There have been a lot of companies appear recently making bold statements about being able to ‘write off’ credit card balances and clear you of debts. Unfortunately, this has created a lot of false hope for many and led them to paying out hefty up front fees to unethical and unqualified claims management companies.
Some agreements may well be unenforceable but getting them written off is a completely different matter. We understand that many people may not have the personal knowledge or specific expertise to discover the secret flaws in their credit agreements, let alone how to recover the rightful compensation from their provider, but working with top City lawyers, we do.
How Do I know if I can Claim Credit Card Compensation?
The reality is, if you don’t have specific knowledge in the area consumer credit law you probably won’t know if your credit card agreement is legally enforceable or not.
Where agreements were made prior to April 2017 and a lender has not met their obligations under the prescribed terms of the Consumer Credit Act, a judge is not entitled to exercise their discretion and is compelled to rule that the loan is ‘unenforceable.’
We know what your agreement must contain and more importantly how it must be set out including any charges or additional costs incurred with the credit such as legal fees, document fees, broker fees or PPI. We will check your agreement for breaches. If your provider has fallen foul of the regulations, then the loan will be declared unenforceable, meaning the lender cannot enforce payment in a court of law.
Our experienced litigating lawyers based in the City of London are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Law Society. They have many years of experience in this area of consumer law and know what to look for and how to pursue a legitimate claim.
They will be able to give you practical and reliable legal advice. Many of you will also be concerned that challenging your credit agreements may prejudice your credit rating. You may also be concerned as to whether you have to continue making your re-payments. Our solicitors will advise you on all of these issues.
How the Credit Card Claim Process Works
Firstly, our solicitors are prepared to review the status of your credit card agreement and secondly, where they advise that it is unenforceable, to offer you their legal services on a no-win no-fee basis whether as a claimant or defendant in legal proceedings against your lender. The charge for this professional legal advice is £299 per agreement. This fee is payable direct to the solicitor.
- The solicitor will contact your credit card provider to obtain a copy of your credit agreement
- Upon receipt of a copy of your credit agreement from the Lender it will be reviewed and you will be advised whether or not it is enforceable under the Consumer Credit Act
Our solicitor will give you full written advice if your credit agreement is unenforceable. They will also notify the lender in writing requesting confirmation that you have been discharged from any further obligations in respect of the credit agreement concerned.
Furthermore, should your agreement be unenforceable but your lender still issues enforcement proceedings against you, our solicitors will offer to represent you on a ‘no win no fee’ basis to defend the claim. They may obtain a letter from the lender or the court discharging you from the debt. If you are being contacted by solicitors or debt collectors they will write to them to stop further collection activity and will take all steps possible to ensure that an adverse credit rating is not made against you, although this cannot be guaranteed.
If the lender does not comply with the request to discharge you from any further obligation and you want to instigate proceedings immediately for a declaration against your Lender, our solicitor will act on a Conditional Fee Arrangement however, you will need to fund the Court fees. The court issue fee is currently £250, and this can be refunded by the lender as part of the legal fees. If you have household insurance the solicitor may need to see a copy of the policy and the terms and conditions as you may be covered for any costs in legal proceedings.
The £299 fee payable for each credit card agreement that you would want to consider covers the solicitor’s fees for the request and review of each agreement and the initial advice given concerning it. The lender can also charge up to £21 per agreement to provide a copy of your agreement. For each agreement that is unenforceable the solicitor will reclaim this fee back from the lender which will be repaid to you as soon as it is received from them.
