Links

Citizens Advice Guide
Compare UK Credit Cards
Community Legal Advice
Credit Counselling Service
Debt Advice Bureau
FLA
FSA
Motley Fool
National Debt Line
Office of Fair Trading
Moneyclaim on line
Payplan - Free Service

Recommended Sites

Citizens Advice Guide
ClearDebt
Compare UK Credit Cards
Credit Counselling Service
Finance and Leasing Association
Financial Ombudsman Service
Financial Services Authority
Motley Fool
National Debt Line
Office of Fair Trading
Payplan - Free Service

Useful Links

debt management
With Britain's personal debt increasing by £1m every 4 minutes, over 4,000 people research and find their debt solution here every day

Homebank Financial Services Limited
Choose Homebank Financial Services for a personal and professional service across the country. Whether you are looking for: remortgage, purchase, bad credit, buy to let, self-cert, self-build, right to buy or Spanish mortgages, our qualified, local to you consultants can help.

debtadvicebureau.org.uk - provides free advice on debt and credit problems, consolidation loans, debt management, IVAs and bankruptcy.

About Payday Loans - Want to find out more about Payday Loans? Learn all about them today at our informative website full of tips and advice.

Debt Consolidation Loan - Abacus specialise in helping UK residents who have been refused a debt consolidation loan elsewhere.

Debt Management Company - Debt Management can help slash loan and credit card repayments by up to 75%. Apply Online, Free Consultation, No Obligation. Try Us.

Debt Consolidation UK - Restructure your finances by a debt consolidation loan or a managed solution.

IVAs - Considering Bankruptcy? IVA may be the solution for you if you have debts over £15,000.

Useful Bits and Pieces

Have you been charged illegally?

Many people have found themselves in much greater debt than expected due to the illegal charges enforced by banks and credit card companies for what are, in many cases, only minor transgressions.  The Office of Fair Trading,(OFT), has now declared these charges illegal, as highlighted in this article: 'Unlawful' credit card charges to be slashed.

Banks and credit card companies have been ripping off their customers for far too long, exorbitant charges for late payment, going over the agreed limit and similar minor discrepancies have until now been the norm.  Now we, the customers, have the opportunity to fight back, not only can we refuse to pay such charges but we can also claim back any of these charges we have paid over the past six years.

Money saving expert Martin Lewis has led the fight against the banks and has sound advice,template letters and calculators on his site, using these tools you can join the thousands who've reclaimed thousands of pounds

In april 2007 one claimant received £36,000 from NatWest,and The Consumer Action Group has surveyed 7,000 people who collectively have recovered more than £10,000,000 from their banks.

You would be well advised to read this article from Fool.com, there are legal proceedings taking place that may prove beneficial to you. "In most small claims that don't involve personal injury, you are allowed to make claims for losses that go back six years and no further. However, for bank charges cases there has been speculation that people can claim back further than this".

The Office of Fair Trading is at present involved in a High Court test case on unauthorised overdraft charges, this does not mean that you are now too late to complain, but until the outcome of this important legal action is known, banks are putting complaints about these charges on hold. This means that decisions won’t be made on these complaints for some time. You can obtain further information from The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator for financial services, who has agreed that banks can suspend their work on complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges – while the “test case” is running.

New Regulations for Store-Card Suppliers

New rules regarding the supply and administration of store-cards came into effect on 1 May 2007.

In March 2006 an enquiry by the Competition Commission led to a warning to store-card suppliers that the rates of interest being charged to to their eleven million customers were excessive, the charges amounted to around £55 million a year. This warning has had little effect on interest being charged and the new regulations are unlikely to make customers any richer.

New Regulations

The new regulations state that from 1 May 2007, for store-card suppliers who charge an annual percentage rate of 25% or more which over 50% of them do, they must in future:

• include interest rate warnings on their monthly statements,
• advise their users that cheaper credit is available elsewhere,
• provide a summary box displaying interest rates and penalty charges,
• warn customers of the danger of only repaying the minimum amount each month

For more information read Cliff Darcy's article at www.fool.co.uk.

So what can you do?

It is now possible to claim back all illegal charges that your bank/credit card company has made you pay over the past six years, in order to do this successfully you should read the information on these sites:

• Govan Law Centre an independent, charitable community controlled law centre operating in Scotland
• The Ultimate Guide to Reclaiming Bank and Card Charges on the fool.com site
• Martin Lewis's site, MoneySavingExpert.com

On the above sites you will find all the information you need along with template letters, calculators and all the facts.

The Office of Fair Trading have also made a statement with regard to unfair charges by credit card companies.

Being in debt is one thing, being in huge debt due to the illegal or unfair actions of the banks is another, if you have been charged for overspending your credit limit, or for making a late payment, then you really should be doing something about it, and reading the information on the suggested sites is a very good starting point.

Time is running out on this one, banks are implementing the £12.00 charge that is now deemed to be acceptable and are therefor trying to refund only the difference between the old "illegal" charge and the £12.00. People are still managing to obtain a full refund by sticking to their guns and using the information, guidance and advice available, so if you feel you are owed money after reading the information on this page, and on the recommended links pages, get your claim going NOW.

Case Won!

Neil Faulkner, (TMF Vertigo), is a person who has taken on the banks, read My Unlawful Bank Charges Victory!, Neil has been writing articles about his claim against his bank since May 2006 and they are entertaining, informative and well worth reading.

An alternative way to claim: The Financial Ombudsman Service

People who have complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) have also been successful with their claims.  Chief Ombudmsan Walter Merricks said recently: "Banks are writing off default charges of customers who complain to us - with the result that we have not had to issue any formal decisions in complaints of this type."

Elsewhere, he said: "We are now receiving large numbers of complaints about banking default charges. We have learned that some firms, when faced with a complaint, first respond by saying the charges are justified. If the customer presses the point and threatens to refer the matter to us, they are offered a write-off of half of the charges. If the customer issues court proceedings...or actually refers the matter to us, the whole of the charges are written off."

That's a neat summary, although sometimes people are offered 90%, not 50% to settle without a formal complaint, which may tempt you.  Before you accept this though, remember that the bank has charged you unlawfully, so you are entitled to a full settlement. If you have a big claim, that missing 10% will make a substantial difference.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is free to use. Their decision is not binding, so if you're not happy you can still make a claim in court (although if you accept the FOS's decision you can't claim in the court as well). It's also likely that claims to the FOS will be settled faster and for many people with a lot less stress, so it may now be worth going through them before considering court action.

Banks have been known to respond to claims by closing the person's account, usually after settling the matter, you can protect yourself by getting a parachute account in case your bank tries this trick on you.