Moved to France - negotiating down uk debt

[caine62]

Hi all,

 

Great to see this forum is still live and kicking!

 

I left the UK in June 2009 and spent the rest of the year in the US. Since Jan 2010 I have been in France and am now fully resident here (salaried, taxed, buying my first house, etc).

 

A few years ago, I had huge problems with unsecured personal loans (+PPI) from Lloyds, which I managed to pay off in full (15k!) thanks to a lot of hard work and then used a debt consolidation loan from them for the remaining credit card and overdraft. The loan was taken out in Nov 08 to pay off 4600, total amount payable at 7.1%APR is 5801. I have been paying the 69 a month since nov 08, but I still have 63 months left.

 

I also have a 1000 (autorised) overdraft and 1500 on a credit card with HSBC. My UK salary was very good, plus I could earn commission so these amounts weren't a worry back in the day and the HSBC overdraft and card were easy to obtain even with my poor credit score. I've been careful to pay the minimum back on the card every month.

 

Now, although I'm much, much happier, my income is the French min wage. I earn 1042EUR a month, and I'll be paying 670EUR for the mortgage, plus bills. And my brother and girlfriend will be living with me but aren't earning right now (both looking for work). Needless to say, things are going to be tight for the forseeable future.

 

If I'm really careful, I reckon I could save around 1500EUR before november (including selling a lot of old car spares that are gathering dust).

 

I'm not going to do a runner and avoid paying my debts, but I'm already incerdibly stretched financially without debts from my past life weighing down on me. Do you think a Full & Final offer could work in my case? How much should I offer (20,30,50%?)?

 

Thanks

 

Eli

[caine62]

I forgot to mention that I was made redundant in April 2009, then completed a two month contract before leaving the UK, hence the change in circumstances.

[cerberusalert]

Have you considered reclaiming the PPI and any unfair charges from the a/cs including the one you've paid off?

[caine62]

Have you considered reclaiming the PPI and any unfair charges from the a/cs including the one you've paid off?

 

I did try to claim back 700gbp of charges a couple of years ago from lloyds but got a letter back that all cases were frozen until the test case was over. Never did anything with the PPI though.

 

That money would come in very handy but I have a lot on the go right now work wise and shouldn't really give myself another project. For now, I would prefer to focus on negotiating a low settlement figure for the outstanding debts.

 

Should I stop making the monthly repayments, let the accounts go into default for a while and then contact them with a full & final offer? I have a French bank account and don't plan on returning to the UK for a very long time (if ever) so I'm not worried about my UK credit rating or not being able to use those accounts.

 

What do the experts think? Cheers

[cerberusalert]

I did try to claim back 700gbp of charges a couple of years ago from Lloyds but got a letter back that all cases were frozen until the test case was over. Never did anything with the PPI though.

It's not worth trying to claim unfair bank charges but you can reclaim any unfair charges on loans, credit cards + PPI + statutory interest at 8% which is quite simple now after the FSA ruling.