County court claim after irresponsible lending claim

Rangytangy

Type your Looking for some advise on a loan agreement after the loan was upheld for irresponsible lending by original creditor then the remaining balance sold to a debt purchaser who is persuing the debt through the courts.
would the credit agreement be void or nullified under the consumer credit act as the debt it relates to was given irresponsibly.
many thanks.

tacpot12

Not a lawyer, but came across this page on the internet: High Court hands down judgment in first irresponsible lending/affordability test case (eversheds-sutherland.com)

This suggests that if the original lender has foregone their interest and sold the remaining balance (with no interest) to a third-party, the third party has every right to persue you for the amount outstanding as this is all capital. 

You would need a good knowledge of the law to argue otherwise, so this is case where you need professional advice. If the level of irresponsibility was very bad, it might be possible to argue that some of the debt is forgiven, but I would expect that the court will only forgive capital that you have no hope of repaying and would put you in financial hardship if they required you to repay it.

Seems to me you might end up owing your solictor nearly as much as you owe currently so it's not an easy decision to know what is for the best. If you have home insurance, you should check to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, you will have a Legal Helpline you can call for professional advice. If they think you have a good chance of winning, they might even represent you in court. 

fatbelly

You would defend the court claim and the decision would be up to the judge.

Each case is decided on its own merits

sourcrates

You are confusing the granting of credit, with the execution of the loan agreement, just because the lending was deemed to be irresponsible, does not automatically make the agreement in anyway defective.

We only have snippets of information here to work with, what were you granted by way of redress for winning your complaint?
Was the lender told to write off the full debt, or just refund the interest?

In by far the majority of cases it will be the latter, and the balance will still be payable.

ManyWays

Affordability claims are usually claims that there is an unfair relationship under s140A of the Consumer Credit Act. s140B gives the court a wide range of options if it finds there is an unfair relationship. If the debt purchaser is insisting that you repay the balance at the original monthly payment, which has been found to be unaffordable, you probably have a good case. If you have been refusing to make any payment arrangement you probably do not.,