BBC Panorama write off debt | Loophole clears couple’s debts | Write off illegal unfair loans | Consumer Credit Act 1974

BBC Panorama Programme: 'Can't Pay, Won't Pay'

As more people find themselves in debt, one couple found loopholes in their credit agreements to avoid paying tens of thousands of pounds. But a High Court judge had the final word.

Amanda and Basil Rankine ran up debts of £120,000 after their mortgage advice business collapsed and they found themselves unable to afford their monthly payments.

Clear your Credit Cards and Loans legally due to flawed Credit Agreements

Due to the changes in legislation of credit card and unsecured loan agreements pre April 2007 you could be entitled to write off your credit card or unsecured loan agreements.

On many occasions you could be able to disregard your credit card balance in full due to the high probability that the credit agreement you originally signed is flawed and completely unenforceable.

Under current consumer credit laws, when you enter into a contract with a bank or credit card company, the paperwork must contain certain prescribed details that you have clearly signed up to.

Claimants await judgment over bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts

Supreme court will rule on Wednesday whether account-holders charged for going into the red can seek compensation

More than one million banking customers will come a step closer this week to learning whether they will be able to claim back charges they paid for unauthorised overdrafts.

On Wednesday, the supreme court will hand down the appeal ruling on a case between the Office of Fair Trading and seven banks and one building society to determine whether the fees charged for unauthorised borrowing can be tested under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Start your Unfair Credit Agreement Claim »

Unenforceable Credit Card Agreements- What are They?

You may have heard the term ‘unenforceable agreements’ or ‘unenforceable credit card agreements’ quite a lot recently.

You may know that it is possible to claim that you agreement is an unenforceable agreement and have the balance written off.  But what are unenforceable agreements exactly? It is all based on the 1974 Consumer Credit Act. (CCA) This act states that in law certain terms and conditions must be contained within the agreement. If they are not or the agreement is not signed, then the agreement is unenforceable.

The process is quite simple but somewhat time consuming. You will need the backing of a solicitor who is proactive and this can be found by using a claims management company. First a true copy of your agreement will need to be obtained from your lender. They have 12 working days to reply. If they fail to do so or send a copy of terms and conditions (which is not the agreement) then they are ‘defaulted’. The case is passed to a solicitor who issues proceedings against the lender. If your agreement is sent back it is then audited to check for any breaches in the 1974 CCA. Once these are identified it is then passed to a solicitor who prepares the case for court. You will be given free ‘after the event’ insurance to cover any costs which you case my need.

The term unenforceable means that the agreement cannot be enforced and therefore no further repayments need be made once the agreement has be declared unenforceable. You may be wondering why only agreements taken out before 2007 can be claimed. This is because after that time there is discretion allowed by the judge as to whether or not the agreement is enforceable whereas before 2007 there is no such allowance and even a court cannot enforce the agreement. Credit card, loans and store card can be checked or audited to see if any breaches of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act can be found in the agreement.

The first stage takes about two months. The second stage which aims to have the balance written off take longer and very much depends on the response of the lender in question. No cases have gone to court because if the lender loses a precedent will be have been set. So they won’t risk this. But many have been settled out of court or written off before court proceedings have been issued.

There is no need to consider IVA or Bankruptcy before you have had your agreements audited for unenforceability. It is the first step to a debt free life. Solicitors work on a no-win-no-fee basis so you have nothing to lose, and financial freedom to gain.

Unenforceable Credit Card Agreements, visit www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk and take the 60 second test.

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 – Unfair Relationships | Unfair Credit Agreements | Unfair Loans

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 enables borrowers to challenge unfair credit card and loan agreements in court and obtain redress, if the overall relationship is unfair to the borrower.

This is in addition to an enhanced ability for consumers to take disputes to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

The provisions were introduced by the Consumer Credit Act 2006. They applied to new agreements from 6 April 2007, and to pre-existing agreements from 6 April 2008. Agreements completed before the new provisions took effect remain subject to the previous extortionate credit bargains provisions.

The 2006 Act also enhanced the right to apply for a time order, which is a court procedure that can give borrowers more time to repay a debt.

Start your Unfair Credit Agreement Claim »

PPI Missold to the Self Employed

 

If you were self employed when you took out PPI then you may be due compensation. Many banks and lenders were keen to sell payment protection insurance to those who took out loans, mortgages and credit cards. Many who took out PPI were self employed. If you check the fine print, you may find that under certain circumstances, your policy doesn’t actually cover you.

Mis-Sold Payment Protection Insurance – How to Reclaim PPI When Mis-Sold on a Loan Or Credit Card

Loan insurance also known as Payment Protection Insurance is designed to make your monthly loan repayments in case you are unable, due to accident sickness or redundancy. But customers mis-sold their PPI could have debts written off and the insurance refunded.

It is estimated 85% of customers take out loan protection insurance when purchasing a loan, credit card or a mortgage for redundancy insurance or critical illness cover.

However, many customers have purchased loans without realising that payment protection is attached, or have been mis-sold credit cover with their loans, resulting in paying unnecessary insurance.

Unenforceable Credit Agreements and Claims Management Companies – Guide to Making a Claim

A Guide to Making a Claim on Unenforceable Credit Loan Agreements

If you have ever had a credit card or loan, the chances are your agreement is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Some very important straight-forward information about unenforceable credit agreements and how to make a claim to clear your debt.

If you have any unenforceable credit agreements you could reclaim thousand of pounds. You can use a Claims Management Company to help you write off your loan or credit card. But be careful to choose the right company

Some Claims Management companies charge fees on conclusion of your claim of 30%, some offer a free audit , which is not an audit but a simple preliminary review, made by any company to assess if you may have a claim.

Debtor gets five-year stay on unfair loan agreement

Last week, a debtor secured a five-year block on his home repossession in a claims management case against his lender Blemain Finance, after consumer credit law was used to challenge his loan agreement.

The Claims Management Company acting for Cardiff-based Peter Bentley, used the meaning of unfair relationships under Section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974 to claim that his contract with Blemain Finance was an unfair loan.

Have you been the victim of unfair loan agreements? Take the 60 second test >

£21bn of credit card debt unenforceable and could be written off

More than £21bn of the UK’s credit card debt could be cleared due to unenforceable credit card agreements and could be written off, according to financial claims management companies.

They have based their projection partly on an estimate from money education charity CreditAction that total credit card debt in the UK now stands at around £53bn. It is estimated that 40 per cent of all financial products bought by consumers can be claimed against.

Claims management firms say that an average client has 10 financial products, of which four can be claimed against.

Do you have an unenforceable credit card? Take the 60 second test >

Previous estimates around the amount of unenforceable credit agreements put the figure at 25 per cent, but this does not tally with many observations. On average, they say their customers can claim against as much as 40 per cent of their credit agreements.

There are specific rules that lenders must adhere to when they sell a financial product to a consumer. If these have been breached, lenders should admit their mistakes and stop dragging their heels through the legal system. This only results in unnecessary additional legal costs for all involved.

Figures also show that the UK collective credit limit on credit cards is £158bn, which is an average credit card limit of £5,129 per person. The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 17.6 per cent – 17.1 per cent above base rate (0.5 per cent).

The Bank of England announced earlier this month, however, that personal borrowing fell by £600m in July, taking the total owed by individuals down to £1.457 trillion.

Do you have an unenforceable credit card? Take the 60 second test >

185,000 PPI complaints to be reopened | PPI Claim

Companies which sold payment protection insurance (PPI) will have to reopen 185,000 rejected complaints in light of new guidance over how the scheme should be sold. Make a PPI Claim now >

The Financial Services Authority has ordered firms to redress the complaints under new guidance that will come into force at the end of 2009. It also means that companies representing more than 40 per cent of face-to-face sales in the single premium unsecured personal loan PPI market will review sales and redress those consumers identified as mis-sold.

£60m Mortgage PPI refund due to UK consumers | PPI Claim

Consumers will receive refunds totalling £60m under plans to help borrowers adversely affected by mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI), PPI Claim.

The refund will be made as part of a package of measures for consumers agreed between the Financial Services Authority and MPPI providers, after concerns were raised about premium increases and reductions what was covered in the policies.

The FSA’s concerns centred on the terms permitting these changes and how clearly they were disclosed to customers. After talks between MPPI providers, trade bodies and the FSA, the industry has agreed to proactively refund increases in premiums, and reverse any reductions in cover, for customers who have experienced these changes to their policy in 2009.

Are you entitled to make a PPI cliam? Take the 60 second test >

Clear Your Credit Card Debt

Free Yourself of Credit Card Debt

In the current times of economic crisis, credit card debt has become widespread. If you are paying just the minimum monthly dues on your credit cards it is perhaps a futile attempt to get rid of the debt. In reality, this approach of clearing your credit card debt may take years as you are probably only paying off the interest portion of the credit, judging by the high interest rates that most credit card companies charge.

Now a solution presents in the form of making credit card claims to clear your credit card debt. So how can this happen? Well, most credit card users are unaware of one basic fact about lending companies, which is that in all probability your credit cards company cannot enforce the loan or credit agreement because of legal hassles. In fact, this is slowly gaining recognition, and many users are becoming aware that clearing their credit card debt is not so hard after all.

So, now you know that clearing the huge credit card debt is not so complicated, here is how you approach the problem. The first step is to get in touch with a mediator to approach the lender with the request to make a claim. This is best done by hiring a professional solicitor or company that specialises in making credit debt claims. This is because the right way to approach the lender is crucial to ensure that your loan agreements are unenforceable thus contributing to the success of your claim.

The next step is to identify the actual loans and credit debt that you wish to make a claim against. This can include your credit cards, loans, financial agreements. Once you have listed out your individual claims, you will need to provide the account and credit cards details to the company your hired to take care of the claims. The final claim will depend on the actual credit loan amount due, and it is best to let the same company handle all your credit card claims if you hold multiple accounts. The company then handles the necessary paperwork to arrange an audit at the lender location that will analyse any breaches on the lender’s part which then qualify you to a claim. Once the grounds for dispute are ascertained it is only a matter of time before the solicitor helps you to clear your credit card dues so you really are debt free!

Take the 60 second test at www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk and see if you qualify to wipe out unenforceable credit card debts

1.5m UK consumers complain about finance providers | Payment Protection Insurance

The number of consumers complaining to financial providers about the level of service received has increased by two per cent to 1.51m since 2008.

Complaints about general insurance and pure protection topped the table with an increase of 19 per cent to 334,443 over six months. This is an overall increase of 72 per cent since the first half results reported in 2006 and is likely to reflect the rocketing numbers of complaints about payment protection insurance on loans, as well as payment protection insurance on credit cards and mortgages.

Start your Payment Protection Insurance Claim »

 Complaints about mortgage and loan arrears handling increased 41 per cent to 39,181 and complaints about misleading advice increased 19 per cent to 207,967.

Meanwhile complaints about the time providers took to deal with complaints fell by 23 per cent to 117,774. The proportion of complaints which took providers more than eight weeks to deal with dealt with increased from 10 per cent to 11 per cent. City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said this was largely attributable to complaints to banks and general insurance intermediaries.

The proportion of complaints upheld by FSA regulated firms fell from 40 per cent to 38 per cent. This was largely attributable to a fall in the number of complaints upheld by banks, said the watchdog.

Firms are required to report to the FSA every six months on the number of complaints they receive and how they handle them.

Start your Payment Protection Insurance Claim »

GMAC fined £2.8m for ‘mistreating’ mortgage customers

FSA orders sub-prime lender GMAC-RFC to pay £7.7m in compensation for mistreating customers who fell into arrears

Sub-prime mortgage lender GMAC-RFC has been fined £2.8m for mistreating mortgage customers who fell into arrears and ordered to pay them up to £7.7m in compensation.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued one of its biggest ever fines to the US-owned company for its treatment of customers who had fallen behind on mortgage repayments or were going through repossession.

Unenforceable Credit Agreements. Are your Credit Agreements legally compliant?

Are you paying back much more than you owe?

A credit agreement is an agreement where credit has been given to you. It includes credit cards, personal loans, secured loans, store cards and vehicle finance.

Did you know?

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 was introduced to protect consumers from banks and lending institutions. It sets out guidelines that must be followed by banks when providing documentation for loans and credit agreements.

You can challenge a credit agreement by asking the lender to provide a true copy of the credit agreement. Once you have this, the agreement can be examined to decide whether or not there have been any breach of the law. This could entitle you to compensation. In some cases the creditor may be unable to provide a copy of the agreement and if this is the case you would not have to repay the money due on your loan.

Start your Unenforceable Credit Agreement Claim »

There are lots of ways in which lenders may have breached the law. Below are some examples:

Errors when calculating interest and incorrect APR rates

The law says that the agreement must contain a term which sets out the rate of interest that is being applied under the agreement and that the APR rate accords with the APR that has been calculated. If this has not been set out correctly, you have an entitlement to seek the write-off of the entire outstanding balance owing under your unenforceable credit agreement.

Failure to provide relevant documentation

If you request a copy of the executed agreement and the lender fails to provide a copy the lender cannot enforce the agreement until such time as a copy of the executed agreement has been provided to you. The lender commits an offence if the default continues for more than a month. Where the lender has lost the agreement the terms of the Consumer Credit Act have been breached. An application can be made to the court asking that the lender writes off the agreement.

Failure to disclose commissions and fees

Where a lender pays commission to a broker or other financial introducer the sums paid to the introducer should be disclosed on the loan agreement under the heading total charges for the credit. If the lender has failed to disclose the broker’s commission as part of the total charge to you for the credit then the agreement may be unenforceable.

What does is cost?

Specialist Claims management Companies can help you to check your Credit Agreements and see if there has been any breach in the law. Their claims experts have a great deal of success with Unenforceable Credit Agreements, prices start from £300 to review an unlimited number of credit agreements (make sure you choose a firm registered with the Ministry of Justice!).

 

Start your Unenforceable Credit Agreement Claim »

 

Possibly related posts:

• BBC Panorama write off debt | Loophole clears couple’s debts | Write off illegal unfair loans | Consumer Credit Act 1974
• Unenforceable Credit Card Agreements | Advice | Write off Debt Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974
• Clear your Credit Cards & Loans legally due to flawed Credit Agreements

 

 

 

Finance Mis-Selling Under The Consumer Credit Acts & PPI/PPP/ASU Insurances

Do you have a Loan with a lender which was signed before 6th April 2007 and which was for £25,000 or less?

If so it may be wholly unenforceable against you !!

The topic of finance mis-selling by lenders (including the high street banks) is certainly a very hot topic on consumer websites and consumer media programmes.

It is estimated that there are some 50 million loan agreements in existence which are unenforceable either because there are basic defects in the documentation or because the way in which the PPI/PPP/ASU insurance policies were sold impacted on those agreements making them unenforceable.

There are, essentially, two sorts of unenforceability (at least prior to April 2007 when the Consumer Credit Act 2006 took effect) and these can be conveniently referred to as “irredeemably” unenforceable agreements and “discretionally” unenforceable agreements.

The Technical Stuff

Section 65(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, states that regulated agreements are enforceable only by order of the Court if they are improperly executed. By sections 61(1)(a) and 127(3) if they are improperly executed they are wholly unenforceable if the agreement does not contain all the terms prescribed by law and in the prescribed form. A breach of Section 65 creates “discretionally” unenforceable agreements and a breach of sections 61 and 127 create “irredeemably” unenforceable agreements. In the latter case the Court has no discretion whatsoever other than to declare the agreement unenforceable. The authority for this statement is both the Consumer Credit Act 1974 itself and the case of Wilson v First Counties both in the Court of Appeal ([2001] EWCACIV633) and in the House of Lords ([2003] UKHL40).

But this is for the Lawyers to get to grips with!

“Traffic Lights”

It may be convenient to consider such cases using a “traffic lights” approach. Some case will be “reds” others “ambers” and some “greens”.

A “red” is a loan agreement which is “irredeemably unenforceable” (ie the Court has no jurisdiction whatsoever to enforce such an agreement, even if they really want to or feel they ought to). This occurs where the breaches are breaches of what is described in the Act as “Prescribed Terms”.

An “Amber” is a loan agreement which contains breaches of the 1974 Act but the Court has a discretion as to whether to enforce or not (and on appropriate terms). This occurs where the breaches of a type known as “Other Terms”.

A “green” is a loan agreement which contains no breaches.

De Minimis (ie. tiny amounts)

It may come as something of a surprise to discover that even if a Prescribed Term is wrong by even a pound (or less) that the Court still may not enforce the Agreement. This point is made in the Wilson v First County case.

Wilson v First County

The Wilson case is interesting in that it involved a loan of £5,000 from moneylenders who charged Mrs Wilson a fee of £250 for putting the loan together. Mrs Wilson did not have the money and therefore it was added to the loan. By virtue of regulation 4 of the Consumer Credit (Total Charge for Credit) Regulations 1980, the £250 should not have been added to the amount of credit (and therefore should not have had interest charged on it) and by so doing the agreement was rendered irredeemably unenforceable. That meant she got her car back, did not have to make any further monthly payments and no longer had to pay back the remainder of the £5000 borrowed !

Human Rights

The case went to the House of Lords on a Declaration of Incompatibility by the Court of Appeal That Court felt that the effect of such a Judgment was that Mrs Wilson could get her car back (securities taken on irredeemable loan agreements must be returned) and she would have to pay no further sums to the money lenders. This seemed too much of a windfall to the Court of Appeal. In common parlance: a “double whammy”! Interestingly neither Mrs Wilson nor First Counties appeared in the Lords.

The House of Lords, in essence, said that the purpose of the Act was to protect the unsophisticated borrower against the sophisticated lender and all the lender had to do to make his agreement enforceable was to comply with the requirements of the Act. If he failed to comply then it was entirely right that he suffered in the way provided by the Act. The House of Lords effectively said that there was no human rights point at issue.

What is the trigger for a claim?

Most claims come via Case Management Companies to solicitors because the prospective client believes he may have been mis-sold a PP/PPI/ASU policy. Oddly, even if this is the case, this is not, of itself, likely to be the trigger for a claim through the Courts. Firstly, there has, obviously to be a “cause of action” (that is “the legal hook” on which the claim is based). This may be “misrepresentation” or “negligence” etc but there are many cases when the client was not even aware that such an insurance policy had been sold to him and it is very difficult, in those circumstances, to allege misrepresentation or negligence or the like. The procedure for a claim through the Financial Ombudsman is relatively straightforward and in cases where such a claim is possible, this would seem to be the preferable route. There are however many cases where the Financial Ombudsman service is not able to help. For example, if the lender, at the time of the loan, was not regulated by the Financial Ombudsman then the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction. Since 2005 the Ombudsman scheme became compulsory for all Lenders.

From the perspective of the Loan Agreement, however, the Court’s jurisdiction is likely to be invoked because the lender who has added the premium for this policy to the amount of loan and treated this premium as “credit” will risk having made the loan agreement irredeemably unenforceable and therefore it has become a “legal” dispute as opposed to merely a “mis-selling” issue.

An example situation

Take a loan of say £10,000. It is quite likely that the lender will have sold to the borrower a PPI/PPP/ASU insurance policy and the premium can easily be as much as £4,000 or more. The premium is, invariably, a “single premium”, paid upfront and almost invariably added to the amount of the loan. It is difficult to justify such insurance policies in any circumstance whatsoever and the only reason that they are sold is because the commissions on such policies are always surprisingly high (and in some cases are as much as 80% of the premium!). There may be circumstances in which a PPP/PPI/ASU policy may be of benefit to the customer but, almost certainly, that customer ought to have bought a “monthly paid” policy. On the example used above the premium for such a policy would be likely to be in the order of £60 per annum. There are many further downsides to the single premium policy, for example, they are frequently sold to people who could never have made any claim on those policies (how can you have an unemployment insurance policy for someone who is self-employed?). Similarly those polices frequently will not pay out if at the time that they came into existence the insured was say under 18, not working, had an illness or was over 65. Yet huge numbers of such policies have been sold by lenders to such persons. It is hard to avoid the thought that these single premium policies are almost fraudulent and are on an industrial scale. (The “Breakfast” program on BBC1 said recently that of all the profits made by Banks that 10% came from the sale of these policies).

Citizen Advice Bureau

The Citizen Advice Bureau has found that PPI is overpriced, difficult to claim on and often sold to the wrong people. They say that it adds between 13% and 56% to the cost of the loan and that only 6% of people ever claim on a PPI and 85% of those claims are then rejected (ie. less than 1% actually successfully claim). A large number of lenders have already been fined large sums of money by the Financial Ombudsman (eg a division of HSBC was fined £1 million and the Alliance & Leicester more than £7 million in 2008). It seems likely that the sale of further such policies will be outlawed by the FSA in due course.

The 2006 Act

For completeness it should be remembered that the 2006 Act which affects loan agreements made after April 2007 does away with “irredeemably” unenforceable agreements and now all agreement are only “discretionary” unenforceable if there are breaches. ie we now only have “Ambers” and “Greens” with effect from 6th April 2007.

PS. Similar law applies to credit cards too !!

Do you have an unenforceable credit card or loan, take the 2 minute test and find out instantly.

MBNA BANK IN DOCK OVER AN £8,000 CREDIT CARD BILL

Dodgy sales practices on deals for plastic can leave lenders at risk

A COURT has wiped out an £8,000 credit card bill because of mistakes made by the issuing bank when it set up the deal.

Campaigners say the case could open the way for thousands of other borrowers to have debts cancelled, due to errors or dodgy sales practices employed by lenders.

The main grounds on which Judge Smart at Newcastle County Court said Lynne Thorius’s credit card debt was unrecoverable was because lender MBNA could not provide a copy of the original signed loan agreement, which is a requirement under the Consumer Credit Act.

The judge also said that because Ms Thorius was mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), which added thousands of pounds to the overall debt, she should have her slate wiped clean.

The court pointed out that the firm had earned commission for the optional insurance policy, yet not disclosed it at the outset.

This type of insurance is sold to cover loan repayments if the borrower becomes unable to work through illness or unemployment. Complaints handling firms say this case would “open the floodgates for millions of consumers”.

Do you have an unenforceable credit card or loan agreement? Visit www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk to find out if you qualify.

What Happens When You Default On A Loan?

Ever wonder what happens when you default on a loan?

Does the bank suffer a huge amount when this happens? Well, banks are set up so that money may be created from virtually nothing. So do we expect banks to suffer when loans go bad and creditors – as sometimes happens in life – become unable to pay their installments? No.

Write Off Credit Card Debt: Can you Do It Yourself?

It is quite possible for you to go through this whole procedure and write off credit card debt by yourself. There is nothing to stop you.

However, the implications for legally withholding payment of a debt in the event of no credit agreement being found are mixed. The creditor may register defaults (despite knowing that they are giving false information) and this will involve court hearings to get these removed which could be long and protracted.

If you handled this yourself (which you could by using publicly available paperwork in order to write off credit card debt) you would then need to know how to prepare your case for such court hearings, and how to handle any subsequent counterclaims by the creditors. Then there is always the danger of massive legal fees should there be delays, etc. This is why it is better to use a solicitor experienced in this specific field.

Much publicity was given recently to the man who decided to write off his credit card debt and take on his creditors himself. He succeeded, and quashed £100,000 worth of debt, only to be handed a £100,000 legal bill.

By using a qualified legal team there should be no need to attend court hearings, and you would have the assurance that all matters were being handled properly.

The author invites readers to visit www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk and take the two minute test to see if you can write off credit card debt. Do you qualify?

Write Off Credit Card Debt: How does it work?

The Consumer Credit Act of 1974 allows borrowers to challenge unfair credit agreements. Credit Agreements up to £25,000 and issued before 6th April 2007 must comply with the terms of the Act.

Most UK banks and lenders have not followed their legal obligations under the Act over the years. This means that your credit agreements may be legally unenforceable. Recently, a high percentage of those agreements that have been challenged have been found to be unfair and unenforceable. The result is that you can write off credit card debt as it cannot be collected.

Solicitors manage every case at every stage in order to write off credit card debt. They take details of your debts and their specialist legal team challenge the agreements with the lenders. They obtain documentation on your behalf and then verify the legality of the contract. Their legal team will then, via specific correspondence, prove that your agreement is not valid. As it is unenforceable, they will require the card company to write off the debt. In any event you do not have to pay anything further as the agreement would be unenforceable.

The author invites readers to visit www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk and take the two minute test. Do you qualify?

Write Off Credit Card Balances and Loans Taken Out Before April 6 2007

By now a lot of people have discovered that they can quite legally write off their credit card debt (or most loan agreements) if it dates prior to 6th April 2007 and does not contain certain details which are now mandatory. Unenforceable credit card agreements exist if these agreements lack such details, known as the ‘prescribed terms’.

Specialist Claims Management Companies will check your original loan or credit card agreement. If certain clauses in the contract do not comply with the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and ancillary regulations then the debt will be deemed to be unenforceable. Their legal team will also ask the lender to wipe the debt from your credit record.

This applies to any of the following types of credit agreement (not just credit cards):

• Unsecured Loans
• Credit Cards
• Store Cards

Unenforceable Credit Card Agreements: Minimum criteria:

1. You must intend to write off any UK credit card debt or UK loan debt
2. Resident of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland
3. Have unsecured debts of over £2,000
4. Have at least one credit card or loan
5. The Credit Card or loan taken out before 6th April 2007

If you qualify in terms of all the above, and you would like to check if you can write off your credit card debt and/or other debts, then apply in confidence by taking the 2 minutue test at www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk

£19 000 written off MBNA credit cards

How would you like to walk away from over £19 000 of credit card debt? Well that is the news that one Credit Issues client woke up to this morning.

An application was received at the Credit Issues office from a client with over £24 600 on 3 separate credit cards, with all cards being with the same bank, MBNA.

Following the detailed process that the team at Credit Issues employ and a careful examination of the credit agreements negotiations with the lender commenced. Credit Issues employed a highly skilled team of negotiators who primary objective is to secure the best possible outcome for the client, and in this case an outcome that has saved them over £19 000.

The original balance of the 3 cards was £24 614 and the final settlement after the negotiations had taken place, just £5000.

Credit Issues strategy of taking full ownership of the case in-house is one that delivers outstanding results for clients.

DEBT CHIEF CRITICISES GREEDY CREDIT CARD COMPANIES

CEO calls for responsible consumer lending as survey shows 25% increase in average credit card debt; BoE base rate 0.5% but APR’s up to 29.99%

In a worrying turn of events, the average person’s debt to credit cards, store cards or bank loans in the UK has risen to £6,400, reveals a survey released today by YouGov for Guardian Group Financial. (Figure excludes first mortgages)

CEO of Guardian Group Financial, Gary Forrest, said: “The shocking increase in average levels of personal debt is already taking its toll – over half of adults in the UK with these debts report being actively worried; some are losing sleep. And only 23% have told their partner about their debts! We call on credit companies to be much more responsible lenders. Putting up interest rates is definitely not the way to go about it!”

“Our survey shows another shocking trend”, adds Forrest. “The third and fifth largest areas where people are incurring debt on their credit cards are food and utilities, respectively. We regard this as a warning sign. Since April the Bank of England base rate has stayed at 0.5% and in that same period, average credit card rates have increased disproportionately – some by as much as 10% over the last six months. Given that one person is made bankrupt or insolvent every 4.35minutes, (Credit Action Today figure) and that currently a UK property is repossessed every 10minutes (CML figure), consumers increasingly need help to face up to and manage their debt problems and regain control over their lives – not to receive yet more pressure from the credit companies. This dangerous trend has to stop.”

Guardian Group Financial is a debt solutions company, offering a free counselling service to people worried about how to handle their debt situation. They also offer free initial advice to clients wishing to settle their debts in a manageable and realistic way. The company is leading the way to forging a Code of Conduct for the sector, in lieu of legislation for which they have lobbied Government, to assist consumers in finding reputable debt solution companies.

GGF Debt Counselling Free Helpline is 0800 622 6824

Guardian Group Financial (GGF) specialises in delivering credit management solutions. The debt management programme serves as a gateway for people to start prioritising their debts and to regain control. It allows them to pay their household bills first (mortgage, gas, electricity, council tax etc…) then offer a reduced payment to their unsecured creditors (personal loans, credit cards, HP agreements etc…).

The Guardian Group Financial management team is headed by ex-High Street Home Loans director Gary Forrest and senior manager Allan Starling bringing their market experience and expertise to the debt management industry. They lead key personnel from the lending arena, the legal profession and the debt management sector.

The arrears helpline is free to all consumers who may have a query or require assistance in controlling their financial situation. The helpline is aimed at treating those with immediate financial issues and as an advice vehicle for those treading a financial tightrope. Guardian is in a position to offer callers a full debt management programme, if required, with a highly competitive pricing structure to help people with a short term solution to long term problem.

Credit Issues

Credit Issues operates as part of GGF. Key changes to the Consumer Credit Act 1974 means that some credit cards and unsecured loans issued before 6th April 2007 could be unenforceable. Unfortunately some lenders/institutions may have failed to have internal systems robust enough to ensure adherence to the requirements of the Act in relation to consumer agreements.

Recent case law and amendments to the Act means that agreements can be challenged on the basis of their non compliance with the strict requirements of the Act which was designed to protect consumers. For example the aim of the Act was to make sure consumers understood what rights they have and what redress was available if dissatisfied.

Irrespective of whom the credit card or unsecured loan provider is, so long as the balance is over £2,000 Credit Issues could help. Not only are we seeking to clear or reduce the balance of the credit card or unsecured loan, we will also seek to reclaim any mis-sold payment protection insurance or accident sickness cover together with interest.

Recovering Extortionate Charges – MBNA | Credit Issues Ltd

Our successes here at Credit Issues in challenging credit card and personal loan balances by requesting “true copies” of the original credit agreements has proved a powerful and effective approach.

Several rulings by various District Judges have validated that strategy and in most cases so far, those “true copies” have not been made available. So with no documentation forthcoming, a positive outcome for Credit Issues’ clients challenging the entire balance (whether they are being pursued by the original lending institution or the debt has been assigned to a debt collection agency) is highly likely.

So far, we’ve successfully challenged in excess of £1.5 million for our clients and we’re on track to reach a target of £10 million worth of personal debt successfully challenged.

Even if those “true copies” actually do arrive, that doesn’t mean that we give up! Credit Issues recently negotiated a reduction of over 75% to a major Visa credit card balance after identifying incorrectly stated APR on behalf of a client in just those circumstances. And if it goes beyond that, and you approach the steps of the court for the hearing accompanied by your Credit Issues appointed legal team, even then all is not lost. The lender (Bank of Scotland) caved in on the court steps before the hearing itself and as a consequence the judge approved the deal done that enabled the client to walk away from the entire debt and as well as having his court costs paid.

However, in addition to achieving balance reductions and clearance, Credit Issues also look to get back the sometimes excessive charges that have been applied to client accounts. That’s especially been the case with MBNA, the credit card provider that is ultimately owned by Bank of America. Earlier in the year MBNA categorically stated that they would not acknowledge or deal with companies such as Credit Issues, however only a few short months later MBNA offered to negotiate on every case on Credit issues’ books!

That change of heart by MBNA following lengthy discussions with the Credit Issues team has proved very profitable for our clients and the extent of the capitulation by MBNA has surprised even us! In one case, we sought to recover £160 in extortionate charges – MBNA refunded all charges to the sum of £632.08. In another we claimed £75 in extortionate charges – MBNA refunded all £477.23 worth of charges. Perhaps the most impressive was our claim to recover £1,035 in extortionate charges on behalf of a client and to his delight MBNA refunded all the charges applied amounting to a grand total of £3,069.44.

Do you have an unenforceable credit agreement? Visit www.CreditIssuesUK.co.uk to find out if you qualify.

Lenders Scare Tactics and Disinformation – CCA 1974

An increasing number of consumers are realising that you can challenge legally unenforceable debts. Credit Issues has done just that with £1.5 million of consumer debt this year alone.

They’ve proved successfully that a contract which breaches the terms and requirements of Consumer Credit Act 1974 is not enforceable by the lender or the Court. People who may have been capable of supporting the credit card or loan commitments they made in the past may now face difficulties because of redundancy or a reduction in household income. Circumstances for which they are entirely blameless! So more individuals are exploring this legitimate means of challenging and reducing their total debt.

Lenders are naturally concerned about this rising tide of consumer awareness of just how the Consumer Credit Act 1974 can be used to their benefit and numerous stories, articles and spoilers have begun appearing in the press suggesting that the approach is untried, unproven and not worth pursuing. Many suggest that challenging debt in this way is similar to the position on reclaiming bank charges. Following a spate of banks refunding customer’s charges, thanks largely to a campaign by Martin Lewis, OFT intervention has merely put everything on hold for the time being.

Using the Consumer Credit Act 1974 section 78(1) and the mechanism of requesting “true copies” of the original credit agreement is in no way similar to the position on bank charges. The issue to be decided on bank charges is not necessarily their validity, but rather whether the amount charged is ‘fair and reasonable’. That requires a subjective judgement based on an opinion of what is “fair and reasonable”.

In the case of challenging personal loan or credit card and store card debt using the “true copy” approach, an identified breach of the terms and requirements of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 is a matter of objective and legal fact. No opinion or subjective judgement is required. The agreement is either in breach of the Act (in which case it is unenforceable) or it isn’t. And if it isn’t, Credit issues will advise you of that fact and won’t waste your time and money by pursuing a case that has no chance of achieving the result you desire.

So don’t believe the lender’s scare stories and propaganda. The requesting “true copies” approach works because the lenders know that they cannot argue against the fact that they are in default when they do not provide a copy of the agreement. With no documentation forthcoming, a positive outcome for Credit Issues’ clients challenging the entire balance (whether they are being pursued by the original lender or a debt collection agency) is highly likely. If the documentation requested does arrive, it often turns out to be just a copy of an original application form. This in itself does not constitute a credit agreement, it simply confirms that you applied for such a credit agreement. So the situation is entirely as above and again a successful outcome is highly likely.

Even if the requested “true copy” of the agreement actually does turn up, that doesn’t mean that the chances of challenging the debt have gone. Credit Issues negotiated a reduction of over 75% to a major Visa credit card balance when the client’s agreement was found to have incorrectly stated the APR. Indeed in a very recent case the lender caved in on the steps of the court just before a scheduled hearing and the client walked away from the entire debt and any negative information on his credit file was to be removed. The judge also instructed that the claimant to pay the client’s costs in the action, so his court costs were paid as well!

Bank Of Scotland Write Off Debt. Why it Pays to Get the Experts!

With all the confusing adverts in many newspapers, on the radio and on the Internet, deciding which Claims Management Company to trust when it comes to challenging credit card and personal loan debt may not seem an easy one.

 Many claims management businesses operate what we here at Credit Issues Ltd term the “Packaging Model”, whereby they take your application and pass it on (package it up) to a solicitor who is prepared to ‘buy’ the case.

That’s not that unusual as solicitors often buy cases to increase their work load, however, bear in mind that those solicitors may be working on several types of cases including matrimonial, conveyancing or employment, meaning the time they can dedicate to this specific area of law and their experience of it may be very limited.

Credit Issues has a full para-legal team in-house, specialising in reviewing your credit agreements and advising on the best course of action and access to proven expert solicitors and barristers if required. Our Negotiations Team spend their days talking with your card and loan lenders and perhaps more importantly, we are prepared to take it right to the wire on your behalf!

Our successes in challenging credit card and personal loan balances through the mechanism of requesting “true copies” of the original credit agreements has proved a powerful and effective approach. Several rulings by various District Judges have validated that strategy and in most cases so far, those “true copies” have not been made available. So with no documentation forthcoming, a positive outcome for Credit Issues’ clients challenging the entire balance (whether they are being pursued by the original lending institution or the debt has been assigned to a debt collection agency) is highly likely.

Even if that documentation actually does arrive, that doesn’t mean that we give up! Credit Issues recently negotiated a reduction of over 75% to a major Visa credit card balance on behalf of a client in just those circumstances. But even if it gets beyond that, and you approach the steps of the court for the hearing accompanied by your Credit Issues appointed legal team, don’t despair!

That’s just what happened recently to Mr. M. who was the defendant in a claim brought by the Bank of Scotland in the Leeds County Court. The lender caved in on the court steps before the hearing itself and as a consequence the judge approved the deal done, that the claimant (Bank of Scotland) would not enforce the credit agreement and agreed to discontinue the claim. So, even at that eleventh hour, Mr. M. walked away from the entire debt and any negative information on his credit file was to be removed. The judge also instructed that the claimant was to pay the defendant’s costs in the action, so his court costs were paid as well!