Terms debt-simple

Terms

Terms and conditions of trading

The agreement between you and us is made in the following terms:

1. Definition of terms

‘You’ our client, whose name is specified overleaf (and partner where any of the debts are in joint names).
‘Us’ Debt-Simple Limited, Registered Office: 3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF. Licensed under Consumer Credit Licence Number 595572.
‘Creditors’ any and all of your unsecured creditors whose details you provide us in accordance with section 3.
‘Debt Management Programme’ a repayment plan produced by us in accordance with section 4.2.
‘Period’ the period during which the debt management programme is active.
‘Fees’ the fees to be paid by you to us in accordance with the debt management programme.

2. Agreement

You request us and we agree to provide you with debt counselling advice and adjusting service in accordance with these terms and conditions. You authorise us to negotiate on your behalf with your Creditors. This agreement will continue until the final payment to the Creditors is made in accordance with the Debt Management Programme, unless it should have been terminated prior to this time in accordance with section 6.

3. Your Responsibilities

3.1 You will provide to us upon our request with any information relating to your finances. This will include but will not be limited to details of your income and expenditure, your Creditors and any agreements you may have with them, any loans or mortgages you have, your dependants and any judgements made against you or any other enforcement action being taken against you.

3.2 You will sign any necessary forms of authority or any other documents so that we may negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and generally carry out our obligations under this agreement.

3.3 You will pass copies of all correspondence from your Creditors to us and keep us informed of any dealings you have with any Creditors, whether we are negotiating with them or not. Once the Debt Management Programme has been agreed, you will not make any expenditure over and above your reasonable living expenses as calculated in the Debt Management Programme. You will not use your credit cards and not incur further debts.

3.4 You will consult with us in relation to your Debt Management Programme of repayments and in relation to any alterations to it or reviews of it. Your payments to us will need to be amended to reflect any reasonable changes which your circumstances dictate. You will make payments to us under and in accordance with the Debt Management Programme promptly and without any deductions.

3.5 Occasionally your Creditors may not provide us with balances of your accounts due to their internal company procedures. If these circumstances arise we will ask you to obtain this information for us.

3.6 We cannot be held responsible for any legal action taken against you by your Creditors as a result of fraudulent or incorrect information provided by you at the time of acquiring a loan, HP agreement, credit card or any other form of credit.

3.7 Non contact from you will not be considered cancellation of the agreement. If any funds held by us are owing to you, then written confirmation will be required to release them to you in accordance with section 6 of this agreement.

3.8 If you do not maintain regular payments we will suspend any action and payments on your account. Your Creditors may have to be informed that payments are not being maintained. This may result in your Creditors continuing legal action against you for which we cannot be held responsible.

3.9 You remain responsible for continuing to pay any secured loans, mortgages or Hire Purchase agreements and all household bills (including insurances).

4. Our Responsibilities

4.1 We will review your finances, covering your income, expenditure, debts and assets. These must include all debts secured on property or goods, which we will take into consideration but cannot negotiate reduced payments on. We will calculate your disposable income, based on reasonable living expenses. All financial statements will be reviewed by our Administration Manager.

4.2 In consultation with you we will produce a Debt Management Programme that you can use to pay off your Creditors out of your disposable income at rates you can afford. The Debt Management Programme will let you make weekly/monthly payments to us and will take account of your Creditors and of our fees. It will not take account of any matters you have not told us about in accordance with section 3. It will also take account of the differing requirements of your Creditors, if there is more than one.

4.3 We will negotiate with your Creditors and attempt to agree repayment terms with them of the amounts outstanding. In doing so we shall use the Debt Management Programme and we shall ensure that the periodic payments that we agree with your Creditors on your behalf do not exceed your disposable income (less our fee) as calculated by us for the same period.

4.4 We shall attempt to agree with your Creditors; where appropriate that they freeze or reduce their interest charges and that they suspend or withdraw enforcement proceedings issued in connection with your agreements with them. In rare instances County Court proceedings may still be levied against you by your Creditors. In these cases we will assist in completion of all relevant paperwork as required. We cannot guarantee to stop the legal action by your Creditors.

4.5 We shall make payments to your Creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Programme.

4.6 The payments made to your Creditors will be reflected on the statements you will receive from them. A full breakdown of all payments we have made can be obtained on request. On all Creditors accepting the offers of repayment we will issue you with a breakdown of these. On request we may issue quarterly statements showing all payments and receipts of your account.

4.7 Should your situation or any other relevant information change during the Period, we shall, in consultation with you and your Creditors review the Debt Management Programme and if necessary shall make change to it in agreement with you and with any Creditors concerned.

4.8 From time to time your Creditors will request an update of your financial situation. We will contact you to review your current financial circumstances and update your Debt Management Programme accordingly, to aid this process we request that pay slips are regularly forwarded to us for review.

4.9 All payments to us will be made into our Debt-Simple ‘Clients Deposit Account’. This account is separate to our own business accounts and funds held for distribution to your Creditors will be retained for that purpose only. No interest will be payable to you on funds that we hold. At all times balances held for distribution to your Creditors will be classed as client monies.

4.10 During the negotiation process some Creditors may continue to charge interest and other recovery charges. We cannot always prevent these charges being levied. These will however be paid off as part of your Debt Management Programme.

4.11 We can only provide advice on the services that we offer.

4.12 The company takes any grievance regarding its practices very seriously. Any complaints can be sent in writing to the Directors of the Company and will be dealt with personally by them. The Directors of the Company will return correspondence within 14 days.

5. How we will be paid

5.1 Unless we agree otherwise with you, we will take from each monthly payment under the Debt Management Programme a fee equal to 16% of the periodic payment.

5.2 Because the majority of our work for you will be done at the start of the Period, we will retain as a fee the first monthly payment to cover the cost of implementing your Debt Management Programme.

5.3 If this agreement is ended in accordance with section 6, we will return any undistributed funds after having deduced the above fees and you will not have to pay us any more money. This will be done within 30 days of receiving written confirmation in order to allow us time to process all receipts and payments on your account.

5.4 In the case of weekly payments, four and a third times the weekly payment will equate to one monthly payment.

5.5 On receiving your first payment to us we will issue an estimated fee schedule to you. This will be based on your estimated Creditor balances. This will also include an estimated repayment term based on the assumption that interest and charges will be frozen on these accounts.

5.6 On receiving actual balances from your Creditors an Actual Fees Schedule will be issued to you. Our total fees will be shown as an estimate based on 16% of your monthly repayment at this point. This will also show the estimated term of your Debt Management Programme.

6. Termination of Agreement

6.1 On receipt of your first payment we will issue to you a Key Features document and Estimated Fees Schedule. If for any reason you wish to cancel, we offer a seven-day cooling-off period from the date of this letter in which we offer a full refund of any fees which we have taken.

6.2 After the seven-day cooling-off period you may end this agreement by giving us four weeks notice in writing.

6.3 We may end this agreement by giving you four weeks notice in writing if any one of the following events occur:

1. You break this agreement and do not remedy the breach within seven days of making you aware of this breach.
2. A bankruptcy petition is levied against you.
3. You enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement / Trust Deed.
4. Where the information provided to us is knowingly incorrect.
5. The Information provided by you at the time of acquiring a loan (HP agreement, credit card or any other form of credit) is deemed incorrect or fraudulent by any Creditor or
6. If we are affected by Force Majeure.

7. Data protection and your confidentially

7.1 We agree to keep confidential all information received from or about you, releasing it only to such of your Creditors so far as is necessary in order to negotiate and agree a repayment plan.

7.2 We may share information about you within our company and or companies within our group.

7.3 We may also use personal information to provide you with products and services, which may be of interest to you.

7.4 You could request under the Data Protection Act 1998 for copies of any information that we hold about you additionally under the provisions of this Act. There may be a charge for this information.

Debt-Simple Limited Licensed by the Office of Fair Trading under Consumer Credit Licence Number 595572. Registered Office: 3-5 High Pavement, Nottingham NG1 1HF. Reg. No. 06009704. England