Avoiding DFH Financial Solutions.

Xandros

Hi there. Last night I got hoodwinked into doing debt management with this company, I'd not bothered to looking into this solution before so I didn't know what to expect but, after she said she'd send me the documents and to do this that and the other about my cards and what have you, I got on the phone to a friend of mine to talk to about it and she told me to stop what i was doing and to tell them to take a running jump, gave me the address for the national debt line website and what have you.

Ended up googling thios company and actually ended up on a thread here!

So I now I know I can do everything they want to charge me for, for free, I am going to tell them to take a running jump. What I'd just wondered here if anyone can advise me briefly; I haven't signed anything, the paperwork she emailed me is still sat there I haven't even read it. All I've done is essentially said I'd do it over the phone, and the person has taken a debit card details.

I'm supposed to be doing various things today like open a new bank account, and this persons going to ring me presumably later this evening to see how I'm getting on.

What do I do? Do I just tell them I'm no longer interested and say I wish to cancel the agreement, and that'll be that? What I'm wondering here is if they ignore this and try and take those payments they want next month from my debit card...

catkin1508

Hi,
Surely just ring them first thing, tell them to take a running jump- surely they can't charge you? It must be less than 24hrs since you spoke to them- bear in mind they will try and guilt trip you to go with them so 'you' don't have to worry about speaking to your creditors but free companies like CCCS over advice for free- there are template letters you can send on here to get interest stopped and payments reduced.
well done for realising before you got stuck with them!!
Have you done a Statement of affairs, they will ask you to do one so might be worth getting ahead of the game :0)

fatbelly

The advice to open a new bank account is probably right. You do not want to bank anywhere that is connected to your debts.

Here's a guide to the major banking groups

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumerinformation/uk_groups

Also, i'd confirm your cancellation in writing, sending it recorded delivery. And please learn to stop giving people your debit card details over the phone!

FireWyrm

Beware, sometimes these companies charge an initial 'admin' fee of around £60. They dont like to let you go, so I would be inclined to get the cancellation in WRITING. You must do this within 14 days as it's essentially a kind of credit agreement really. They'll keep charging if they can get away with it. Be prepared for a bit of a tussle, but if you are firm, you should be able to get out of it relatively unscathed.

danetastic

Check the paperwork they've sent you - it has to tell you there what to do if you wish to cancell. Good luck

Xandros

Thanks for the responses.

[See below post for the latest]

Xandros

Me again. I'm a predicament here.

I hadn't realised just exactly how long ago it was since I got into this mess with these people. At any rate I'd been working my butt off for the last few days and had no time to do anything and I completely forgot about the whole thing.

Stupid of me I know but, basically, when i first talked to them on the phone they managed to lure me into doing this debt management thing with them. Took my card details for the initial payment and all that and said I needed to send the Client Authority Form in immediately so they could start to work on the creditors.

The other day they took the initial payment and that was when it all hit me like a tonne of bricks. I managed to get thru to them today and requested they cancel the agreement. They asked me why, I said I'd come into some finance and would pay it all off myself. She then told me she'd be having to contact my creditors to tell them this, I didn't let on I was fibbing, I just said "yea whatever but I'd still like to cancel this agreement and get a refund" to which she tells me I need to write in within two weeks to get that done.

Now the predicament. In the agreement she sent me it says as follows:

2. Agreement

2.1 You request us and we agree to act on your behalf, as debt advisors to provide the services offered in this agreement. The agreement shall
begin once we have received the Client Authority Form or the initial payment in cleared funds. The agreement shall continue until the final
repayment has been made to the creditors.
2.2. The agreement maybe cancelled by you at any time during the first 7 calendar days of the period. You can do this by writing to us at the
address above or by telephone on 0161 228 6194. We will then refund you any cleared funds that have been paid to us.

Under the termination of the agreement it says:

6 Termination of the agreement

6.1 You may terminate this agreement in the 7 days cooling off period as explained in 2.2
6.2 After the 7 day cooling off period you may terminate this agreement at anytime giving two weeks notice to the address above. In this
instance we reserve the right to retain the initial fees.

I figured since I hadn't sent the client authority form in signed and dated that the only thing they could consider to be the "start of the period" was the day they took the money off me (last Friday). However when I said this to the woman I spoke to just now she was adamant that the agreement started on the 20th September when I first talked to them. She said she read to me a load of spiel about her acting on my behalf (she did) and that I agreed to it over the phone and that was when the agreement started, and that they'd contacted my creditors on the 24th september.

She said because of that I'm no longer in the cooling off period so I have to write to the company to cancel the agreement explaining why, and when I asked if I'd get the full amount back she said it'd be up to them to decide if that was the case.

Do I have a leg to stand on here? I thought I'd do a bit more lying to see if I could get any where else, I put her on mute for a few minutes then got back and said I'd be in contact with one of my creditors and said they'd not received any communication from DFH, she didn't budge, she insisted they had been contact with them.

However I know the creditors won't do anything unless they've got it in writing... Which they haven't. They may well have contacted them but seeing as I haven't signed anything (and when i first talked to these people she told me it was imperative I signed and sent in the forms ASAP). I argued with her about this for a bit but she said just because they hadn't got the forms didn't mean they didn't start the account, and because that was some weeks ago I was no longer in the 7 day cooling off period.

Gave up at this point. So, am I right in thinking because of what it says in the agreement they sent me that the cooling off period is in actuality still in effect, or she right that just because I said I agreed to it over the phone that I'm out of the cooling off period?

I'm also wondering, I have been in contact with my card provider and they told me I could raise a dispute about the payment after it was taken. Would that likely be a better course of action to get my money back or is it a dead end?

balls_mahoney

I unfortunately got hooked into this as well, but just two days later I cancelled or at least that's what I thought. After an aggressive phone call in trying to cancel my plan in which he kept asking why I wanted to cancel, in which I repeatedly kept saying, I want this plan cancelled. He then wished that I got in more debt because of it.

Well, I thought my plan was cancelled, so I called them today, two days later, to find that my plan had not been cancelled and my money had not even begun to be refunded! I was freakin' fuming! Thankfully, I actually spoke with someone nice and she assured me that my plan has now been cancelled and I will receive a payment within seven days. In any event, I have contacted their complaints department, and now I am just waiting. So yeah, avoid this company like the goddamn plague!!

Unfortunately I not sure where you will stand, but it is YOUR right to cancel and I feel your pain. Worst decision I ever made, thankfully my bank has agreed with me to sort out my debts.