QLD Debt - How Much will Credit Card Providers Accept Paying a Balance?

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8 December 2014
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I have had to sell my house to settle a bank debt. I have some cash left over. The question is, how little will credit card providers accept when paying the balance owed. I have been led to believe they will accept as low as 20 cents in the dollar about what a debt collection business would pay them for the debt.
 

Victoria S

Well-Known Member
9 April 2014
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Do you mean, how little will they accept as a repayment amount? I imagine such policies would vary from bank to bank.

Or do you want them to agree to some sort of settlement to pay off the whole of the debt - such as for a personal insolvency agreement?
 
8 December 2014
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Thanks for reply.

Some are banks but most are finance companies,

What I am inquiring about is what is the minimum amount they are likely to accept when you make a first and final offer.
 

nobody

Member
16 January 2016
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I have had to sell my house to settle a bank debt. I have some cash left over. The question is, how little will credit card providers accept when paying the balance owed. I have been led to believe they will accept as low as 20 cents in the dollar about what a debt collection business would pay them for the debt.

Hi Rick, sad to see you had to sell your house to pay a debt owed to a bank of all people.

While you will undoubtedly receive good quality legal advice from the lawyers here in terms of what statute law says, it's a pity you weren't able to obtain advice on tactics on how to deal with things in a way that enabled you to get your house if that's what you wished to do.

Please note that I am not a lawyer and nothing I say can or should be construed as legal advice.

With that out of the way, I am happy to help to the extent that I can on tactics you can use to keep as much of your money as you can... if that is what you wish to do?

Assuming that you wish to keep as much of your money as you can, I would suggest that you wait until the bank contacts you regarding the matter. They are likely to ask you how much money you have, how much you earn, etc., to gain an idea of how much they think you can afford. Bear in mind that they will be seeking the entire amount.

It's in your interests to pay them as little as possible and don't feel guilty about that because if you knew how they use your signature is used to create money out of thin air and lend it back to you, you are likely to get angry.

The bank will not lose money, in any event, because as part of their risk management, they know that debtor default is a major risk for them so they contract out that risk by buying insurance. So when they fail to collect, they will sell it to a debt collector who will come after you and claim on their insurance. They will not loose out. Both the original creditor (OC) and the DC are required to notify you that the bank has sold the debt to the DC. If you do not get notification from the OC I would be asking for a copy of the Deed of Assignment as there are a lot of scammers around these days and you don't want someone else writing to you saying that you now owe the money to them

Know that whatever the debt collector (DC) gets off you, it will not go to the bank, it will go into the collectors own back pocket.

If you wish to enter into a payment plan, then it's for you to decide what you can afford not the bank or the DC. They will always claim you can afford a lot more. If 50 cents a week for 50 years is all you can afford then that's all you can afford.

The next step for them is to get a judgement order for you to pay the entire amount on demand or have your home raided and your goods sized. When this occurs you must lodge a defense to prevent these actions from occurring and do so in the time allowed. This is critical. If you owe less than 75k then its all done through the Magistrates court and they will have everything you need on their website. Depending on what state you're in, there may be a compulsory conference that focuses on settlement negotiation ie a payment plan.

I don't know where you're at with all this but if it were me, I would not approach the bank wait until they come to you unless, of course, you want to get it settled and out of the way. As I think has been said before, DCs pay about 10cents in the dollar for a debt so that will give you a good idea of where to pitch your settlement offer.

Hope this helps


What communication have you received from the bank in terms of the credit card?
 
8 December 2014
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Thank you for that. In the meantime, I have settled six credit card debts with average payments of about 70 cents in the dollar. American Express were helpful in allowing 62 cents in the dollar and giving us 3 months to pay. Lombard would only accept an offer if we submitted a hardship application and sent them copies of letters from other lenders that agreed to offers. We just stayed on hardship with them.

In the meantime, I have five cards left.