The amounts you can realistically afford will be worked out from your listings as advised in Section Five. Always offer considerably less than you can realistically afford, that way you will at least have some leeway when, as will inevitably happen with some creditors, your offer is refused and the creditor insists on a higher amount.
You may be pleasantly surprised to find just how little some creditors will accept. One bank agreed to accept payments of only £8 per month on a debt of mine which was £3,000. This works out at only 0.2667% of the balance owing. The original minimum instalment was supposed to be £150 per month – quite a reduction!
Don’t go into too much detail when you write to creditors. They are not particularly interested in your life history. If you have become unemployed then, of course, you would mention this. This is one of the most common reasons for people getting into serious arrears