Full & Final Settlement offer advice on how to clear asap

[Dotty50]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?244146-Capital-One-wont-refund-all-charges

 

This is the thread nannieeeogg, it's about PPI refunds but with a battle between Cap1 and Capquest, so it my be of help to you to see how they work.

[The Mould]

I make a full and final settlement figure throught there agent cap quest for a Capital one account. cap quest agreed figure and I paid. This was in September to I recieved a letter from capital one asking for the remainder of the balance . Can anyone tell me if my full and final settlement figure is legal'

 

Hello nannieogg

 

I need some more details on the Settlement Agreement/Contract please, but based on what you have posted here, yes, your Settlement Agreement is legally binding upon the creditor.

 

As the creditor has broken the agreement, this is now a legal matter, so can you please post up your story/case in the legal issues forum and provide as much detail as possible on this matter, then I shall advise you on the best course of action.

 

Kind Regards

 

The Mould

 

PS. You do not need to accept me advice, so don't feel obligated to accept or act on it.

[Dotty50]

Hi The Mould, (night owl as usual!)

 

nannnieogg has started a thread as advised but we are still waiting for sight of the F & F confirmation letter before it was paid

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?281916-full-and-final-settlement&highlight=

[billyray]

I have had a few F&Fs accepted by DCA's. Can anyone tell me how long it takes to update my credit file? And who does it the OC or the DCA? Do I have to chase them to do this too?

[LB145]

I have been told by Egg - end of following month Experto Credite - 15th of the month - credit files updated

[billyray]

On an earlier point regarding F&Fs. I waited for a month for my credit report to be updated.

All which has happened is the default balance has been reduced by my F&F, and the term "default" is still on there. Is this normal for F&Fs?

[Dotty50]

On an earlier point regarding F&Fs. I waited for a month for my credit report to be updated.

All which has happened is the default balance has been reduced by my F&F, and the term "default" is still on there. Is this normal for F&Fs?

 

Hi Billyray,

 

What agreement did you reach regarding your credit file with them before settling?

 

Most of the posts I have read regarding F & F's is that the file is marked as partial settlement.

[billyray]

Hi dotty,

 

The DCA I was dealing with said their client will consider the debt ‘Satisfied’ as per the agreed short settlement and mycredit file will be updated by their client accordingly to reflect this.

 

So not sure what is happening really.

[Dotty50]

Well you will probably have to write to 'their client', who I assume is the OC and request that your file is updated to show 'Satisfied', as per the DCA's letter quoted and send them a copy of the DCA's letter for proof.

 

Unless someone else has any other suggestions.

 

Did they say that the remaining debt would not be passed on to anyone else to collect?

[horsemad1]

Hi BR, Im the OP of this thread, notice it has gained some momentum since I last posted. Anyway, in my experience, I have not yet had any one of my debts updated on my credit files to my liking yet and I did all my F&F's in May. In my case, I believe it will take an enormous amount of persistence and possiply court action to get around this and quite frankly Im just not that bothered anymore, don't intend on getting credit ever again if I can help it. However, if you have something in writing from them which states they will update your file and they don't or they don't do it fully or as you expected, follow it up. Send them a letter (DCA and OC) with the copy of your letter from them confirming promise of credit file update and ask them what they propose to do about it and a timescale and if that timescale is not adhered to, threaten them with the data protection act and ICO.

[billyray]

horsemad1,

 

Generally feel a bit mislead. I suppose you do a F&F so they cant chase you or take you to court/add extras. Eg Peace of mind.I suppose the defaults drop off in 6 years any way.

 

I dont want credit either, however i reckon in the recessional environment we are in, that creditors/companys wont care so much if your credit is not up to scratch, as they will want to do business. An example of this, if you sign up for virgin media, they'll and credit check you, but if you dont check out, you pay a small admin fee of £35, and you have the services.

 

The lack of credit file update wont stop me from doing F&Fs with other companys though.

 

BR

[Bigdebtor]

Remember it will cost them REAL CASH (£450-500) if you report them to FOS - so worth raising a formal complaint throughtheir own complaints procedure - and if nothing resolved (in 8 weeks?) to your satisfaction report them to FOS. You'll almost certainly get nowhere with FOS - but at least they'll charge the OC:lol:!

 

It might also work with each of the CRA's too? At least you're then costing these sharks money - and getting revenue into a public body (even if as uselss as a chocolate teapot!).

 

BD

[wrungout]

Billyray

 

Engage the DCA or the creditor (who ever it is that's managing the account/debt) in a dialogue of communication in writing only to discuss a Settlement to the account, send off the letter and wait for their reply. It is very important to obtain proof that there was a 'meeting of the minds' between the two parties to a Settlement agreement/contract.

 

Kind Regards

 

The Mould

 

Horsemad1, thanks for your thread, it has been a valuable insight into the world of F&F issues and your results with the expert guidance of The Mould are impressive and encouraging.

 

I hope you won't mind me asking a question on your thread (I will of course open a separate thread if my questions require more than a simple/short response).

 

Recently I made F&F offers to all my CC's most of whom have now responded and rejected my offer.

Would this constitute that state of "MEETING OF THE MINDS" referred to above? Or, do they actually have to offer me a F&F offer before that state exists?

 

Also, does the account have to be in dispute in order to use the letter kindly provided by The Mould when sending a F&F offer with a cheque enclosed. (Appreciate some sections would have to be left out if no dispute exists)

 

Would be very grateful for any clarification, thanks, wrungout.

[horsemad1]

It is a compliacted issue, in my case I wanted a quick resolution to accounts that have been in dispute for years. There needs to be a paper trail to show you have attempted to resolve the issues with your creditor an that they are basically refusing to play ball. The letters that The Mould wrote for me make it legally binding on the creditor for a number of reasons. The accounts were disputed due to no CCA, charges etc, there was no resolution in sight, my first F&F was rejected so a counteroffer was made with the all importanat clause 'return cheque if you do not agree to these terms'.

 

If an account is not disputed a creditor may be less likely to agree to settle on 'your' terms and more likely to send you to Court if you are not in Financial difficulty. I would say that if you can use the no CCA or non compliant CCA argument you have more bargaining power, so if they refuse your first offer tell them its that or nothing as they cannot enforce in Court without a CCA. Hope that helps

[wrungout]

Horsemad1, many thanks for your response, it helps.

When you said your accounts were in dispute due to no CCA, charges etc can you tell me if it was always a CCA issue or did you have some in dispute due only to charges (possibly disputed).

I have some CCA's which appear to be OK however I also have accounts with charges which to date I haven't disputed.

thanks again for taking the time to help, wrungout.

[victoria_siempre]

Hi wrungout

 

A dispute can arise from anything.

 

It's useful to ask for their disputes procedure and fully engage in it. Then they will say complain to FOS, which one will, but sadly this takes time.

 

It's a long game; a bit like being married really.

 

Hope this helps

 

x

 

vic

[dirtydancing]

Hi

 

I've written letters to 3 of my creditors repeatedly and asked for them to WRITE back and not phone and they don't bother getting back to me. It's really frustrating. Two of them, Equidebt and Capquest I said that if they didn't accept my F and F settlement I would be able to pay them £20 a month and could they please let me have details on how to arrange this and still no reply! The other one which is with Arden I have just written to the original creditor (Lombard) and made them the offer instead of writing again to Arden as they never bother replying. Surely it's curtious to reply even if the answer is 'no'?

[Bigdebtor]

Wrungout

 

In my experience it's far better to firstly RECLAIM ALL unfair credit card default charges IN FULL (incl the £12 they claim the OFT thinks is "fair") along with ALL contractual interest (compounded monthly) BEFORE you start to negotiate any F&F.

 

If for example you agreed a 50% F&F on a £10k balance - you save £5k. HOWEVER, if £4k of that is made up of unfair charges and contractual interest - and you got that fully refunded first, you would then be able to get the same 50% deal on the remaining £6k - paying only £3000 - so you would be £2000 better off by reclaiming the charges etc. FIRST.

 

I have also found the more worried your OC or DCA is the better the deal you'll get. After agreeing an affordable monthly amount and frozen interest based on current circumstances, as soon as my circumstances worsen - or I am faced with an unexpected repair bill etc. - I tell the OC or DCA I can't stick to the plan currently - so can we please negotiate a lower amount - or stop payments for a few months? If they say NO - then I stop anyway - and they always come back (after some fluster and bluster - sometimes with a change of DCA) and then they accept what I can now give them - no catching up on any missed months. Sometimes they also at that point revisit the F&F issue and that is where I have been able to get deals of 35-50%.

 

Sometimes there is no logic with these guys. I negotiated a 40% deal throgh CSL on one Barclaycard balance of £10k - on which I was paying £75 per month (frozen interest) BUT the same combo WON'T do the same deal on my other Barclaycard - and I'm now only paying £5 per month on a £10k debt - so this will only be fully repaid when I'm over 200 years' old!

 

I have not had to do anything about F&F's on unenforceable CCA's yet - but still fighting on that front. Basically if I can pay 0% then that's worth a bit of hassle whiulst waiting out the 6 year SB milestone.

 

I am also still fighting some unfair charges - with HBOS (overdraft) and Capital One most intransigent - but getting ZERO from me at present.

 

Hope this helps?

 

BD

Edited November 25, 2010 by Bigdebtor

[wrungout]

Horsemad1, Vic, Bigdebtor, thank you all most kindly for your responses, it has been very helpful and shown me much more structure to what I should be doing.

This week-end I'll be looking at reclaiming default charges etc., thanks for that BD, glad to see you'll be around till age 200, certainly beats my target.

thanks again everyone, hope you have a good week-end, wrungout.

[Bigdebtor]

Wrungout

 

I'd rather die just short of 200 and see them whistle for the rest of it!

 

BD

[MW2]

Have I missed something,why can you claim ALL charges on credit card accounts?

And if so is there a template letter somewhere on here I could use?

[horsemad1]

wrungout, BD is right, get your charges reclaimed and then go for a F&F and if you have charges then your account is already disputed. Using the CCA argument, whether it be non compliant or non existent makes it easier to force a F&F on a DCA, however if your financial circumstances are that bad a DCA has to weigh up whether it is prudent to accept a lump sum now (whatever that may be) or get very little for the next 100 years! Good luck.

[horsemad1]

MW2, its all part of the reclaiming bank charges campaign, although it is more difficult to get bank charges back than it was, credit card charges are still easier to reclaim, originally it was when the charges were £25-30 you could claim it all back but recently it was capped to anything ove £12, howver many people have found that they can still get the whole lot back with a bit of perseverance, so any default sums, overlimit charges, late payment fees can be reclaimed. loads of threads on this site, just have a read on what to do.

[Dotty50]

Have I missed something,why can you claim ALL charges on credit card accounts?

And if so is there a template letter somewhere on here I could use?

 

Don't confuse charges (as in interest) with Unlawful charges (as in overlimit or late fees)

 

As Horsemad explained, it is possible to get these back and it is possible to get statutory interest on the amount and if you persevere, some have even got the contractual interest back.

 

It can be a hefty sum!

[MW2]

I would like to start making a few offers if payment on some of my credit cards which is thebest letter to start off with?