Full & Final Settlement offer advice on how to clear asap

[horsemad1]

Hi Canwecleardebt and welcome to CAG, you will get all the help,advice & support you need now you are here.

 

However, the best thing for you to do is start your own thread, and you will receive advice relevant to your situation. You can read many threads on here and get alot of info and good advice, but in each case the advice is specific to that situation. You will find if that if you hover over abbreviations an explanation will pop up in a green box, but for starters a CCA is a Consumer Credit Agreement you will have one of these for every credit debt you have, a good starting point is to send a CCA request to your creditors (template letter can be found in the Library) with a £1 postal order to see if they are enforceable as this puts you in a good bargaining position if they arent.

 

If the your credit agreements are in sole names then it is only that person who is responsible for the debt, so if you received a lump sum you do not by law have to pay your wifes debts, only if you want too?

 

Good luck with it all, hope I've helped a little.

[canwecleardebt]

Hi Horesemad1, many thanks for the heads up. I wil start a new thread as advised. MAny forums tell you off for doing it and repeating threads but as you say these are so people specific I guess it can get very convaluted.

 

Thanks

[nodefaults2010]

bump - The Mould, when you get a chance (no rush obviously) please could you revert with your thoughts to my post above?

 

Many thanks for your continued efforts

[davidoneman]

Hi sorry to jump in , i have a few credit cards and im trying to sort them out been going on for 1-2 years , i have a barclaycard and capital one card which im trying to sort first both of these have not supplied me with a signed agreement i have a while ago offered an amount to settle the account in full but was rejected. should i use the letter in post 112 ? if they do accet does that mean they remove defaults ? many thanks

[bones01]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclaycard/176481-morgan-stanley-barclaycard.html

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/176059-hsbc-charges-managed-loans.html

 

Hi all sorry for crashing the thread , i have 2 threads on going disputes on both and am ready to f&f offer on both .

 

There is some amazing advice on here and was wondering if i could ask the mould when he has a few free minutes for any advice on how to start please?

 

I have read through but with their being a few private messages sent i don't want to embark on the process where i may have missed crucial information that would allow it to stand in court and by law.

 

Thankyou again and i look forward to hearing from you.

 

x

[zingy]

Bones01,

 

It might be best to remove your email from your signature, as you'll get tons of spam that way. Also, you could start your own thread and PM the Mould - as I'm sure he'd prefer it that way anyhow.

[bones01]

Thanks Do you mean start another thread in conjunction with the other 2 above as they are the same accounts?

 

I shall PM the mould now, was not sure if the was a bit intrusive if he did not want to help

 

thanks x

[zingy]

Thanks Do you mean start another thread in conjunction with the other 2 above as they are the same accounts?

 

I shall PM the mould now, was not sure if the was a bit intrusive if he did not want to help

 

thanks x

Ah, right!

 

I missed the links at the start of your post.

 

I'd probably just PM the Mould a permalink to your last post - you can get this buy clicking on '(permalink)' after your last post on the relevant thread. So, your HSBC one will be http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/176059-hsbc-charges-managed-loans-10.html#post3027772

(saves him trawling through the whole thread if the info is there in the last post).

 

Pretty sure most members wouldn't mind you PM'ing a link to your thread tbh. I've found this easier to do to get someone to read over my posts and pass advice.

[bones01]

thankyou will do x

[horsemad1]

Hi Nodefaults2010, I know The Mould is tied up helping someone with Legal issues at the mo, so I dont think he's been on CAG for a couple of weeks, in answer to a number of questions you have, first of all, the CCA you were sent, do you know for sure that this is unenforceable? If not, best to start your own thread, post it up and ask for an experiences Cagger to confirm this.

If your CCA request was fulfilled, then not restarting payments does not constitute a dispute, unless you have a dispute with the CCA and you have witten to them telling them why.

 

The debt does not have to be disputed to make a F&F offer, however, a crditor is more likely to accept if it is and it has been ongoing for a long time, or if your financial circumstances are so bad that it would be in their interest to accept a lump sum now rather than a pittance for a long time to come and should it ever get to Court, it could be argued that this is an 'equitable remedy' to resolve the disputed debt.

 

The circumstances surrounding your F&F is very important, each case is judged on its own merits in my own case the debts have you been in dispute for a long time, i have written to the creditors trying to resolve without success on numerous occasions, they had been passed to a DCA for Collection whilst in dispute, the amounts claimed differ to what I believe I actually owe, the CCA's are either unenforceable or non existant and I had either stopped paying or was paying token payments on all the debts because of my financial situation and the disputes.

 

Also, the amount offred doesnt matter, however, how likely would a creditor accept £1 on say a £20k debt? If you have unlawful charges and interest on those charges, either deduct that amount first from you offer, or claim them back. case law says that banking a cheque signifies acceptance of a F&F settlement, so make sure the terms in your offer letter are very very clear and cannot be misconstrued in anyway. Put in a clause something like 'bank only if you agree to accept as full and final settlement of this debt, otherwise return this cheque unpresented'

 

Hope I've helped a little, but I am no expert, I have just done alot of reading of case laws and relevant info over the last few months and spoken to a number of Solicitors on the matter. Im sure The Mould will help you when he gets chance, as he's the real expert on F&F's. Good Luck!

[davidoneman]

if you put in the terms all negative feedback be removed would that include defaults ? i have a couple of accounts with have not supplied me with a agreement and it keeps getting passed to different people chasing the money , i havent paid them for a while so was just thinking of sending f&f settlement to get them off my back as got some other debt what needs sorting , cheers dave

[horsemad1]

I did put that as a term in my settlement letter, so by Law yes they should do it, but in practise they haven't yet.... so the fight go's on.

 

However at this moment in time Id rather have no debt and a bad credit file, than lots of debt and a good one....

[davidoneman]

i have a barclay card with no agreement which is £9000 , if i offer say £300 and they cash the check then they have agreed to the terms what i put in the letter ? is that correct ? cheers

[horsemad1]

yes, but dont believe that you wont still have a fight on your hands to get them to write the balance off and clean up your credit files, cos you still will have to get them to do that. Word of caution tho, Barclaycard were one of the ones who returned the cheque I sent......

[davidoneman]

did barclaycard have an agreement with you ? , would it be better to send it to the dca instead of barclaycard ?

[johnnymitch]

Hi davidoneman...

 

In this case if the DCA is your last contact in the line , I'd offer it to them ....... they only expect to get a small proportion of any debt they're chasing and may go for it .......

 

However , .....if there's NO agreement , the debt is unenforceable ..... doesn't mean it goes away , just that you can pay it on your terms , at your leisure ..... so again they may prefer to accept a small F & F to save a lot of hassle ..........

 

But watch them , as HM1 says ..... they may accept it and still chase you ... get a confirmation of settlement terms in writing before you send anything .......

[davidoneman]

what would be best to do send the a letter offering the amount f & f , or by doing it the way whats been said send letter with cheque with all the terms and if they cash they are accepting the terms of settlement ?

[johnnymitch]

Personally , DOM , I wouldn't send them money until they have agreed to a F&F amount in writing ..... what's to stop them from just cashing it , setting it off against your debt and chasing you for the rest regardless ........

[totiesquoties]

no messages, no messages, my post now closed, thanks for all comments and help

Edited July 14, 2010 by totiesquoties

[nodefaults2010]

Hi horsemad1,

 

Thanks for your response to my questions. In my situation, a number of my creditors have been offered full and final settlements by a 3rd party with a cheque and letter from the 3rd party making it clear that the cheque being cashed constitutes full and final settlement otherwise the cheque is to be returned uncashed. Also adverse credit data is to be removed from each of the CRA's upon funds clearing.

 

My offers have been as low as 0.5% of the amount claimed by the creditors. In each case the amount and indeed the debt itself has been disputed, plus most of them have not followed the DN path correctly as stipulated by the CCA 1974 and its various amendments, hence they have unlawfully rescinded my contract if indeed any existed. In all cases I had stopped paying them before the date of the offer. Also, in all cases the debt had been sent to a DCA and I had corresponded a number of times with the creditor.

 

My understanding is that the 3rd party made them an offer of a new contract to settle the amount outstanding hence it superseded the original contract. I believe it is quite watertight but just want to check all angles, given the complexity of the legal system.

 

I wonder if anyone has done this so far and proceeded with legal action to have the CRA information reflected correctly as per the terms of the letter sent with the settlement payment? This may be a route to pursue ulitmately if they will not budge on their position. What do you think?

 

Good luck with your situation as well.

 

Best regards,

 

nodefaults2010

 

 

"Hi Nodefaults2010, I know The Mould is tied up helping someone with Legal issues at the mo, so I dont think he's been on CAG for a couple of weeks, in answer to a number of questions you have, first of all, the CCA you were sent, do you know for sure that this is unenforceable? If not, best to start your own thread, post it up and ask for an experiences Cagger to confirm this.

If your CCA request was fulfilled, then not restarting payments does not constitute a dispute, unless you have a dispute with the CCA and you have witten to them telling them why.

 

The debt does not have to be disputed to make a F&F offer, however, a crditor is more likely to accept if it is and it has been ongoing for a long time, or if your financial circumstances are so bad that it would be in their interest to accept a lump sum now rather than a pittance for a long time to come and should it ever get to Court, it could be argued that this is an 'equitable remedy' to resolve the disputed debt.

 

The circumstances surrounding your F&F is very important, each case is judged on its own merits in my own case the debts have you been in dispute for a long time, i have written to the creditors trying to resolve without success on numerous occasions, they had been passed to a DCA for Collection whilst in dispute, the amounts claimed differ to what I believe I actually owe, the CCA's are either unenforceable or non existant and I had either stopped paying or was paying token payments on all the debts because of my financial situation and the disputes.

 

Also, the amount offred doesnt matter, however, how likely would a creditor accept £1 on say a £20k debt? If you have unlawful charges and interest on those charges, either deduct that amount first from you offer, or claim them back. case law says that banking a cheque signifies acceptance of a F&F settlement, so make sure the terms in your offer letter are very very clear and cannot be misconstrued in anyway. Put in a clause something like 'bank only if you agree to accept as full and final settlement of this debt, otherwise return this cheque unpresented'

 

Hope I've helped a little, but I am no expert, I have just done alot of reading of case laws and relevant info over the last few months and spoken to a number of Solicitors on the matter. Im sure The Mould will help you when he gets chance, as he's the real expert on F&F's. Good Luck!"

[horsemad1]

please do not pm me anymore, this thread of mine is now closed, thank you

??? This is my thread that you wrote on???

[horsemad1]

Hi horsemad1,

 

Thanks for your response to my questions. In my situation, a number of my creditors have been offered full and final settlements by a 3rd party with a cheque and letter from the 3rd party making it clear that the cheque being cashed constitutes full and final settlement otherwise the cheque is to be returned uncashed. Also adverse credit data is to be removed from each of the CRA's upon funds clearing.

 

My offers have been as low as 0.5% of the amount claimed by the creditors. In each case the amount and indeed the debt itself has been disputed, plus most of them have not followed the DN path correctly as stipulated by the CCA 1974 and its various amendments, hence they have unlawfully rescinded my contract if indeed any existed. In all cases I had stopped paying them before the date of the offer. Also, in all cases the debt had been sent to a DCA and I had corresponded a number of times with the creditor.

 

My understanding is that the 3rd party made them an offer of a new contract to settle the amount outstanding hence it superseded the original contract. I believe it is quite watertight but just want to check all angles, given the complexity of the legal system.

 

I wonder if anyone has done this so far and proceeded with legal action to have the CRA information reflected correctly as per the terms of the letter sent with the settlement payment? This may be a route to pursue ulitmately if they will not budge on their position. What do you think?

 

Good luck with your situation as well.

 

Best regards,

 

nodefaults2010

 

Hi ND, in that case as long as they have cashed the cheque, the contract was made there and then and that is your complete Defence. Make sure you kept copies of the letter, cheque sent with letter, bank statements and proof of posting.

 

The only way to get them to update your credit files is to take legal action if they won't do it automatically, however all 4 of the Solicitors that I have spoke to said it is up to them to take Legal action, as my defence is complete. However have you tried writing to them to ask them why they believe they still have a claim and to now honour their part of the contract?

[horsemad1]

what would be best to do send the a letter offering the amount f & f , or by doing it the way whats been said send letter with cheque with all the terms and if they cash they are accepting the terms of settlement ?

 

You can send the F&F offer first and if they reject, superscede it with the further F&F offer with clear terms for acceptance if cheque attached cashed.

[mj4j2000]

Hi horsemad1. 1st thank you to post nice thread in CAG. I have a bank overdraft 5K. I asked for cca. But they didn't send me anything yet. It is over an year since I disputed this debt. So far they sent 3 DCA. All are failed to provide me valid CCA. I got some cash now to pay off for F&F settlement. What the best way to negotiate with them for F&F settlement. Please advice. Thank you

[nodefaults2010]

hi horsemad1, yes I have written to them but they are being obstructive to say the least. To the extent that they keep writing back in such a way as to look like they have addressed my complaint but never addressing the specific legal points including case law that have been quoted to them and which I have asked them to comment on if they feel that the account is not fully and finally settled.

 

Next step is to write specifically to their legal department and their chairman/CEO and then complain to the FOS and possibly department of fair trading. I also intend to write separately tot he CRA's and then if needs be proceed to legal action.

 

If I get any further feedback or developments I will keep all on CAG apprised. Will get there one way or the other, but hopefully sooner rather than later!