Business Debtline

England and Wales > Debt Advice > Secondary Debts > What If My Creditor Refuses My Offer?

What If My Creditor Refuses My Offer?

Subsections : Priority Debts |Secondary Debts |Fact Sheets |Sample Letters |

What if a creditor refuses my offer? (62KB)

Sometimes one or more of your creditors will refuse to accept the offer of payment you have made on your budget sheet and demand more than you can afford. Don’t give up; you can usually persuade creditors to accept your offer of payment by using the following steps:

start paying the amount you have offered anyway;
if some of your creditors have accepted your offer of payment, write to the creditors who have refused and tell them this.

If a collector calls for your payment you should not let them persuade you to pay more than the amount you have offered no matter how persuasive they may be. Otherwise, you will not be able to make the payments on your priority debts.

Also, it isn’t fair to other secondary creditors who have accepted your offer and may jeopardise other arrangements you have made.

Most financial institutions are members of a trade association and have agreed to a code of practice. This says they should be sympathetic in cases of genuine difficulty.

Phone us if you feel a lender is acting unreasonably and we may be able to put you in touch with their trade association.

It may be more difficult to come to an arrangement with trade creditors, but keep trying because it is in the creditor's interests for you to make some payment, rather than nothing at all.

Also, if you continue to trade with the creditor in cash while reducing your debt, you remain a customer and most firms don’t want to lose business as long as the debt is not getting any worse.

The offers of payment in your budget sheet are fair to all your creditors and the most you can afford. If you allow one creditor to pressure you to pay more than is shown, you will not have enough for your outgoings and other creditors.

Step-by-step Guide
Interactive Budget Sheet
Sample Letters
Fact Sheets
Contact Us
Site Map