Lump sum settlement for less than debt amount.... advice needed - thank you!!! :-)

[sunnyside]

Hello

I wondered whether I might be able to get some advice.

I have three separate debts which have all been sold to a debt collection company. They are for amounts of £394, £894 and £2,572.

I’ve defaulted on all three debts and have been ‘ignoring’ them.

I guess I was hoping that eventually if I leftest these debts long enough they would drop off my credit file… however I’m not sure whether that actually happens and how long it takes. And, my situation has now changed, and I’m looking to get a joint mortgage within the next 18 months to 2 years. So, I was considering offering a lump sum settlement to these debts as my mum has said she will help me (embarrassing thought that is at the age of 44….!). I was thinking of offering £1,500 to clear all three debts.

I’m wondering what the success rate of these kinds of settlement offers are, and how the resulting settlement appears on a credit file check?

Any help much appreciated, thank you for all you guys do!

[Roger]

Hello

I wondered whether I might be able to get some advice.

I have three separate debts which have all been sold to Link Financial. They are for amounts of £394, £894 and £2,572.

I’ve defaulted on all three debts and have been ‘ignoring’ them.



I guess I was hoping that eventually if I leftest these debts long enough they would drop off my credit file… however I’m not sure whether that actually happens and how long it takes. And, my situation has now changed, and I’m looking to get a joint mortgage within the next 18 months to 2 years. So, I was considering offering a lump sum settlement to these debts as my mum has said she will help me (embarrassing thought that is at the age of 44….!). I was thinking of offering £1,500 to clear all three debts.

I’m wondering what the success rate of these kinds of settlement offers are, and how the resulting settlement appears on a credit file check?

Any help much appreciated, thank you for all you guys do!

Can I advise that you change these details! They will identify you ! Its enough to mention a total amount!!
You need to do this on ALL three Entries!

[cymruambyth]

Hi, all debts fall off your credit record 6 months after they are defaulted; I still have some outstanding accounts that exist, but are no longer on my file. They will be shown as settled on your records.

You have been ignoring all letters, but have you kept them as there may have been offers of discounts.

[nightwatch]

Hi, defaults come of your file after 6 YEAR's from the date of registered default (5 in Scotland),
If you were to pay a reduced sum it may only be marked as Part settled ( reduced sum)

the lenders for your mortgage will look back 5 years so these will still be showing even if settled.
I noticed one of the Debts shows 2 default dates, 2013/15 is this correct as a Debt can only be registered defaulted 0nce in it's lifetime?

[sunnyside]

Hello, and thanks for your help so far . I have no idea why two different credit check agencies are showing different default dates - very odd. Anyone know why this might happen?

Do debts actually, truly stop being shown on ones credit file after 6 years? Is this something that is absolute, in all cases?

Would it not look better for a potential mortgage provider if I had settled these debts, as opposed to them being defaulted? Would they then fall off the credit file 6 years from the settlement date..?

[nightwatch]

Defaulted debts, ie, ones that have been registered with the credit reference agencys, can only be registered as defaulted once and once only,

They are removed after 6 years, even if you have not cleared the debt,
this is the rule for all defaults,
so if your debt was registered as Default April 1st 2013 it will come off the CRA file the next update after April 1st 2019,
so looking at the dates you have given they should come off your file 6 years and 1 month from the date on the Credit file

when were these debt taken out and have you sent for a CCA for them,
it is almost impossable to give any helpful advice with out more details about them

[sunnyside]

Thank you - what kind of details do you need? Apologies I don’t know what a CCA is. They were taken out approximately 2006. I have no original details for the debts after losing an entire file in one of my many house moves :-(

[sunnyside]

Ok, I’ve looked into CCAs and realise what you mean - sorry! I haven’t sent that letter to the debt agency who has take on my debts - I was concerned if I made any contact with them it would reset my timer on the 6 years - this was what someone told me a year or so ago could happen so at the time I decided to keep quiet.




I’m happy to send it out to them if it would help me. I guess you’re saying this is the starting point as it may also turn out the debts are unenforceable?

[nightwatch]

Make a seperate post for each account ( all on this page) using the following format;

• Type of account (credit card/loan/overdraft/catalogue)
• Date commenced (ideally before April 2007)
• Approx balance
• Date last paid (approximate date you last made a FULL payment)
• Are you on arrangement or not paying
• Status (default/in arrears/up-to-date)
• Account owner (who is writing to you, the original lender or a debt purchaser or a DCA )

If you were to contact them now offering a reduced payment, it would be starting the SB clock again, also they may refuse your offer,You have to be careful when contacting anyone about the debt, the template letters on this site are written in a way that does not say the debt is yours.
now when you say a DCA has them all, when was the last time you heard from them, as if they have not contacted you for a while I would wait till they do, before sending a CCA ( Consumer Credit Account) request.
If they are not harassing you why let them know where you are.

[sunnyside]

Ok thanks, I’ll have to send them the letter to get this info.

They are all defaulted, all with the same DMC. I’m getting letters monthly but not very pressuring ones.

My my main question regards getting a potential mortgage. Is it better for the mortgage company to see a defaulted or a settled debt, even if the debt is partially settled?

Of course if the DMC did not accept the offer I’d be in a worse position with a reset clock... so that’s why I’m wondering what to do.

Anyway thank you and I’ll get more info.

[sunnyside]

Apologies - so if I send them the template letter to request more info this DOESNT reset the clock?

[nightwatch]

WAIT....

the letters you have should have the details of who the debt was with, how much you owe,
Or does your Credit file say who the original debt was with,
don't write to ask them unless you have to
the main point's we need to know for the moment.

Who was the original lender
is it a loan, CC, pay day loan, or what ever
who is the company contacting you now

as you say they are not pressuring you, lets not give them cause to , YET.

If you want to clear with a reduced ammount a CCA or lack of one can help in barganing for a better reduced sum repayment.
at this moment in time I cannot say what a Mortgage lender would find better to help in your application/ acceptance of the loan,
I do realise that you have to jump through quite a few loops to get a mortgage nowadays.
A lage deposit is one of them.

[sunnyside]

Thanks. My partner will have a deposit for a mortgage. I'm concerned about cleaning things up as much as I can my side.

OK so first debt:

£2,500 approx
Co-operative Bank
Currently being contacted by Link Financial
Credit card
Defaulted either June '13 according to one CFA or April '15 with another....?!

[sunnyside]

2:

£850 approx
Co-operative Bank
Currently being contacted by Link Financial
Overdraft
Defaulted either Dec 2016 according to one CFA or Oct 2016 with another.

[sunnyside]

3:

£400 approx
Co-operative Bank
Currently being contacted by Link Financial
Overdraft
Defaulted either Dec 2016 according to one CFA or Oct 2016 with another