Unfair Credit Direct

dkameri

Hi,

I had been contacted by Colin McMonnies (Financial Advisor) from Unfair Credit Direct in August 2009 (he met me in my house) and he ensured me my career development loan will be cleared off in 6 months time. I have paid 500.00 by direct debit in 3 instalments.
I called them on regular basis and just two weeks ago they ensured me my debt is due to be cleared off any day now.
Yesterday I received the ceased trading letter from Unfair Credit Direct saying they went bust two days ago (11 of October).

Is there anything that can be done to get my money refunded?
Is MOJ can do anything to help? What is the best way to contact them?

Timed~Out

I paid my fees to this company through hard worked overtime, not by using the cards as I had stopped using them a long time ago. Unfortunately due to ever increasing interest rates I simply wasnt getting anywhere near paying the capital, it was either DMP of at least 30 years, bankruptcy, or challenge the validity of the agreement. I calculate I have already paid the original debt twice over!

My fault for getting in this mess in the first place but when you get desperate and think there is a way out other than losing your home etc, I think most people will try it.

Surely if the credit card people cannot produce a valid agreement (mine are all 2001) then the law still stands? I know there is some debate after 2006 but I have so far only received printed T&Cs which are totally anonymous. Does this mean ALL credit card agreements are enforceable regardless of what is or isnt produced or no matter when they were taken out? Looks like the bankruptcy option has just got a step closer again.....:(

Beanhad

Unfortunatly I too got scammed by these people and really do not expect any return from my payment, I have informed BBC Watchdog, and will try and raise the profile if only to try and prevent more venerable people losing money to these scammers.
Will also try and get the small claims court to bring the directors to Justice as I believe this is the only real chance of stopping them from making more money from peoples misery, hopefully it will be worth getting the directors details from companies house and bringing them before the SCC if only to prevent them just changing the company name and running the same scam...

dunstonh

I had been contacted by Colin McMonnies (Financial Advisor) from Unfair Credit Direct in August 2009 (he met me in my house) and he ensured me my career development loan will be cleared off in 6 months time. I have paid 500.00 by direct debit in 3 instalments.

If he is a real financial adviser and not just someone pretending to be (unfortunately that happens) then you may have some come back under the FSA complaints process. Whilst unregulated activity is not something you can normally complain about, an adviser recommending an unregulated activity can have some liability for the advice they give.

Most real advisers wouldnt go near claims companies and we were warned off some years back that a lot of the claims being made were likely to fail and that the referrer could become liable for any claim for costs by the consumer.

Bradley_James

Can I just ask why you chaps parted with money in the first place.

Was this a mechanism for you to magically "get out" of paying off loans, credit cards and mortgages.

If so, the old adage "if something sounds too good to be true it probably is" rings quite loudly in my mind.

How many of you actually went down this route because you believed you had been mislead when you signed up for your product?

How many of you signed up for this because you thought you could just get out of paying?

People seem to be obsessed with trying to get something for nothing. Work hard and pay back what you have borrowed, instead of opting for a quick fix. You can seek free debt management advice, you can enter an IVA, you can go bankrupt, there are official channels you can take if you are struggling to pay.

I know that sometimes you find yourself in a difficult position financially, but don't try and wangle out of it. Seek professional advice.

Timed~Out

Bradley - have another look at my last post...

Personally my average interest rates went from approx 12% and min repayment of 3% which I was managing fine to approx 40% and min repayment of 5% which meant almost all of my disposable income just to pay the interest charges and never touch the capital. The credit card companies simply werent interested when I asked and pleaded for my interest rates to be kept down. ( I had never missed a payment or been late and my credit score was excellent)

Desperate situations make you do desperate (foolish) things and unfortunately I was desperate enough to believe the crap Unfair Credit Direct were promising.

Incidentally if I go bankrupt they will get nothing back either, after the house price falls I am probably in negative equity and I dont have any flash possessions to be sold, hindsight is a wonderful thing, it gives you 20/20 vision.....:(

You say "Work hard and pay back what you borrowed", ironically I had used my credit cards to pay for courses to gain further qualifications which has left me with a good salary but I was actually worse off after feeding the ever increasing interest rate monster....

petercmp

I to have been scammed by unfair credit direct ,I paid a total of £895 over 6 payments via my credit card. the advisor that came to my house by the name of DAVID FITZPATRICK . with the same story as most of the above for a mis sold mortgage and it would 5-6 months befor i got paid, I kept getting letters saying they wanted to change from my credit card to direct debit from my bank , Iam so glad i didnt ,after my final payment I was sent a letter telling me that my account was now in the hands of creditcompensationgb same address and key members of unfaircredit direct staff were now working for said company, from the same address phone number 08454594130 . I called them and asked what was going on i told i would get a call back , which i did from a gentleman with a south african accent . who then told me about the sad demise of unfaircredit direct and this was the same person i had spoke 2/3 weeks ago who was telling everthing was coming along and an offer was about 5/6 weeks away .I asked him for a name from my lender that he was talking to he said he couldnt do that , I then said could you allow me to call at your office and we can can through my file together ? and that was a non starter also . I then asked why does DAVID FITZPATRICK yours sales rep never return any of my calls to which he then put the phone down its one big con lesson learnt!!! . are watch-dog on to this lot ?

ILW

It is very difficult to con a totally honest person.

lcorbin

Should UC have put all fees into a 'client' account incase the cases did not succeed ?

Is this a legal requirement ?

They promised refunds if cases were not successful and this is stated in their agreement, so how did they propose to refund their clients. Also, surely the barristers should still be working on the cases ? Barrister agreements were signed by UC clients for them to proceed. From what I understand the agreements can still be made unenforceable if 'true' agreement with the correct terms is not produced ?

Letters were sent out from UC after the court case last year stating it was "good news" after the ruling. Any thoughts??

dunstonh

Should UC have put all fees into a 'client' account incase the cases did not succeed ?

Is this a legal requirement ?

Claims companies are not solicitors or IFAs or accountants. There is no professional body and the regulator only has some weak rules and guidelines (which are improving but still lag way behind). They dont have anywhere near the same level of regulation or requirements.

However, it wouldnt apply anyway as it wasnt client money. It was a fee received for a service provided.... or not as the case so often is!

Also, surely the barristers should still be working on the cases ?

why? Its against MoJ rules (because of law society rules) to cold call where legal action is likely to be required. Solicitors cant take on business from cold calling.

Basically, Unfair credit just kept breaking all the rules and followed the same model as those that have gone before and others that will follow suit. Take the money, do a little work and then fob people off but keep taking the money, maybe refunding a few, until the ponzi scheme finally collapses in on itself