DMP & phone call from Next Step Money Help

Toni_Fanconi

Hi everyone

Not used the forum much but wondered if someone could give me some guidance.

Been on a DMP with Stepchange for five years, should be debt free in less than three years time.

Received a phone call from a Next Step Money Help today, telling me about a loophole in the law which means people can look at getting previous loans/credit cards from 6+ years ago overturned ( I had Barclays refund me £700 earlier this year for a loan they said the paperwork was not correct).

They knew the details of a personal loan from HFC that is part of my DMP.

First up - is this a viable option or just a scam?? Seems too good to be true.

Secondly - if it was a viable option and I went ahead with it, could the debt companies get irked that I am trying to do this and refuse my DMP at the next review date?

Asked them to call me back later in the week when I had more time, allowing me to try and find out more about it - Google just seems to show that Next Step offer Mortgages and Secured Lending.

Any advice or info would be much appreicated

National_Debtline

I am afraid I am not sure what legislation this company is referring to. There is a piece of legislation called the Limitations Act which does state that if a debt has received no payment, written acknowledgement or CCJ within 6 years of it falling due then it may not be enforceable in the county court - but that cannot apply here because the debts have been paid through Step Change for years.


Is this company going to charge you or take a percentage? If so then it would seem like a scam. If you have genuine concerns that an agreement has been executed incorrectly you could try visiting your local trading standards. (Normally, if things seem too good to be true - it is because they are, you are right to be cautious). And I would suggest you are very cautious because if you were to cancel/ suspend your DMP with Step Change on the back of this advice then your creditors/ Step Change may not be willing/ able to negotiate in the future.


Laura
@natdebtline

sourcrates

I would go with Laura's advice on this, avoid companies such as this like the plague.
Doubtless they will not be offering there services for free, and I too am unaware of the legislation they are referring to.

There is no loophole that can get an old debt refunded, except if it was mis-sold to you, if that was the case you would simply write to the lender complaining about it, and take to the FOS if they didn't uphold it.

You don't need any 3rd party help to do this, I would avoid at all costs !!!!!

Toni_Fanconi

Appreciate the comments folks - I'll give it a pass

Many thanks

Dandytf

Toni_Fanconi wrote: »

Hi everyone


Been on a DMP with Stepchange for five years, should be debt free in less than three years time

I've three years to go with step change -5 years you've quoted is excellent motivation, thanks