If you get a letter saying you owe money on a debt you don’t recognise, or which you thought you had paid off, you need to challenge the creditor to prove that you do owe the money. Sometimes debt collectors have simply got the wrong person. This is sometimes called a mis-trace. This is what the Financial Ombudsman says about mis-traces: We would ask a debt collector to provide evidence to … [Read more...]
HSBC pays compensation for not saying a debt was unenforceable
In 2023, Miss M asked HSBC to produce the Consumer Credit Act(CCA) agreements for her debts. If a creditor cannot produce the CCA agreement for a relevant debt, the debt is unenforceable in court and the consumer can stop paying it. The older a debt is, the less likely it is that the CCA agreement can be found. Miss M's debts were very old. Asking for the CCA agreement is a simple procedure … [Read more...]
Should you switch from a DMP to a DRO?
You may have started a DMP hoping things would improve, but if your wages haven't kept up with the cost of living, or your expenses have gone up with a baby, you may be fining it hard to keep up with the DMP payments. And you may find you now have debts outside the DMP or arrears on bills accumulating . In this situation if yoy are renting, look at the option of a Debt Relief Order … [Read more...]
Does a Cifas “Victim” marker harm your credit score?
I was asked: Someone pretending to be me has tried to set up some finance. It all got stopped, no money lost and no real harm done. My concern is that the finance company is proposing to record this impersonation on Cifas, but won't if I ask them not to. The letter makes it sound like informing Cifas is a good thing, but I've googled it and have found nothing but horror stories about never … [Read more...]
Are people being told the truth about DMP fees and no-fee DMPs?
Misleading DMP advice Mrs B was advised to go into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) by an IVA firm. They referred her to a firm that charges fees for running a DMP. I suggested that she should talk to StepChange or another provider that doesn't charge any fees for a DMP. Mrs B went back and queried the advice with the IVA firm. This is the WhatsApp conversation: I explained to Mrs B that … [Read more...]
Lloyds and Halifax to charge up to 49.9% interest on overdrafts
The Lloyds Banking Group - Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland - are changing overdraft charges for customers from August. Some are increasing, some are reducing. The new 19.9% and 29.9% charges are lower than most major banks. But the new 49.9% charge will be the highest overdraft rate charged by a high street bank. The current charges This is the first change since 2020. Before that Lloyds … [Read more...]
Zable – a “credit builder” card to avoid [updated]
Recent Updates 2024 You can't transfer a Zable balance to another card With almost all UK credit cards, if you have a balance charging interest, you can move the balance to another card where you have a 0% balance transfer offer. Except Zable bans this. Someone complained to the Ombudsman and lost the case, saying this was mentioned in the Zable T&Cs. I think this is very poor, … [Read more...]
Found out you have a CCJ? What can you do?
There are three ways you may find out you have a County Court Judgement (CCJ): you get a letter from the court; the creditor tells you, asking for payment; or you see it on a credit report - possibly after you have been unexpectedly rejected for credit. A CCJ is a decision by a judge that you ("the defendant") should pay someone ("the claimant") an amount of money. In mid 2025, there … [Read more...]
Barclaycard cuts minimum payments – this may cost you a lot
In April 2024, Barclaycard has told many customers that it will be setting lower minimum payments on their accounts from July. From a poll I ran on Instagram, Barclaycard has informed about 90% of cardholders. It looks as though this change is going to be across the board, affecting everyone. The messages are going out by email, letter or text. Look out for the communication if you haven't yet … [Read more...]
Had a letter from Intrum/Resolvecall about an old Lloyds debt?
Two readers have reported getting letters from Intrum/Resolvecall about an old Lloyds debt. They are asking if they have to pay these old debts: I had a credit card debt with Lloyds about 10 years ago. I was struggling to pay it at the time... NowI have had a letter from a company called Intrum saying my account will now be managed by a company called Resolvecall who are asking for over … [Read more...]
SafetyNet & Tappily loans are written off
The administrators of Indigo Michael Limited have announced that all current SafetyNet Credit and Tappliy balances are being written off. And that any affordability complaints have to be made within the next few weeks. My previous article SafetyNet Credit goes into administration gives details about why the lender failed. And also why, unusually, it was allowed to carry on lending to existing … [Read more...]
DROs – major improvements introduced in 2024 Spring Budget
In a Spring Budget that was short on surprises, the Chancellor pulled a large rabbit out of the hat for debt advisers and some of their clients - big changes to the rules for Debt Relief Orders (DROs). DROs are a form of insolvency for people who have little or no spare income to be able to make any payments to their debts and who only have low assets. Introduced 15 years ago, they were … [Read more...]
“When can I offer £1 to a debt?” – FAQs about token payments
A reader asked if he should offer a £1 a month token payment to his debts, wondering if his creditors would ever accept it. The simple answer is that you should make token payment offers: TO non priority debts WHEN it is all you can afford. BUT if you don't expect your situation will improve soon, you may have better debt options. In 2024 millions of people can't afford the normal debt … [Read more...]
Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain – ask for a refund
Loans2Go offers what I have called the worst loans in Britain. Since 2021 they have been charging 770% APR. See the representative example Loans2Go quotes on its website: £550 borrowed for 18 months is a monthly payment of £113 this adds up to £2035, a bit less than four times what was borrowed. MUCH cheaper to get a payday loan than a Loans2Go loan Of course Loans2Go don't … [Read more...]
Morses Club goes under – in administration – Scheme fails
UPDATE - March 2024 - the administrators have sold some loans to Lantern and written off all the others. See Morses administration – what is happening to loans. That article is now the current Morses article and if you have any questions, please ask them in the comments there. Morses Club went into administration on 17 November 2023. Morses Club was the largest doorstep lender in the UK … [Read more...]
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