Loan UK - Protecting Your Rights
This
gives people who enter into credit agreements protection in
the following ways. As long as the credit was not more than
£25,000.
a) If
you have signed a credit agreement and you want to cancel
it you can do so within a certain period of time as long as
you did not make the deal over the phone and you did not sign
the agreement at the seller’s shop, office or workplace
(this can include an exhibition stand). Therefore if you signed
the agreement in your own home you will be able to cancel
after you have signed the agreement.
The seller
is supposed to send you a written notice telling you how you
can cancel and how long you have to cancel. You must cancel
by writing to the address given on the notice. You will be
entitled to the return of any deposit paid or goods traded
in part-exchange if you cancel the agreement in time.
b) A creditor
(the one who provides credit) cannot demand early payment,
try to get the goods back or end the agreement without first
serving a written notice on you giving you 7 days notice of
their intention to take such action, (Default Notice).
The notice has to be written in a particular way. If you receive
a notice you should get legal advice to check that it is a
proper notice.
The
notice should contain the following;
- The
notice should say how much should be paid to bring payments
up to date.
- When
payments should be made.
- What
will happen if payments are not made.
- How
the agreement can be brought to an end and that if payments
are made the agreement will not be brought to an end.
c) If
you have paid a third of the total price of the goods under
a HP agreement then the creditor cannot take the goods back
without first getting a court order. Even if they apply for
a court order you can ask the court to suspend the "Return
Order" and accept your offer to pay the outstanding amounts
by instalments.
If you agree that they can have the goods back they will not
need a court order. If you do not agree and the creditor has
not got a court order, but takes the goods back anyway you
can sue the creditor and claim back all the money you have
paid under the agreement. The creditor cannot enter your premises
to repossess the goods without your permission or without
a court order.
d) If
a credit agreement is unfair then you can apply to the court
and ask them to look at the agreement and put in place a new
agreement or alter the old one. However, the court will only
do this if it can be shown that the agreement is "extortionate".
To decide this the court will look at such things as your
age, experience, "business knowledge", state of
health and the amount of financial pressure put on you when
you entered the deal.
The court
also considers the creditor’s position, such as the level
of risk accepted by the creditor, including the value of any
security, the creditor’s relationship to you, whether
the creditor deliberately inflated the cash price to make
the credit charges seem reasonable.
The
court can also consider any other relevant matters.
e) A seller
can be the person who grants you credit or they may arrange
for you to get credit from a 3rd party or that 3rd party may
arrange to supply the goods to you. Your protection is that
you can choose who to sue.
You can either sue the seller or the provider of the credit
or both. This helps you because if the seller goes bust you
can try and get your money from the credit provider instead.
f) You
must be given certain written information about the credit
agreement which must include;
i) The
total charge for credit.
ii)
The Annual Percentage Rate (APR).
iii)
The cash price for the goods.
Not all
credit agreements have the above protection.
For example, credit agreements involving Limited Companies,
Public Companies, Building Societies, Local Authorities, Insurance
Companies, Friendly Societies, Charities, Housing and Land
Companies or Institutions do not have the same protection.
If you
are in doubt as to whether the credit agreement you have entered
into has protection under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 you
should seek legal advice.
You are
entitled to a copy of the Agreement to keep. If a credit agreement
is broken the court can decide to either;
i) Make
a time order giving the borrower extra time to pay.
ii)
Make an order that the borrower must return the goods to
the creditor.
iii)
Make a transfer order allowing the borrower to keep part
of the goods, but return the other part.
[
www.oft.gov.uk/default.htm ]
More
Loans Information
|
