Being in debt is a very unfortunate situation, where you may find yourself in a vicious cycle that getting out of may seem almost impossible. The good news is that you can actually wipe off your credit card debts and breathe a sigh of relief.

Whether it is your own poor spending habits that have landed you into trouble, or any other reason, you can wipe off your credit card debts when you use a good debt management solution. And in order to find the most ideal debt management solution, you will need to use the services of a good debt management company.
When you use the help of a reputable company, you will be able to wipe off your credit card debts within a short period of time.

If you want to wipe credit cards you need to use a company that will check your personal status individually in order to give you a solution that is specifically designed to solve your own problem. Every situation is different and needs to be solved differently. One of the major things that are taken into consideration to help you wipe off your credit card debts is to check your own financial condition. This is what will make it possible to find a method that you can implement without difficulty. In case a solution that is prescribed to you does not take this issue into consideration, you are likely to end up with something you can ill afford, which means that you will not be able to carry it through.

Depending on your individual circumstances, you may go for either a secured debt management solution or an unsecured one. In order to pay even lower interests, you may need to go for debt consolidation in your bid to wipe off your credit card debts. But you need good advice first of all so shop around and research.

Whether it’s to spread the cost of an expensive purchase over several months, treat ourselves or to gain points towards a reward item, UK consumers are using credit cards more than ever – and owing close to £180 billion as a result.

The balance has historically been heavily weighted in favour of the lenders who have been allowed to increase interest rates at will, charge any amount of fees they choose and increase credit limits without having us sign new agreements. A recent report by the Citizens Advice Bureau ‘Daylight Robbery’ looks at the extent of the problem of ‘extortionate credit’ and has as one of its conclusions:- “This report argues that the existing legislation on extortionate credit is neither effective nor accessible to consumers. The current ‘test’ that determines whether a credit agreement is extortionate is heavily weighted in favour of lenders.

Moreover, the test can only be invoked if a borrower is prepared to risk heavy legal costs in taking the initiative and making an application to the court.” This is no longer the case! You don’t have to risk heavy legal costs in taking the initiative. Its no-win-no-fee! And you certainly won’t have to go to court. Most lenders do not go to court and even if they do your solicitor will attend for you. If your credit card was taken out before 7Th April 2007 it is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act of 1974. This law requires ‘proper execution’ of the finance agreement you signed. It is not properly executed if it does not contain all the prescribed terms and conform to the regulations made under section 60 (1) of the act. It is in breach of the act. There is a long list of prescribed terms and regulations which credit finance agreement must adhere to – see below. Crucially you must have signed a document containing ALL the prescribed terms as described in the 1974 Act. If not your finance agreement is not enforceable without an order of the court and section 127 (3) requires the court to dismiss the application for the enforcement order. It may be considered ‘irredeemably unenforceable’.

The Act was so complex and difficult that many lenders were caught out by its detail or simply chose to ignore the requirements of the law.

The Process

1.You need the account number of the cards you are claiming for. If doesn’t matter if you don’t have the agreement as your claims manager will request this from your lender.

2. Sign a request called a Section 77/78 which gives authority for your claims manager to request the information your lender holds on the account together with your original credit finance agreement.

3. Write a cheque for £10 payable to your lender so that your claims manager can request your credit finance agreement and account file.

4. NOW YOU WAIT! Your lender, under the Data Protection Act has 16 days to comply then is given a seven day warning – then another 28 day warning. In total 51 days! So be patient. At this point some lenders employ ‘dirty tricks’ in an attempt to delay matters. It is important to keep a record of the time scales involved and it may be quicker if YOU also request a copy of the agreement you signed. Keep checking with your claims manager to see if the information they need from your lender has been supplied.

5. When the lender sends back your account details claims manager will then be in a position to ‘audit’ the agreement. Some claims managers use ‘in house’ solicitors belonging to the company; some use a ‘panel’ solicitor who works for several claims companies and some use ‘auditors’ trained in assessing finance agreements. The audit of a credit finance agreement is straightforward. It is checked against a list of prescribed terms and regulations and scores as a ‘breach’ or ‘compliance’. You must have signed an agreement showing for example;-the annual simple and compound interest rates for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances together with the APR. It is not acceptable for these to have been supplied in a separate document. Your audit should show exactly why your agreement is non compliant.

6. If your agreement is unenforceable it will be allocated to a solicitor who will be responsible for your case. If you wish to keep a clean credit history it is best to continue making payments as although the agreement is unenforceable and therefore you cannot be required to make anymore payments, lenders put default marks on your file anyway. Some claims management companies claim to have any adverse credit marks removed and some do not. This is a grey area at the moment and it is important to discuss it with your solicitor first. If you want to keep your credit file clean keep on making your monthly repayments. Although you will possibly not get these back.

7. You sign a ‘conditional fee agreement’ with the solicitor who lodges a breach of the 1974 consumer credit act with your lender and prepares the case for court. You will not pay any costs than the intial fees.

8. It is unlikely that the lender will go to court. You may be made offers of ‘substantial reductions’ such as 60% off your balance. You must inform your solicitor of any correspondence with the lender and take advice. If you do accept an offer without consulting your solicitor and taking his or her advice you will become eligible to pay your solicitors fees. This is because the solicitors’ costs are funded by claiming against your credit card lender. If you receive an offer of a reduction in the balance rest assured it is a matter of time until the lender writes of your debt!

Need debt help NOW?

Are you waiting for your PPI repayment or to wipe credit cards?

Don’t Worry….

Every Debt Problem Has a Debt Management Solution!

Imagine being debt free?  Imagine the peace of mind of finding a debt solution right for you?

The right solution can get YOU out of debt so find out what debt solution is best for you.

Losing your job, having a baby, divorce or separation, sickness or bereavement all make it difficult to manage on your usual budget.

Don’t waste any more time worrying…………..

Your Options?

Debt Management

IVA

Bankruptcy

Trust Deed  (Scotland Only)

The Advantages?

Stop the phone calls and letters.

Debt managers will do all the negotiations with your lenders on your behalf!  So you won’t need to speak to them

One affordable monthly repayment.

Interest and charges frozen.

So take a deep breath, get a coffee and make a list abd take action NOW! First list all your creditors with name, address and account numbers. If the debts have been sold on to a Debt Collection Agency don’t worry. You will deal with them instead. Sometimes the debt is passed on from one Debt Collection Agency to another. This is normal and means you will have to do this a few times as they don’t seem to pass on information.

Debt collection agencies buy the debt for a few pence in the pound from lenders in the hope of reclaiming some of the money. They may offer you large discount off the balance which you may be able to afford. But don’t worry if you can’t. Write to each of the lenders (or debt collectors if the debt has been passed on). Use the letter below and fill in your own details. Send the budget sheet too. Once they reply IN WRITING accepting your offer of repayment set up the standing order as agreed and relax! Lenders can’t take from you what you do not have. Credit agencies want to collect some payment as this is better than nothing. They do not have the resources to take court action and even if they do so the judge will see you are making every effort to pay in the worst of circumstances.

If you don’t feel able to do this for yourself contact a debt management company for advice. They do take a fee for their work but it may be worth paying it for peace of mind.

Best wishes and good fortune.

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Here is the letter to send:-

LENDERS ADDRESS

YOUR ADDRESS

DATE

YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER OR REFERENCE

Dear xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There has been a change in my financial circumstances due to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(say a reason, i.e divorce, relationship breakdown, loss of job,illness etc) I am having financial difficulty and therefore no longer able to keep up the payments on the above account.

Please find enclosed a budget sheet which shows how much income I have left over each month. I have xxxxxxxxxxxx creditors.

This, divided by xxxxx means I have £….. each month for each creditor. I would like to set up a standing order for this amount each month, should you agree. Please send me a mandate form so I may do this.

Yours sincerely,

You Name Here xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Fill In this Budget Sheet and send a copy to your lender.

Budget Sheet

• Rent
• Council Tax
• Gas
• Electricity
• TV
• Home Insurance
• Car Insurance
• Car Tax
• Pet Insurance
• AA Insurance
• Mobile Phone
• Landline
• Water Rates
• Petrol
• Food
• Broadband
• Child Support
• Life Insurance

Total outgoings xxxxx

Total income xxxxx

This leaves xxxxxxx divided between xxxxx creditors.

You may have heard that you can wipe credit cards quite a lot recently.You may know that it is possible to claim that your credit card agreement is an unenforceable agreement and wipe credit cards.

But How Is It Possible to Wipe Credit Cards Exactly?

It is all based on the 1974 Consumer Credit Act. (CCA) This act states that in law certain terms and conditions must be contained within the agreement. If they are not or the agreement is not signed, then the agreement is unenforceable and you can claim to have your credit cards written off.

The term unenforceable means that the agreement cannot be enforced and therefore no further repayments need be made once the agreement has be declared unenforceable. You may be wondering why only agreements taken out before 2007 can be claimed. This is because after that time there is discretion allowed by the judge as to whether or not the agreement is enforceable whereas before 2007 there is no such allowance and even a court cannot enforce the agreement.

Credit card, store card, HP, car finance and loans can be checked or audited to see if any breaches of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act can be found in the agreement.

The process is quite simple but somewhat time consuming. You will need the backing of a solicitor who is proactive and this can be found by using a CMC or claims management company.

First a true copy of your agreement will need to be obtained from your lender. They have 12 working days to reply. If they fail to do so or send a copy of terms and conditions (which is not the agreement) then they are ‘defaulted’. The case is passed to a solicitor who issues proceedings against the lender. If your agreement is sent back it is then audited to check for any breaches in the 1974 CCA. Once these are identified it is then passed to a solicitor who prepares the case for court. You will be given free ‘after the event’ insurance to cover any costs which you case my need.

The first stage of having your credit cards written off takes about eight weeks. The second stage which aims to have the balance written off take longer and very much depends on the response of the lender in question. No cases have gone to court because if the lender loses a precedent will be have been set. So they won’t risk this. But many have been settled out of court or written off before court proceedings have been issued.

The best advice?

The best advice is to shop around and gather as much information as possible. The law is constantly being tested in court and changing all the time. So you will need to be patient and also be prepared for changes in the law which affect your case.

There is no need to consider IVA or Bankruptcy before you have had your agreements audited for unenforceability. It is good, in my experience to tell your lenders that you are having your agreements audited and offer them a token payment of a few pounds a month if you can afford it. They are often more willing to accept if they know you are having an audit with a view to having your credit cards wiped.

Letters to send to lenders click here