What percentage do UAE banks accept in a settlement?

There is no published figure and no guaranteed percentage. Acceptance depends on how old the debt is, what secures it, how much the bank has already provisioned against it, and your documented position. Anyone quoting you a fixed discount — including a debt-management company — is guessing at your expense.

Should I offer everything I can raise?

Usually not in the first message. A settlement typically takes two to four rounds, and opening at your ceiling leaves you nothing to concede. Open below it and keep the rest in reserve — but never offer, at any stage, more than you can actually transfer.

Does this calculator send my numbers anywhere?

No. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing you type is sent to a server or stored. We only count that the calculator was used, never what was in it.

Free tool

Settlement offer calculator

If you can raise a lump sum on a debt in default, this shows what that money looks like from the bank's side of the desk — and writes the offer letter, with the checklist that decides whether paying it closes the account or just reduces it.

Your position

The balance they claim, and what you can actually raise.

An example, edit it

Outstanding balanceThe figure the bank or agency says is owed today.

Cash you could raiseYour ceiling — the most you could pay in one go, from savings or family.

Or, each monthOptional. What you could pay monthly if a lump sum is impossible.

There is no published settlement percentage in the UAE, and anyone who quotes you one is guessing. What a bank accepts depends on the age of the debt, what secures it, and its own position — so this tool shows your arithmetic, never a figure the bank owes you.

What the bank sees

Open here

AED 10,500

That is 23% of the balance, and 70% of the AED 15,000 you could raise — so you have somewhere to move when they counter.

Your ceiling, as a share of the balance: 33%
What the bank writes off at your ceiling: AED 31,000
The same money, paid monthly: 12 months

Cash today is worth more to a bank than the same total spread over a year, which is why a lump sum moves the number and an instalment plan usually does not. Expect two to four rounds before anyone lands on a figure.

How settlement negotiation works

The offer, written

Your figures, in the letter that protects you: it asks for the written confirmation before any money moves. It is in English because that is what a UAE bank's collections team replies in — fill in the brackets and send it from the address on your account.

Subject: Settlement offer — account [number]

Dear [Bank] Collections / Recovery team,

I am writing about account [number], on which you have advised an outstanding balance of AED 46,000.

I am not in a position to pay that amount. I can raise AED 10,500 from [source: family / savings], and I am offering that sum in full and final settlement of this account.

If that is acceptable, please send me a letter on your letterhead confirming: the settlement amount; that payment clears the account in full and final settlement and no further amount will be claimed; that the account will be closed on receipt; how the settlement will be reported to the Al Etihad Credit Bureau; and that any security cheque held will be returned or cancelled.

I will pay by bank transfer within [number] days of receiving that letter. I am not able to pay before it.

Kind regards, [Name] · [Emirates ID] · [phone]

Before you transfer a dirham

The letter says "full and final settlement" and names the account.
It confirms the account closes on receipt, so fees stop.
It says how the settlement will be reported to the Al Etihad Credit Bureau.
It confirms any security cheque will be returned or cancelled.

How this works

What it assumes

Your ceiling is capped at the balance, because offering more than you owe is not a settlement. The opening figure is 70 percent of that ceiling — a negotiating convention, not a market rate — so that a counter-offer has somewhere to go. Everything is rounded to whole dirhams.

What it doesn't know

It does not know how old the debt is, whether a security cheque or a court file sits behind it, how much the bank has already written down, or what it has accepted from anyone else. Those decide the answer, and none of them are arithmetic.

An estimate, not advice

Hisab is an organisation and guidance tool. It is not a licensed financial adviser, debt broker, law firm, or government service. If your situation is urgent or legal, you should seek qualified professional advice.

This used the numbers you typed.

Hisab holds the real ones — every debt, every balance — so the offer you make is one you can fund, and the letter goes out in your language. Free, no account.

Get Hisab free