Unfair Credit Agreements

Going_Under

I seen an advert online from a finance company who were saying that many/certain credit agreements are unenforcable.


I e-mailed asking for a little more information & received this back:


Based upon the many agreements looked at this year by our legal team at ********, check out the website of ***********who I represent, that were taken out prior to 1st April 2007, in excess of 80% of these contain breaches of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are therefore unenforceable. Consequently the finance company cannot legally force you to repay the debt - although I know this may be hard to believe! Furthermore, the finance company will also have to reimburse any interest and charges that you may have made on the card or loan - since the agreement drawn up was defective!


I guess the question you have to ask yourself is how you are going to get out of debt. Obviously, you could continue to service the debt and make minimum repayments. You could consider the usual debt solutions - but there are many disadvantages using this route. As explained, only the debt cancellation route would potentially have the d.ebt 100% wiped and would also allow you to recover your repayments.

This is the next big thing for consumers until the credit card companies persuade the courts to put cases on hold (like Unfair Bank Charges).

So act now!
You'll see that *************champion consumer rights and can have
challenged cases of financial miss-selling e.g. Payment Protection
Insurance - so please let me know if you believe you have a case.

I have had a look at their website & they do charge initial fees however does anyone know if this is possible? & why is it possible?

Are there companies out there that can help without initial fees?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

thanks

tictax

spam! spam! spam!

Browntoa

http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2008/consumeralert

Claims regulator and OFT issue consumer alert

Claims regulator and OFT warn consumers about risks of being misled over the enforceability of consumer credit agreements
MoJ/OFT Consumer alert 21 August 2008

The Claims Management Regulator at the Ministry of Justice and the Office or Fair Trading (OFT) are warning consumers to think carefully before responding to businesses claiming that they can arrange for outstanding balances under loan, credit card and other consumer credit agreements to be written off and secure compensation.
Consumers are advised to seek independent advice before using the services of businesses that offer to find ways to render consumer credit agreements unenforceable. Businesses can only provide claims services if they are authorised and regulated by the MOJ under the Compensation Act 2006. Such businesses may also need to hold an appropriate OFT consumer credit licence.
Consumers may be asked to pay large up-front fees, often up to £500, for the businesses to review their credit agreements. Some businesses are claiming that many of these agreements are completely unenforceable, that consumers can have debts cancelled and claim back thousands of pounds. Consumers should think very carefully before committing themselves to making claims and handing over hundreds of pounds in advance to do so, even where refunds may be promised if the claim is unsuccessful.
Consumers with specific debt problems may wish to contact their local Citizens Advice Bureau who will often be able to provide advice free of charge. Free, impartial advice can also be obtained from the contacts at the end of this alert.

NOTES
Claims management regulation

1. The Ministry for Justice (MoJ) is the Claims Management Regulator in England and Wales. Ministry of Justice checks a wide range of information about businesses before authorising them, monitors the services the business provides, will take action against businesses that breach the rules, which could include suspension or cancellation of authorisation.

2. Authorised businesses have to follow strict conduct rules. They must not ‘cold call’ in person, or engage in any form of high pressure selling, give written information on how to pursue a claim and the costs involved before a contract is agreed, allow a ‘cooling off’ period of at least 14 days after signing a contract in case the consumer changes their mind, operate a customer complaints scheme that meets relevant criteria. All the rules governing the conduct and behaviour of authorised businesses can be found on the Claims Management Regulation website. Enquiries about the regulation of claims businesses should be made to:

longjhon

I have been looking into unfair credit Agreements like

Ratio Money, rpm finance, the Guild of Independent Mortgage advisers, has anyone had any dealings with them good or bad ?

simon_templar_2

Hop it, longjhon

Browntoa

aaaaahhhhhh, thar be gold in them thar credit agreements jim me boy

petermb_2

The only companies worth dealing with offer a totally free service by levying their fees to the lender and not the borrower. There are only one or two around.

morgan8080_2

which are thse petermb

trigger39

petermb wrote: »

The only companies worth dealing with offer a totally free service by levying their fees to the lender and not the borrower. There are only one or two around.

Hi mate...do you know which?

petermb_2

My jungle drums are banging quite loudly and the window of challenging regulated agreements is closing. A law change in 2006 made the matter of discression for the judges to decide if an agreement is unenforceable or not and I understand that instructions have been given to side with the lenders.

On the other hand if the lender cannot provide a copy of the executed agreement there is no loan to enforce in the eyes of the courts.

chez000

petermb wrote: »

My jungle drums are banging quite loudly and the window of challenging regulated agreements is closing. A law change in 2006 made the matter of discression for the judges to decide if an agreement is unenforceable or not and I understand that instructions have been given to side with the lenders.

On the other hand if the lender cannot provide a copy of the executed agreement there is no loan to enforce in the eyes of the courts.

Not completely accurate,
The law change in 2006 (the consumer credit act 2006, effective from April 2007) does not apply retrospectively.

A loan taken out before April 2007 for which the lender cannot provide a signed copy of the agreement will be unenforcable, likewise if there are errors on an agreement from before April 2007 that make the agreement unenforcable then the judge has no choice but to conclude that the money was "gifted".

If the paperwork cannot be provided for a loan taken out after April 2007 then a judge can find that there is an enforacble agreement if, for example, the borrower has acted in a way that suggests that there is an agreement i.e borrowed the money, spent the money, and made regular payments of a fixed amount (read as gone along with the alleged contract)