Consumer Credit - Frequently Asked Questions

 1.

1. We are qualified to give legal advice and represent you in legal proceedings on a ‘no win no fee’ basis.
2. The fee you pay to us can be recovered from the lender if your agreement is unenforceable.  The fee you pay to a claims company cannot be recovered.
3. You are paying for legal advice, our solicitors are qualified to give legal advice.
4. If your agreement is unenforceable and the lender does not agree to write of your debt we can issue legal proceedings against the lender. If your agreement is unenforceable and you are sued buy your lender we may defend you on a ‘no win no fee’ basis.
5. We are bound by a strict code of conduct and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Law Society.  We are insured against negligence.

The Ministry of Justice and Solicitors Regulation Authority have issued warnings against dealing with claims companies.

If you advise me that the credit agreement is unenforceable and I stop making payments, can the lender give adverse information to the credit agency?

Most lenders will still continue to send adverse information to credit reference agencies.  Accordingly, if you need to protect your credit rating, you must keep making your payments until we advise you otherwise. If an account is in dispute, under the Banking Code the lender should not make an adverse reference to a credit agency. However, the Banking Code is not law and cannot necessarily be enforced in a court of law, although the bank can be disciplined by the Financial Services Ombudsman (“FSA”). This means we cannot guarantee that if an adverse credit rating is made it could be quickly removed by a court of law. We will issue proceeding (if we advise) to have any adverse references removed but this could take some time.

3.

Whilst you are reviewing my credit agreement do I have to still make my payments?

If you need to preserve your credit rating you should continue to make your payments until we have advised you that the credit agreement is unenforceable. We appreciate some clients may already be in default or may be unable to make their repayments.  We will advise you on this in more detail if you instruct us.

4.

Many Claims Management Companies guarantee they can get you out of your debt. Is this the case? 

No. It is not the case that all agreements are unenforceable and any company who has not first had the opportunity of considering the exact terms and conditions of your agreement cannot give you a guarantee that they can get you out of your debt.

5.

How long will the whole process take?

The lender is required to provide a copy of your agreement within 12 days under the Consumer Credit Act and 40 days under the Data Protection Act. However, due to the huge number of copies being requested, banks are often taking longer than the prescribed time.

6.

I have heard stories about debt collection agencies harassing people to recover the debt; is this true?

Some lenders have sold or assigned their debts to debt collection agencies or have instructed agencies to collect for them. If a debt collection agency attempts to bring proceedings and the debt is unenforceable providing it is for more than £5,000, we will defend these proceedings on your behalf on a ‘no win no fee’ agreement.  We will also, as part of our service, write to debt collectors or solicitors to advise them that the agreement is unenforceable and that they must stop collection activity.

7.

Will you charge me a percentage of any debt that I do not need to repay?

No. We do not charge any percentage of savings you make. We have a fixed charge to obtain your agreement and advise you as to its enforceability,  If we defend proceedings for you on a ‘no win no fee’, then our costs will be re-claimed from the lender. In these circumstances we would normally expect to recover most of our costs from the lender for you.

8.

Is it true that you can claim compensation back from the lender for unenforceable agreements?

This area of law is unclear.  We will attempt (if we are of the opinion that such a claim has a good prospect of success) to claim compensation but this is not guaranteed.

9.

How do I instruct you to act for me?

Complete our contact request form or telephone 020 7681 8888, or contact your agent.

10.

What if a claim has been issued by my lender? 

If your agreement is unenforceable we can still act for you as long as judgment has not been entered.  In certain circumstances we can also act when judgement has been entered.

Click here to request a copy
of our Consumer Credit Guide

or

Call: 020 7681 8888

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