided a poor microfiche copy of a signed agreement which I believe was unenforceable.

 

Cahoot - provided a very good copy of an enforceable agreement. However the DN was defective and from day one they didn't charge the correct rate of interest (too much!).

 

Barclaycard - provided a very poor microfiche copy of a signed agreement which I believe was unenforceable.

 

MBNA - after 12 months they have still not provided a reponse to my CCA and have stated they don't have the agreement.

 

The problem for me is my health - I have some significant mental health problems and can't cope with all the BS - phone calls, door step visits - I want this dealing with now not dragging on for years. It's already been 12 months since I started the process and I'm only just beginning to make progress.

 

If I'm honest, I can't gripe about Crap 1, MBNA or even Barclaycard (who eventually came round) because when I told them about my health problems they changed the way they handled my account. I know that others have had terrible dealings with them. I'm pretty certain that the health issue played a signficant part - even the people I spoke with were different, dare I say, caring!

[Dotty50]

Thanks for that Broooooooce,

 

Have to say, I can't disagree with what you say about CRA's.

 

It's interesting what you say about your health issues though, it's not having any effect with Barclaycard for my OH at the moment but will see how it progresses.

 

I think at the end of the day they have settled because ultimately they may have ended up with nothing but if it gets them off your back and you are happier then that is the best result for you.

 

I am so glad it has worked for you, all the best.

 

Dotty

[pf01]

I have been offer a full and final settlement from MBNA of £2000.00 against my credit card debt of £6500.00.

 

This has been agreed with minimal prompting on my part although I did explain six months ago that I was struggling tho make the payments and they put me on a hardship plan.

 

Their first request was a settlement figure of £3500.00 which I negotiated down easily to £2000.00.

 

My question is how can I limit any adverse credit scoring and can I insist on them not refer to this as an unpaid debt.

[pf01]

I have been offer a full and final settlement from MBNA of £2000.00 against my credit card debt of £6500.00.

 

This has been agreed with minimal prompting on my part although I did explain six months ago that I was struggling tho make the payments and they put me on a hardship plan.

 

Their first request was a settlement figure of £3500.00 which I negotiated down easily to £2000.00.

 

My question is how can I limit any adverse credit scoring and can I insist on them not refer to this as an unpaid debt.

[Deb T]

I have been offer a full and final settlement from MBNA of £2000.00 against my credit card debt of £6500.00.

 

This has been agreed with minimal prompting on my part although I did explain six months ago that I was struggling tho make the payments and they put me on a hardship plan.

 

Their first request was a settlement figure of £3500.00 which I negotiated down easily to £2000.00.

 

My question is how can I limit any adverse credit scoring and can I insist on them not refer to this as an unpaid debt.

 

Read through this thread, the answers you want are contained within it.

[bustthematrix]

My question is how can I limit any adverse credit scoring and can I insist on them not refer to this as an unpaid debt.

 

Only if you make this a condition of your settlement and they agree to it, confirming it in wiriting. You should have this in place before you send them any money!

[brooooooooooce]

I have been offer a full and final settlement from MBNA of £2000.00 against my credit card debt of £6500.00.

 

This has been agreed with minimal prompting on my part although I did explain six months ago that I was struggling tho make the payments and they put me on a hardship plan.

 

Their first request was a settlement figure of £3500.00 which I negotiated down easily to £2000.00.

 

My question is how can I limit any adverse credit scoring and can I insist on them not refer to this as an unpaid debt.

 

I think you should be realistic. MBNA have written off £4,500 off money which you undoubtedly owe them. I don't think people should expect the cake, jam and cream. I couldn't care less about my credit score - I don't want to be able to get more credit.

[Bigdebtor]

Just a little update:

 

Capital One accepted 15% full & final

Barclaycard accepted 25% full & final

MBNA accepted 20% full & final

Cahoot accepted 15% full & final

 

I'm struggling a bit with Halifax/Lloyds - the Halifax in particular just don't reply to correspondence. Lloyds reply of a fashion but ping pong it from one in house DCA to another. Same with HSBC - they've refused a 20% f & f and now passed the account to Metropolitan Collection Services, which I know is BS because its in house.

 

I'll just keep at em!

 

Broooooooooooooooooooooooooooce

 

Well done! So that others can always see how well you've done with these F&F's in your future posts over monthsto come, can I suggest you add them to your signature - and also put down approx how much you've saved with each one? That way others can see how well you've done in % and moneyt terms?

 

I got 50% from LTSB visa - but only after a couple of years of frozen interest and very small monthly payments - which I then stopped deliberately to get the debt to go to a DCA. It then went to Wescot and I agreed a 50% F&F deal with them pretty quickly - writing off over £4k.

 

BD

[andrew1]

 

I got 50% from LTSB visa - but only after a couple of years of frozen interest and very small monthly payments - which I then stopped deliberately to get the debt to go to a DCA. It then went to Wescot and I agreed a 50% F&F deal with them pretty quickly - writing off over £4k.

 

BD

 

Well done BD, it just goes to show that it is possible to do this as Broooooce has also shown.

 

The person I helped do this had £98,000 worth of debt - an otherwise responsible professional person who fell on bad times after losing a consultancy job - these people are not the 'rogue debtors / won't payers so often described by the credit industry. This was an accumilation of cards and loans taken when borrowing was done in the hope that a job would be found but never came due to age (67). When you've worked all your life it almost seems unreal that you won't work again, but the interest accrues and so the spiral begins, then it's too late to stop and all gets out of hand.

 

I put her in Payplan which consolidated the repayments to £125 +/- a month over 34 yrs (@ 67 yrs of age !!) after a few months she was offered £20k by a friend to try and get out of some of her debt problems and I took them on board to negotiate for her. We finally reduced them all to circa £30k in total saving over £60k. I kept picking them off one by one and reducing the monthly payplan repayment as I went along otherwise if the other creditors saw the changes the £125 a month would end up all going to the most awkward who I'd left till last (Amex & Egg) We managed to find the other 10k through family, but now she's totally clear of any debt so it can be done.

 

What appeared a nightmare has now turned into a good nights sleep. well done everyone, keep planning like BD appears to be doing and you will get your lives back.

[brooooooooooce]

Broooooooooooooooooooooooooooce

 

Well done! So that others can always see how well you've done with these F&F's in your future posts over monthsto come, can I suggest you add them to your signature - and also put down approx how much you've saved with each one? That way others can see how well you've done in % and moneyt terms?

 

I got 50% from LTSB visa - but only after a couple of years of frozen interest and very small monthly payments - which I then stopped deliberately to get the debt to go to a DCA. It then went to Wescot and I agreed a 50% F&F deal with them pretty quickly - writing off over £4k.

 

BD

 

Hi BD

 

How do I create a signature like yours?

 

Brooooooooooooooooooooooooooooce

[Deb T]

Hi BD

 

How do I create a signature like yours?

 

Brooooooooooooooooooooooooooooce

 

Top of the screen (scroll up)Just under the 'Cag Announcements section and to the right you'll see a 'User CP' hit that, and the next screen you'll see a column on the left hand side, scroll down it to the section that says 'Settings and Options' underneath that you'll see 'edit signature' and a box to put your signature text in, once you're done scroll a little further and hit the 'Save Signature' and you're done.

 

What you can and cannot add via bbcode etc is also shown just to the left of the 'save signature' button.

[brooooooooooce]

Top of the screen (scroll up)Just under the 'Cag Announcements section and to the right you'll see a 'User CP' hit that, and the next screen you'll see a column on the left hand side, scroll down it to the section that says 'Settings and Options' underneath that you'll see 'edit signature' and a box to put your signature text in, once you're done scroll a little further and hit the 'Save Signature' and you're done.

 

What you can and cannot add via bbcode etc is also shown just to the left of the 'save signature' button.

 

Cheers for that.

[Bigdebtor]

Andrew1

 

A good result for your 67 year old friend. I too was a self employed consultant and took ill a few years ago, losing most of my clients when I could no longer provide the service they needed, and saw my incom edrop by over £50k pa.

 

Around this time I had also invested several Hundred Thousand (yes!) in developing and launching a new software product which a big software plc then copied and undercut me before I could recoup my investment - a double whammy!

 

As you say, most of us are not feckless "won't pays" who deserve all we get - unlike what the banks and DCA's tell the judges (who have never needed to get into any debt with their huge - and regularly paid - salaries!).

 

BD

[pf01]

Hi following MBNA acceptance of f & f settlement of £2000.00 against a debt of £9600.00 I questioned the messages left on my credit file. They say they will record a partial settlement. Is this as bad as a poor rating and should I insist on leaving no such message that would be detramental to my score. Advice please

[Bigdebtor]

I think it totally depends on what you agreed with MBNA in writing.

[pf01]

But is a "partial settlement" significantly bad or will it do no harm in the future