Writing off debt

THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, TOGETHER WITH THE ACCEPTANCE FORM AND AUTHORITY FORM, CONSTITUTE A BINDING CONTRACT BETWEEN US. PLEASE READ THE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE SIGNING THE ACCEPTANCE FORM.

In particular, please note that by entering into this Agreement:

1. You give Us authority to negotiate with Your Creditors as We reasonably deem appropriate in order to seek an agreement with Your Creditors for the payment of Your debts.
2. We will endeavour to settle Your debts by making offers to Your Creditors to pay reduced monthly payments. This may result in increased collection activity and potential legal action.
3. You will be charged the Fees in accordance with section 3, as more particularly detailed in the Fees Schedule.
4. You have the right to cancel at any time within 14 days of the date of this Agreement and in certain circumstances set out in these Terms and Conditions.

Definition of Terms:
"Acceptance Form" means the form enclosed with these Terms and Conditions that You must sign to confirm Your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
"Agreement" means the agreement between You and Us which comprises these Terms and Conditions, the Acceptance Form, the Authority Form, and the Fees Schedule.
"Authority Form" means the form enclosed with these Terms and Conditions that You must sign to give Us authority to contact Your Creditors and act on Your behalf.
"Cleared Funds" means (i) any monies which We have received into the Client Account from You by electronic transfer (such as standing order, direct debit, bank giro, credit transfer or bank account transfer) and which have not been returned unpaid within four Working Days, and/or (ii); any cheques which We have received from You which have not been returned unpaid within seven Working Days from presentation.
"Client Account" means the account where any monies held on behalf of Our clients are kept;
"Creditors" mean everyone You have told Us You owe money to and who are included in Your Financial Statement.
"Debt Management Service" means a debt management service by which we aim to reach an agreement with Your Creditors for the payment of Your debts.
"Fees" means the Initial Fee and the Monthly Fees.
"Fees Schedule" means the schedule enclosed with these Terms and Conditions, which sets out details relating to the calculation of the Fees.
"Financial Statement" means the statement that We produce setting out Your income and expenditure, and other details.
"Initial Fee" means a fee payable by You to Moneyexpert Limited for setting up the debt management service with Us.
"Money Expert" means Moneyexpert Limited (CRN: 04765843).
"Month" means a calendar month.
"Monthly Fee" means, in relation to each Monthly Payment, a sum equal to 17.63% of that Monthly Payment or £30.00, whichever is the greater.
"Monthly Payment" means the total amount that is paid every Month (including all weekly payments in a Month) by You to Us. Apart from Fees which may be deducted, the Monthly Payments are to be made available to Your Creditors.
"Outstanding Debt" means the full amount of the debt that You owe to Your Creditors.
"Term" means the period running from the start of this Agreement as explained in section 1 until We stop providing You with the Debt Management Service.
"Terms and Conditions" these terms and conditions, forming part of this Agreement between You and Us.
"Total Fee" means the total fee as set out in the Fees Schedule, based on the assumptions set out in that schedule;
"Us" "We" and "Our" means Immediate Financial ("Us"), which is a trading name of House and Home Car Limited whose registered address is Moneyexpert Limited, Craven House, Station Approach, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1EX (Registered Number 5829935) or anyone to whom We transfer Our obligations and rights under this Agreement.
"Working Day" means any day upon which banks in London are open for normal business, other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in England.
"You" and "Your" means You, the person(s) entering into this Agreement named in the Financial Statement.

1. Appointment & Terms

1.1 You appoint Us and We agree to act on Your behalf, as debt advisors and debt adjusters and to provide the Debt Management Service on the basis of and subject to these Terms and Conditions.
1.2 This Agreement will start when You confirm Your acceptance of it which will occur when You return both the completed Authority Form and the completed Acceptance Form.
1.3 The Term will continue until ended by You as set out in section 1.4 or section 7 or by Us as set out in section 8.
1.4 You have the right to cancel this Agreement at any time during the first 14 days of the Term. You can do this by writing to Us at the above address or by telephone on 0800 230 0379 saying You wish to cancel. We will then refund to You any monies already paid to Us that are (or subsequently become) Cleared Funds. Any monies then paid to Money Expert will also be refunded to You.

2. Debt Management Service - What We will do

Debt Management Service
2.1 Once this Agreement starts We will:
2.1.1 review Your income and expenditure and then issue You with a draft Financial Statement (see section 2.2 below); and
2.1.2 notify Your Creditors of Our involvement and will attempt to negotiate reduced payments with them, stop interest being charged and to either suspend or withdraw any recovery, or similar proceedings, which they may already have taken against You or may have threatened to bring against You. We will endeavour to provide as much assistance to You as We can based on Our expertise and experience of dealing with Creditors.
2.2 Following the receipt of the first Monthly Payment in Cleared Funds We will prepare and issue a Financial Statement, normally within 28 days. This may vary from an earlier draft depending on the accuracy of the information You originally provided Us and Our discussions with Your Creditors.
2.3 If Your circumstances change and You are unable to meet the payments set out in the Financial Statement, We shall attempt to re-negotiate with Your Creditors and arrange with You a revised Financial Statement. We will in any event periodically review Your situation, normally every 6 months or earlier if Your Creditors insist, and We will prepare and issue a revised Financial Statement to You and Your Creditors if this is appropriate. 2.4 We shall provide to You each month a statement listing Your Creditors and the amount paid to each of Your Creditors in the preceding month.
The Standards of Our Service and Our liability to You
2.5 We will provide the Service with reasonable skill and within a reasonable time (although time shall not be of the essence in delivery of the Debt Management Service to You) and shall use Our reasonable endeavours to negotiate reduced payments with Your Creditors.
Complaints
2.6 We are confident of providing a high quality service in all aspects. If, however, You have any questions or concerns about Our Debt Management Service, please raise them first with Your usual contact. If that does not resolve the issue to Your satisfaction or if You would prefer not to speak to that person, please raise the issue with General Manager – Immediate Financial.
2.7 We have a formal complaints procedure, a copy of which is enclosed.

 

3. What You will pay

Monthly Fees
3.1 You will pay to Us each Monthly Fee.
Initial Fee
3.2 You will also pay an Initial Fee. This Initial Fee will usually be paid with monies withdrawn from the Client Account by Us.

 

4. How We handle Your money

4.1 All payments that We receive from You will be paid directly into the Client Account (other than any amounts withdrawn on account of Fees, in accordance with section 3). We will pay You a fair rate of interest (or a sum in place of interest) on any balance (from receipt of Cleared Funds to issuing a cheque or making payment) subject to certain minimum amounts and periods of time, details of which can be provided on request.
4.2 We will distribute the Monthly Payment to pay Your Creditors and to pay Fees in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. We will usually pay Monthly Payments to Your Creditors within five Working Days of receipt from You of Cleared Funds. If there is any delay in making Monthly Payments within this period as a result of circumstances beyond Our control, we will make all reasonable endeavours to rectify the situation as soon as possible and we will compensate You for any reasonable charges made by the relevant Creditor as a direct result of any delay in payment.

 

5. What We won't do

5.1 We cannot lend You money or offer You any credit facilities.
5.2 We will not usually provide the Debt Management Services in relation to secured credit, mortgages or rent council tax payments utility bill payments or any other similar debts. You should ensure that You prioritise the payment of these debts.
5.3 Whilst We will attempt to agree revised payment terms with Your Creditors in accordance with section 2 We cannot stop Your Creditors from continuing to charge You interest and other charges, or from continuing any current, or bringing any future, recovery or other proceedings against You.
5.4 We are not solicitors. We do not give You and You do not rely on anything We say as legal advice.

 

6. What You will do

Providing Information
6.1 You must provide Us with full, accurate and truthful information regarding Your net income, outgoings, Creditors and dependents. You must also provide Us with details of any actual or threatened court proceedings or enforcement and any outstanding judgments against You. You must, where possible, send Us copies or originals of documentation to confirm these details.
6.2 You must send Us originals or copies of all correspondence You receive from Your Creditors so that We can deal with them on Your behalf. Your correspondence will be scanned and stored by Us as an electronic image and the original paperwork destroyed. If originals are provided We can only return them to You if You request this prior to postage.
Payments
6.3 You must make the agreed Monthly Payments to Us.
6.4 During the Term You agree not to make any payments directly to Your Creditors unless You have notified Us in advance that You propose to do so and We have agreed (acting reasonably) that such a payment can be made. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent You from communicating with Your Creditors.
Changes to Your situation
6.5 You must tell Us if Your circumstances change so that You are, or may become, unable to maintain the level of Monthly Payments of if there has been any improvement in Your circumstances so that You are able to increase Your level of Monthly Payments. We will require 2 weeks' notice from You to make any amendments to any standing order arrangements.
6.6 During the Term You agree not to incur any further debts, whether on credit or otherwise, other than those relating to Your normal living expenses.

 

7. How You may end this Agreement

7.1 You may terminate this Agreement by notice in writing to Us at Craven House, Station Approach, Godalming GU7 1EX at any time if the actual Fees that You pay under this Agreement differ from the Total Fee.
7.2 You may terminate this Agreement by notice in writing to Us at Craven House, Station Approach, Godalming GU7 1EX at any time if We have demonstrably failed to carry out the Service as set out in this Agreement, or acted without using reasonable skill and care.
7.3 In the event that You wish to terminate this Agreement in any other circumstances. You will need to give Us 60 days notice in writing to Us at Craven House, Station Approach, Godalming GU7 1EX. This will enable Us to complete any on-going negotiations with Your Creditors.
7.4 You also have the right to cancel this Agreement under section 1.4.

 

8. How We may end this Agreement

8.1 We may end this Agreement at any time by giving You 14 days' prior written notice if any of the following happens;
(a) You fail to make two successive Monthly Payments;
(b) You are otherwise in serious breach of this Agreement or have persistently committed a series of minor breaches (even if any one individual breach would not necessarily be regarded as a serious breach on its own); or
(c) You become bankrupt, file a bankruptcy petition, seek to make an arrangement or composition with Your Creditors generally or make an application to a court of competent jurisdiction for protection from Your Creditors.
8.2 In the event of cancellation under this section We reserve the right to charge any outstanding Fees, as if You had given notice of termination under section 7 above.

 

9. Effect of ending this Agreement

When this Agreement ends:
9.1 Our duties and obligations under this Agreement will come to an end;
9.2 We will arrange for any balance on the Client Account due to You (after deduction of any relevant Fees) to be paid to You within five Working Days; and
9.3 Your liabilities to Your Creditors will continue to the extent that any amounts You owe to Your Creditors remain outstanding over and above the repayments made to them under the Financial Statement.

 

10. Data Protection

10.1 We collect and use Your personal information in accordance with Our Data Protection Policy, which is available on request.
10.2 We may also contact You to offer You products and services that We think may be of interest to You, including services offered by other companies. We may share Your personal information with these third parties and they may contact You directly to offer You products and services. If You would like to opt out of this and not be contacted by either Us or third parties to offer other products and services You must let contact Us at Craven House, Station Approach, Godalming GU7 1EX.
10.3 Other than as set out above We will only disclose Your personal information as required by law, court order or when requested to do so by government or law enforcement agencies or to any other entity that We transfer any or all of Our obligations to You under this Agreement.
10.4 Please note that We may record Your calls to Us for training and monitoring purposes.

 

11. Other Terms

11.1 We may transfer Our rights under this Agreement by giving You written notice of such transfer. This will not adversely affect Your rights under this Agreement, save that You may be required to make the Monthly Payments to a different account.
11.2 All notices sent under this Agreement by You or by Us are valid if sent by post and will be deemed to be received 2 Working Days after posting. If We deliver anything to You personally it shall be deemed delivered upon receipt.
11.3 This Agreement is governed by English law and We and You each submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.