I was caught by the revenue protection squad after travelling from one of the outer London zones on a Zone two oyster pass. I've been cycling in regularly and then getting the train then some days I admit that I neglected to touch in on my card and so just paid for the zone two. i've done this a several times and I admitted it to the revenue protection folk after they checked my card and saw the record. i have bought a range of zones 2, 3 and higher in the past on the card and when I'm not cycling i mostly touch in and out when i travel by train but sometimes forget and admit I sometimes dodge the fare. I received a letter from prosecutions saying they want to take me to Mag.Court and want me to send a letter explaining my side. I know what i did was wrong but i've got a new baby and a crippling mortgage so being skint all the time it felt easier to do what might otherwise have felt definitely wrong. I know I dodged some of the fare but on days I'm not cycling in I generally pay the full fare. What I want to know is how can they calculate a fine? How large the fine may be? And whether it;s in my interests to try and settle or not and how best to do that?

I took a £20k secured loan out about 1 and a half to 2 years ago now and been paying the extortiante rates back since. Never missed a payment till now. Ive hit financial difficulties and need some help. I believe my CCA in incorrect and am considering putting it into dispute also. I sent of the subject access request and the CCA request along with 2 seperate postal orders. One for £10 and one for £1. I received a letter today saying thanks for the requests but please send a cheque for for £1 and the £10 !! My postal orders were no where to be seen or even mentioned in the letter !! Totally Stolen by Welcome !! Whats the best route now? I really dont want to send cheques as ive heard they can uplift signatures. I sent them recorded delivery and never signed the letters as I was told just typed my name. Help !

Hi there I had been bullied for 2 years at work and was off sick twice within this period with long term sickness due to stress and depression. In the end, with the help of a solicitor we negotiated a settlement agreement which included a payout and a reference. I left my last organisation in December 2013. I have just found out that an ex-colleague of mine doing the same job as me in the same team working for the same manager as the one who bullied me (we were both managed by her as we were in her team) is leaving to go to a new job. This colleague of mine has had an unpleasant time since I was last physically in the office (July 2013 and I never returned). He to has been bullied with exactly the same issues as me, driip feed criticism, intimidating emails, etc, etc. He made a compliant to her line manager (the director) and she denied it when confronted. It frustrates me that she is still getting away with the same behaviours, especially when her manager has known all along that she did the same to me and had to agree the settlement agreement. My question is, whilst i know that I am legally bound not to discuss the settlement agreement that i made with them, am I able to act as a witness for him to state that she bullied me, without compromising my agreement? Does the settlement agreement restrict me from stating that she also bullied me if he should wish to make a complaint. Your advice would be much appreciated, as whilst my ex-colleague has gotten away with it, I feel that this woman will continue to make people ill and stressed unless she is challenged over her behaviours. Many thanks in advance!

Hi guys, this has undoubtly been asked before but finding the answer is beyond me. I have agreements in place at 0% interest with 3 debt recovery agencies. I have sold my house and car and i am in a position to try and negotiate a deal. I have asked all the questions and used the template letter and sent it to the companies but what i want to know is, is it worth settling the full outstanding amounts or should i just partially settle. The defaults will be 6 years old this year, so the defaults will be removed from my file pretty soon. Will a partial settlement be detrimental to my credit rating as i intend to obtain a new mortgage in approx 3 years? many thanks. Danny.

Hello, Lots of information I've been reading, but nothing specific to my problem, so i'll post it here and hope one/some of you kind people can provide information and suggestions on a way forward for me. i fell foul of a £4000+ debt back in early/mid 2010 and foolishly (in hindsight) then tried to use of those mickey mouse co.'s offering to render it all unenforceable. Suffice to say it didn't work, so i was left with this debt i couldn't pay. paid them £20 a month from mid/late 2010, which i have had to reduce to a nominal £1 per month from mid/late last year. I have been making this payment now to the present day. I just cannot afford anything more and have no idea how to go forward/get rid of this. a third party has offered to pay a sum in full final settlement, so a £1000 offer was put to them this year, which was rejected as insufficient. But they'd look again at an increased offer. This may be possible, but i don't want to spend someone else's money lightly and certainly not knowing what amount they would be willing to accept. Please, any help/suggestions would be much appreciated - if you need any further details form me, let me know. Thank you (all) in advance.

My husband and I not long got back from the settlement checking service as we are due to apply for ILR in person, very soon. Shes sorted it out for us, BUT shes only put ONE each of our most recent payslips in, and im majorly concerned that it wont be enough. The lady claimed that shes does everybodys case in the same way and has never had any problems. but surely one each is nowhere near enough. Help!

Hi My brother has dismissed the solicitors dealing with our late mothers estate (she died intestate as the will seemed to have disappeared?) and has had the letters of administration passed over to him & cleared her bank A/Cs. He has sent me a really abusive email & has threatened to spend my inheritance. I have sent him an email requesting that he pay my share of the estate into my bank A/C directly. I cannot see him complying with my request. Is there a legal time frame for settlement? If he does not comply with my request is he breaking the law & if so what is my course of action. Any advice would be greatful. Thanks. David

hello i am currently in the process of paying off the last 2 of my 9 debts, in total i owed in excess of 10k, over the past few years i have managed to clear a considerable amount, currently im down to £3200 owed to DLC/hillesden on behalf of a car finance loan from blackhorse. all of my previous debts were paid off in full either as a full payment or payment plan over a set amount of months, the last debt totals £3200, in this case i am wanting to send a letter to offer a settlement figure and need some advice. first of all im not sure whether i would need to send this to the original creditor; black-horse or would i send it to the debt collection agency hillesden/direct legal collections. also i am hoping to offer a reduced offer, any tips/realistic % to offer any help is greatly appreciated and i look forward to hearing from anybody who has similar issues or can help thanks

Hi all I am currently 22 weeks pregnant and have been working for my employer since September 13. I am a surrogate and underwent IVF for my intended parents. I had a lot of problems with bleeding during the first 12 weeks which was really stressful and worrying. I work as a bookkeeper in 2 offices (Office A&B) using different software in each, in one of the offices (A) I have had no problems at all, in the other (B) I have been told I am making constant mistakes and clients are complaining about me. The director in office B and the manager talk to each other but not to me and have made me feel completely like an outsider. I spoke to the main director of the company saying I was concerned I was making these mistakes and I would lose them clients like I kept getting told. I told him of the issues with the manager in office B, he told me to not let her get to me and to stand up to her. I was called to a performance review meeting in office B where the director said I would be monitored for 6 weeks and to think of why I was making so many mistakes. I told him I had not been given sufficient training on the software in office B and was doing perfectly fine in office A. I was also given written instructions on each bookkeeping job by the manager in office B which every time I completed a job she would give the job back to me with a long list of review points saying I had done it wrong and the written instructions would have to be changed time and time again. I was told in this performance meeting to write my own notes and to think of ways to improve my performance. I emailed this director and asked if we could change the software in office B to what I used in office A to eliminate problems. I never got a response. My employers are aware I am pregnant and that it is a surrogacy and of the problems I have had and the numerous emergency scans due to bleeding. I was called in to the directors office 2 Fridays ago and told that my performance review would be on the Monday and that he would be bringing the HR and I was entitled to bring a representative with me. I asked him if I needed to, he said No. I took a colleague from office A with me and I was offered a settlement agreement. It was stated that as they are aware I am pregnant it would probably be hard for me to find employment therefore have offered me a tax free lump sum which would not total 4 months wages therefore not enough to cover me for the last 4 months of pregnancy. They did say I do not have to take the offer but if I dont, then if a vast improvement in my performance was not evident in the following 2 weeks they would start formal proceedings on me. Sorry for the long winded post but needed to inform of the background. I'm now to see a solicitor but don't want to go in with no knowledge at all. Can anyone help please? Thanks

Good afternoon, This is my first post so apologies if my etiquette is out! I have recently looked to improve my credit score. My history in the last 4 years is pretty good (2/3 late payments aside). However on my credit file I have 2 defaults (one is 4 years old for £1096, one 2 years old for £210). I'd like to clear these defaults off my account. I cannot afford to pay both straight up and have looked into a partial settlement. Can someone please advice me on the best approach to handling this debt? Is a partial settlement worth it? What will happen to the debt after 6 years? Will a payment plan clear the default? Thanks is advance, Murp

Hi I have been in a debt management plan for just over 7 years. I am currently paying £450 a month to Stepchange. I originally owed £75,000 and am now down to just under £20,000. I may be able to get hold of £10,000 to make full and final settlements to my creditors. These are Barclaycard (Egg), NCO (AMEX), RBS, RBS again (Mint) and Cahoot. All of these defaulted more than 6 years ago, so I have a clean credit file. I am worried about offering a full and final settlement as I am concerned that as none of these creditors got a CCJ in the past, that they may realise I have some money and try and get them now. Are they able to do this? I would like to try and do something though, as 450 is a lot of money, and I would like to start spending a little more on luxuries. 7 years is a long time to go on a very basic food budget and no beer!

Hi everyone, I am a student in my final year and planned to SORN my car back in Feb until I sold it. I live in a block of six flats and every flat except mine has a private parking bay allotted at the back. I kept the car parked right outside and never drove it. I did not know about keeping the car on private land and thought that it could be parked on the street provided it wasnt being driven. one day in March it got clamped and I had to pay release fees of £260 which I did. After asking my neighbour who didnt have a car, I parked the car in one of the parking bays. I thought everything was sorted. I was away for about a month a just got back home yesterday. I checked my post and had received an out of court settlement letter for £271 from the DVLA. It said that the settlement fine should be paid by 02/06/2014. Can someone please tell me what this letter is exactly (even though I paid the clamping fees)? Also how should I go about it? Can I still call them tomorrow and pay the fine? I have exams going on and am really stressed about this. I cannot afford to pay the fine. I would appreciate all the help. Thanks

Hi all, My partner has an agreement with a DMC, they make payments to 5/6 creditors on her behalf, we'd like to have a go at making settlement offers to the creditors. On the latest DMC statement i noted most of the creditors are other debt recovery firms. In order to make a settlement offer would we contact the original creditor (I.e barclaycard) or the current creditor? Separately, due to the age of the debts it is unsure who the original agreement was with. Is the Current creditor obliged to disclose this information? Thanks in advance!

Going through a messy Divorce at the moment. I am having difficulty raising a settlement figure as i am 47 years of age. The Maximum mortgage i can raise will be 40 k as to my age and income. My ex wife solicitor has stated i can raise 70 k. This is where it starts getting interesting My ex- wifes solicitor has contacted an independent financial advisor, she has given them all my private confidential details without my express permission. She is using the figure of 70 k in trying to bully me into submission Can her solicitor do that, that is pass all my confidential financial details to an out side Broker for a quote without my express permission

Hi all I have scoured this site for hours and am absolutely amazed at the goodwill of so many people. I have been putting off posting for ages but feel I now need to. Ok so here goes.... I entered a DMP with payplan in July 2013 having racked up a debt of approx £15,000, through nothing other than reckless over spending. Lots of maxed credit cards, catalogues and numerous pay day loans. Since July 2013 I have been paying £311 a month. My creditors with my DMP are as follows: Orange credit card (Barclays) owing £909 - credit report shows up to date Co-op credit card - £509 - credit report shows DM in place - late payment Barclaycard- £1366 - report shows Arrangement to pay but up to date MBNA - £3040 - report shows DM in place but up to date Payday Express - £193 - report shows DM in place but up to date Pounds to Pocket - £172 - report shows default Gothia - £731 - report shows default Quickbridge - £457 - report shows arrangement to pay but up to date Lending Stream - £486 - report shows default Natwest current account - £802 - report shows arrangement to pay - late payment Littlewoods - £5097 - report shows DM in place - late payment Very - £1594 - report shows arrangement to pay - up to date Isme - £1928 - report shows DM in place - late payment K&co - £688 - report shows arrangement to pay - up to date I also have an argos card not on my DMP (I forgot about this when setting up DMP as was on a BNPL) - £709 - to which I have recently received a default notice for that stated I had to pay outstanding sums within 14 days of the date of letter... Which I have not done. First thing I will say is that since joining a DMP it has been such a weight lifted to know that my debts are controlled and slowly but surely I will be out of debt (plan due to end oct 2017). However, having read around on this site I have began to worry about the future of my credit file. I presumed that 6 years after joining my DMP my debts would drop off my credit file as presumed they would all be classed as defaulted. However having decided to check my credit report it appears that only 3 of my creditors have registered defaults. Am I correct in saying that all my other creditors will be on my credit report for the duration until they are paid and then a further 6 years after they are settled?? Having been so happy that I thought I was now only 5years away from building good credit I am devastated to find it could actually be another 9 years (3 years left of my plan plus 6 years) !! What I want to know now is am I best to get these debts defaulted?? Eg. Come out of my plan, not pay towards them, default and then start a plan again?? Seems strange you can do the right thing by paying towards ur debt but be penalised for longer?? Any help would seriously be appreciated, I have seen the amazing generosity on this site and hope there is some left for me. You have my upmost thanks in advance S x

I just wanted to share my shop direct story as it could help others who are in a situation like I was where the debt has become unmanageable and been swept under the carpet for too long. I had online accounts with very and littlewoods from about 2008ish and had had ordered quite a few things and always paid up on time taking advantage of 12 month interest free offers and such like, this meaning my credit limits were fairly high. jump to 2011 at this point am earning a decent wage and so ordering items online on buy now pay later 12 months no interest doesn't seem a big problem as ive been doing this for a few years problem free. I redecorated my living room and ordered a new sofa and flat screen tv and dvd player so big expensive items but my financial situation at the time meant the repayments were no issue and I would have been paid up well within the 12 months. there was other items on the accounts also and in total across both accounts was about £3000 and im not paying interest on this as its buy now pay later. then I was assaulted quite badly, started suffering anxiety and depression and had to stop working, overtime debts started building up and the shop direct weren't paid and so the whole 12 months of interest was added to the accounts aswell as fees so those debts shot up. I was ignoring all letters about debts as a result of the depression (this I do not advise the added stress over money was not nice I assure you, but im sure its what a lot of people do when they start feeling out of control) come april 2013 I am feeling more stable and receive a compensation payment from the assault and decide to tackle my debts, but this will not cover them all so decide to make offers of payments to see if they will accept a one off full and final offer to clear the debt (I know this shows as partially satisfied on credit reports but I know my credit report is in tatters already so cant really make much more harm). both shop direct debts were with lowels. I know everyone advises to keep all contact in writing, but I decided that I would try to phone them with my offers 1st and see where things go from there. I called and said I know this has been ignored and whatever, but ive received a compensation payment and want to be able to clear my debts so its a weight off my shoulders and also its settled for you. the debts at this point were very £4034 and littlewoods £911, I said I wanted to make an offer for full and final settlement and is that something they would consider, taking in mind that I was not working so if a payment plan was to be set up would be minimal payments and take a long time to clear, and I had come into an amount of money that was a one off and so may not be in a position to offer this again. I offered 30% towards the littlewoods account and 20% to the very account, the guy I spoke to ininially said that as these offers were quite low he would have to check with his supervisors and get back to me. a while later he called me back to say they would accept my offer, I said I will make payment after receiving confirmation in writing either email or letter that this would satify the debt and no more would be owed. got the emails and payment made so debt clear. now im not saying you should dodge your debts so you don't have to pay all you owe, more that if you've already gotten into a situation where the debt has spiralled to the degree it had with me then there is a chance to get it cleared if you have the opportunity to pay a lump sum, and from my experience the whole process of arranging the settlement was very easy and non stressful (I was certain my offers would be rejected especially after he said he had to check with his manager).

We have various debts that have been in different states of long-term default, being paid under small monthly arrangement payments to DCAs. We now have a sum of money available, nothing like the totals owed, but I have heard you can good discounts off bad debts to settle and it would presumably help my credit file somewhat in the long run to have them declared satisfied. My question is this - what are the best ways to approach DCAs (or the original lenders) in this situation? What should one say? I've thought of some ruses like saying "oh, I'm facing bankruptcy anyway and you won't get much at all", or "we're going to live in Africa - this is only a formality for us", but I'm not sure if those will cut much ice. What has worked for you? What percentage can I get away with in making offers - how low do people go? Thanks for any input!

My father in law took out a secured loan£20k loan at 14% interest. He has paid £16,000 to date and missed 5 installments due to loss of job. (no ppi was taken) He has since arranged to pay an additional £100 a month to cover the 5 month shortfall. When I contacted them for an early settlement figure they said it would be £29,000. This is £9000 more than the original loan and he has paid £16,000. TBH - I am no expert in maths or credit agreements but this seems extortionate and wanted to understand what the best way of dealing with this would be..

So I am new to this and have no idea on my rights or not.. I've tried reading lots of other threads, but it just confuses me more. I really hope someone can help shed some light on things, either good or bad. My girlfriend took a car out on a hire purchase agreement over 5 years. The car was for £6,995, and she will end up paying £17,200 (I know.. that hurts..). It ends in November this year.. and I just phoned up to try and end the agreement early, and pay the outstanding balance.. They have said the outstanding balance is £2,400 , and the early settlement figure is £2,350.. or something similar, so hardly saving a thing. She said this was because they remove the interest to decide the early settlement figure, and they 'front load' all their agreements so there was hardly any interest left. They must be laughing all the way to the bank on this one.. but is that really possible and legal for them to do? I was expecting to pay maybe £1,000 to pay it off.. or £1,500. But to save £50? Seems like a final kick in the teeth. Is there anything that can be done? Guess it's too late to return the car and cancel the agreement.. the car is probably only worth £2000 as it is. So frustrated.. are we doomed to pay this final £2,400 in full?

Hi, I'm new here and hoping I can find some help and advice. We have several debts (some in my husband's name but most unfortunately in mine). Some of which are over 10 years old. I've been maintaining payment arrangements with the several collections agencies dealing with them for very small amounts (between £5-£10 a month) for years now. Now I'm in the situation where I have recently separated from my husband mid Jan and am now a single parent, starting over at 40+. We are putting the house on the market but there will be very little equity left in the property once the mortgage (and arrears) are paid off and what small amount is left looks like it may be distributed min 60% to me 40% to my future ex. To move on properly and have a future for me and my son I want to wipe the slate clean of all the stupid money mistakes we have made while being together. So I need to approach all of the collections agencies to ask for early settlement figures. Debts are as follows: £2445 (ex overdraft in my name which was originally with HSBC/First Direct) now with Robinson Way this debt is 10+ years old £1,738 (unauthorised overdraft from an old Halifax account in my husband's name) also with Robinson Way This is from a couple of year's ago. £5,344.83 (A Halifax Loan in my name which was paid regularly til my husband's redundancy) this went into default and has been in the hands of Drydens Fairfax Solicitors £2868.38 (an old HP agreement with Chartered Trust for a car which went into default) this is 10+ years old now with Mackenzie Hall Since the split I have spoken with all of them to let them know my current circumstances and all have agreed to put the accounts on hold for 30 days until it was clearer what may be happening with my personal circumstances. That 30 days has now ran out and the calls have started happening to chase me up. I'm not wanting to avoid speaking with anyone but I don't want to set up repayment plans - I want to ask what the minimum amount is they'll accept to wipe the slate clean. I am going to contact Step Change for advice but saw lots of advice on the debt forums here and thought I'd join to ask if anyone could advise on what my next move should be. I am self employed, working less than 16 hours a week and am looking into what benefits help I can receive now I'm going to be a lone parent and am currently living with my parents with my son to give me some breathing space to save so I can rent a new home. We need to sell our house asap to release what equity we have. This will then hopefully clear our debts and leave a small amount to give us a degree a financial security for the short term future. Although I know these creditors will want their pound of flesh I need this to be the smallest amount possible because it'll directly impact on the amount of money my and my lad have for our new life. Thanks in advance for any help

We decided to pay off the finance agreement with creation for goods bought at Currys. They gave us the settlement figure and then told us that they would be charging us £3 for using a Debit card. The settlement amount was almost £300! Should they be charging us the £3 considering that a Debit card was using and they charge 26% interest?

Hi. I am trying to get my credit file back on track and have managed to pay off some debts but I have 3 defaulted accounts still on there all was from Littlewoods catalogue that Lowell has now took over. The accounts are 3 years old and altogether total £1120. I am going to offer a full and final settlement amount just to get rid of this debt and with the hope that removing something negative off my credit file will be better for me in the long run (is that how it works though?) Plus im sick of the letters, phonecalls and texts. I know it is my own fault so im trying to sort it. Could somebody please advise me on what I should offer? Im hoping they might accept a reduced amount. Thanks for your help.

Hi Folks New on this forum so forgive me if I am asking something that is a well trodden post. Lets set the story so far: About a year ago I had a patchy employment history, first year of self employment an all. So I was signing on and off JSA and Housing Benefit like a yo yo. Anyway I had been defering payment, a dca was after me for the money, I disputed the money with the debt collector and now its been passed back to the council. I have written to the council requesting a breakdown of the housing benefit which they have oblidged. Having looked at the amounts and weighed my options I have decided to pay. Can anyone show me a suitable template letter to ensure they cancel any negative remarks on credit reference agencies and come to a final settlement? Eg not adding on dca or other legal costs. Ankh

Cabot currently own a few of my debts which were passed to them via my bank. I am making very small monthly payments to cover the outstanding monies - I am sure Cabot would like me to pay more but I can't. However, thanks to a family member I have been offered a bit of financial assistance in the way of an interest free loan to get the debt collectors off my back. I wish to offer Cabot a settlement figure for the 2 outstanding debts (credit card & current account) so that I can bring this matter to a close. I would like to know what is the best approach and is there a recognised minimum % that can be offered by myself which they would have to accept, also are there any templates that would be suitable here on CAG that I could use. Thank you

Hi, I have a credit card with Vanquis with a credit limit of £1750. It's currently at around £1900 due to interest and charges. I fell into financial difficulties about 12 months ago between jobs and since have found it difficult to make any sort of impact on clearing the balance (despite paying around £100-£200 per month). A family member has offered to loan me money to make a final settlement offer to Vanquis of £1400. I have spoken to Vanquis who seem to take what I say and twist it into something else. However, I should be in a position by the end of the week to make the payment. Is there anything that I should request before or after the payment? I am concerned that they will accept the £1400 as a settlement but continue to chase me for more money once this has been paid. I have already decided that they will be paid from an account that is currently empty so that if they try and take more than they should, they'll have a hard time in doing so. They have caused so much stress over the last 18 months that I just want to give them the money and to leave me alone!! Any advice would be much appreciated.