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Unenforceable Credit Agreements?


janeywaney
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Hi. I'm a newby on this site and not quite sure how it works, so i hope i am doing this right....

 

Here's my story (its long....sorry!):

 

I got myself into a bit of debt whilst i was at university. I finished uni 5 years ago, but unfortunately, still paying off credit cards and loans.

I got a call about 2 years ago from a guy asking me if i was having trouble with debt. Of course, I said yes and he said he would help. The debt management company asked me to pay £150 per month (£130 to pay creditors and £30 a month for their "admin" fees)...I was getting letter after letter after letter as well as a million phone calls from creditors chasing money. When I called the debt management people, they said that this was expected and to ignore the letters and phonecalls. I was checking the monthly statements and reading all the letters and could see late payments/over limit fees etc being added on and making the balance larger and larger, so I contacted all the creditors and set up a payment plan with them, which I am still currently sticking to.

Then i heard the stories about unenforceable credit agreements, which were taken out prior to April 2007. I am not sure how true this is...but it seems to be working from other people (or so i have read on this site).

About 2 hours ago, I had a call from a company about challenging creditors about unenforceable credit agreements. They were trying to push me into paying £1000 upfront for assessing my case and looking over my agreements (which I dont think i still have with moving house from the north to south). If they are unenforceable and I win, the company want a further 15% of my total debt, which is now at around £23k, and if i loose, they keep the £1000 i initially laid out. Is there any way that I can try to find out if my credit agreements are enforceable without having to lay out so much money. I am trying so hard to get myself out of debt, but I just seem to be digging a bigger hole.

Also, I paid off one of my credit cards today, which for me is a massive achievement, then once I had paid the creditor, they informed me that I would be defaulted for the next 6 years!!! How true is this? Would it just be easier for me to declare bankruptcy? Please help!!! :confused:

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Hi JaneyWaney

 

Dont pay anyone to do it! It can all be done by yourself.

 

First up get requets out to all the lenders involved for the agreements:

 

Dear Sir / Madam

Re: Account No: visa card.

 

 

With reference to the above account, I would be grateful for a signed copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement.

 

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77-79), I am entitled to receive a copy of this agreement upon request. I therefore enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

 

"the enclosed payment is not to be used to reduce any alleged outstanding balance"

 

I understand that a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

 

 

I also understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

As youve had some diffculty keeping up with payments in the past Id imagine their are a fair amount of fees for going over balances and missing payments etc etc. These can all be reclaimed, including on the account you just paid off today. Once we know how much of the balance on the card is made up of charges we can go about getting that Default removed.

 

Do you have all your old statements etc? Go back over these and highlight all the charges on each account and total them up.

 

Their may also be payment protection insurance - this too can be reclaimed as its massively mis-sold. Total up the amounts for this too.

 

Its a long process and it involves loads of time and letters but its defo worth it.

 

Youll get loads of great help on this site - have a read around other's threads to get an idea of the processes involved.

 

 

 

Have a look at these too start: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/31460-example-step-step-instructions.html

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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Thanks so much for your help! This has lifted such a weight of my shoulders and i feel like i can actually get on top of this now!

 

Imagine how good itll feel when you get all your charges refunded and your credit rating repaired :)

 

Forgot to mention before - send every letter recorded delivery.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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This is such a stupid question ....but who do i make the postal orders out to?

 

No such thing as a stupid Question! I get the impression their are a few different creditors involved so the postal order should be made out to the creditor your are making each request to (If your unsure look on the back of the relevant statement. Their should be payment details which will tell you who to make cheques out to - use this).

 

If you can afford it it would be wise to also get SAR out to each creditor. In these specifically request a 'copy of the original credit agreement which bears my signature,' as well as statements and default notices. £10 per request though so if moneys tight it might be expensive.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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No probs.

 

You should be given a reference number for each postal order. Keep a note of this so you can find out when theyve been cashed.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hey there, ME again. I have had a response from one of the creditors and i'm not sure what to do. Can you view the attachment?

They sent the Agreement and it is dated 18/1/07.

Thanks

 

 

Hi,

 

Its too small to read unfortunately, try uploading it to tinypic.com

Is 18/1/7 the date you took out the account?

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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Hi,

 

Think its big enough now ;)

 

Have a look at this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/105315-my-agreement-enforceable-useful.html

 

 

It seems to have all the prescribed terms, so it may be enforceable. (Im still learning on this though so hopefully someone else will have a look too).

 

The small print at the bottom refers to 'section 5 overleaf' - do you have this?

 

Next step is to get a subject access request of to these guys so you can see how much of the balance is made up of charges.

 

When you get replies from the other creditors start a new thread for each in the relevant section for each - that way youll get the attention of those having problems with each creditor.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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They're not gonna be laughing when your done with them!

 

Post up the agreements in the forum sections for each creditor and someone will be able to tell you whether or not they're enforceable.

 

Have a read of this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/105315-my-agreement-enforceable-useful.html

 

We'll stick to the Northern Rock account youve already posted the agreement for on this thread to avoid confusion.

 

Next step is to get an SAR out to them to get ahold of your statements and see how much is made up of charges. (You can do this for the other creditors too): http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request-

 

Make sure to send recorded delivery with a cheque for £10

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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Hiya, I looked at the thread: Is My Agreement Enforceable - Useful and it looks like the Northern Rock one IS Enforceable, which is really annoying.

Can I still send a letter re: charges if the agreement is for a loan? I'm not sure that this agreement has incurred any charges as I havent missed any payments. Unless I can claim back interest or something like that? Now, that would be nice! Is there a letter template for this request?

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Hi,

 

If you havent missed any payments there shouldnt be any charges on there - I just got the impression from the first post that youd got into some difficulty (as youd used a debt management company) so guessed there would have been missed payment charges etc.

 

No way I know of to claim back the interest im afraid, although that would be nice!:)

 

Dont be disheartened though, this northern rock agreement is fairly recent so its to be expected that it is enforceable.

 

Id be inclined to get ahold of all the old statements anyway just to check if there are charges on there. As you said that despite your arrangement with the debt manageent company you were still getting letters and phone calls the creditors may have been recording missed payments.

I have no legal qualifications whatsoever, so please check any input I have for accuracy. And please correct me if you disagree!

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Thanks for helping. I was using a debt management company for credit cards. The loan with Northern Rock was taken out in my mums name as they wouldnt give me one and I needed the £ for uni. I wouldnt dare fall behind with payments to my mum!! I just thought that as it was taken out in Jan 07 that it may be unenforceable!!

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