Terms Of Business
Here at the Personal Debt Helpline we want you to know that you’ve made the best decision in letting us give you a helping hand to regain control of your finances. We want to be open and honest with you from the start so it’s important that you take time to read our Terms of Business carefully as these will form the basis of our relationship and contract with you.
1. Definition of Terms
'You'means you the person(s) entering into this Agreement named in the Debt Management Programme.
'Us' and
'We' means Personal Debt Helpline Ltd t/a Personal Debt Helpline. Our registered address is 2nd Floor Anglia House, Carrs Road, Cheadle, Stockport, SK8 2LA registered in England and Wales 05990423.
'Agreement' means the agreement made between You and Us. These Terms of Business form part of that Agreement.
‘Cleared Funds’ means any payments made to Us by You which have not been returned unpaid within 4 working days for standing orders, bank giro credit transfer or bank account transfer, or 7 working days for cheques.
'Client Account' means the account where any monies paid to Us by You are held and which is separate to our own business account.
'Creditors' means all the people or organisations who You owe money to who will be included in your Debt Management Programme.
'Debt Management Programme'means the programme of Monthly Payments we prepare for You which will be used to pay your Creditors. It is based on the information You provide to Us and will be subject to periodic changes.
'Declaration Authority to Act' means the form We have sent You in this pack that We have asked You to sign to enable us to act on your behalf when dealing with your creditors.
'Initial Fee' means the fee which is paid to Us by You. It is used to set up you Debt Management Programme and is not paid to your creditors.
'Management Fee' means the Fee you pay to us each month for our services which is a percentage of your monthly payment. We charge a minimum fee of £38.50 then 19.5% after that.
'Monthly Payment' means the total amount of money paid to Us by You every month for the period which (other than the initial fee) includes our Management Fee and the Monthly Repayment to your Creditors.
'Monthly Repayment' means the portion of the Monthly Payment We distribute to your Creditors on your behalf.
'Period' means the period of time from when your Debt Management Programme starts until it ends as explained in 2.2.
2. The Agreement:
2.1 You request Us and We agree to provide you with Debt Management and Advisory services in accordance with these Terms of Business.
2.2 The Agreement begins as soon as We receive your signed Declaration Authority to Act or your first monthly payment, whichever is soonest and will continue until the final Monthly Repayment has been made to your Creditors, unless terminated earlier by either You or Us as set out in section 6.
2.3 You have the right to cancel this Agreement within the first 14 calendar days of when your Agreement begins as explained in 2.2. You must cancel in writing to us at Personal Debt Helpline Cancellations Team, 2nd Floor Anglia House, Carrs Road, Cheadle, Stockport, SK8 2LA. Please note that we are unable to accept verbal cancellation instructions and we will only accept signed written notification from you. We recommend that you send this to us by recorded or registered post so that you have proof of posting. Alternatively you can fax us on 0845 241 6676. A refund will only be given if cancellation has been made within the cooling off period and work has not commenced on your account.
2.4 The Agreement will be subject to English Law and the English courts will have jurisdiction in respect of any dispute arising from the Agreement.
2.5 We have the right to transfer and/or assign our rights and obligations under this agreement to any third party without having to ask for your consent.
3. What We Expect from You
3.1 You will provide Us with accurate and truthful information relating to your finances. This will include details of your net income, your expenditure, your Creditors and any dependants you have. You must also tell us about any County Court Judgements and any actual or threatened enforcement action being taken against you. We cannot be held responsible for any legal action your Creditors take against You resulting from any fraudulent or incorrect information provided by You.
3.2 You must sign the Declaration Authority to Act so that We can negotiate with your Creditors on your behalf.
3.3 You must pay Us the agreed Monthly Payment in accordance with your Debt Management Programme on time each month. If you fail to maintain regular Monthly Payments we will suspend action on your account. Your Creditors may have to be informed that payments are not being maintained which could result in them commencing and/or continuing legal action against you for which We cannot be held responsible. In addition delayed or missed payments will cause you to go into arrears with your creditors and could lead to your debts increasing.
3.4 You must not make any payments directly to your Creditors, including token payments, unless You ask Us in advance and We tell you in writing that the payment can be made.
3.5 You must send Us originals or copies of all subsequent correspondence from your Creditors so that we can deal with it on your behalf. We scan documentation and do not hold physical paperwork so it is recommended that You keep copies of all documentation You send to Us for your own records if You wish to do so. If originals are provided We can only return them to You if You request this prior to posting.
3.6 You must endeavour to keep to the expenditure set out in your Debt Management Programme and must agree to stop using any credit cards, store cards, catalogue accounts and other credit facilities you have. You must not apply to take out any further credit and will incur no further debt other than that which relates to your normal living expenses.
3.7 You will continue to remain responsible for making payments in respect of any secured loans, hire purchase or lease agreements and mortgages you have as well as for all household bills including insurances and to any persons to whom you owe money who are not included in your Debt Management Programme.
3.8 You must inform us immediately if your circumstances change so that we can review your Debt Management Programme with you and amend accordingly.
3.9 You must not include secured loans, guarantor loans, hire purchase agreements, court fines, Child Support Agency payments, council tax arrears or any debt that is less than 3 months old in your Debt Management Plan.
3.10 If You bank with one of your Creditors You must notify Us immediately.
4. What You can Expect from Us
4.1 Based on the information You provide to Us We will review your income, outgoings and living expenses. We will calculate your Monthly Payment which We believe You can afford and prepare and issue to You a draft Debt Management Programme. We will only be able to negotiate reduced payments on unsecured debts which are debts where monies borrowed aren’t secured on any asset or property.
4.2 Once We receive your Initial Fee in Cleared Funds We will contact your Creditors to notify them of our involvement and attempt to negotiate and agree revised terms of payment on your behalf.
4.3 In particular We will attempt to persuade your creditors to accept reduced Monthly Repayments, to freeze or reduce any interest and charges and to suspend or withdraw any recovery or proceedings which have already been taken, or which they are planning on taking against You including CCJ’s.
4.4 Whilst We are negotiating with your Creditors We will use our experience and expertise in attempting to agree revised terms with them however We cannot guarantee that they will agree to these and it is possible that they may continue to charge You interest and other charges and continue with any current or planned recovery and/or legal proceedings against You if they wish to do so. We cannot be held responsible for this.
4.5 You should be aware that entering into the Debt Management Plan may adversely affect your credit rating. You may also have difficulty in obtaining credit in the short and medium term and possibly the long term. Credit reference agencies retain records for a 6 year period and making reduced payments may extend the period within which you will repay your debt.
4.6 Any further interest and/or charges applied by your Creditors once the Agreement has started in accordance with section 2.2 will be included to be paid off as part of your Debt Management Programme which will be renewed and up-dated accordingly.
4.7 Should your circumstances change and You are unable to maintain your Monthly Payment to Us We will undertake a review of your account and try to re-negotiate revised payment terms with your Creditors however, we cannot guarantee they will agree to any revised payment terms. We normally review your account on an annual basis as a matter of course.
4.8 Each month We will send You a statement detailing receipt of your Monthly Payment and providing You with a breakdown of the Monthly Repayments to each of your creditors and the Management Fee taken by us.
4.9Each December/January, provided you have been on your Debt Management Plan for at least 6 months, we will conduct a full Annual Financial Review on your account.
- We will contact you to review your circumstances.
- We will review each debt and contact all of your creditors to endeavour to get up to date balances on your accounts.
- Where it has not been possible to get an up to date balance because the creditor has failed to provide it within the specified time frame, we will use the most up to date balance that we hold on your account.
- We look to identify other ways in which you may be able to pay off your debts more quickly.
- We will make use of the services offered by our trusted panel of business partners to identify ways in which you could save money.
- You will be under no obligation to act upon the information we or our partners give to you.
- We will increase our management fee in this month by £45. This will not alter your payment to us in that month but it will affect the payments we make to your creditors
- We will however endeavour to ensure that in this month any priority debts, will receive the expected pro rata payment.
- We will also use the information we have gathered on this review to send new proposals to your creditors in this month and negotiate to re-set the arrangements with them
- We will send you an updated statement showing the details of your revised monthly Debt Management Plan, management fee and period.
5. Details of Payments
5.1You will pay us the Initial Fee and Monthly Payments in line with your Debt Management Programme.
5.2 The Initial Fee is a payment to Us which We charge to set up your Debt Management Programme and begin negotiations with your Creditors and is not paid to your Creditors. The Initial Fee is not refundable save in accordance with 2.3. The Initial Fee covers the cost of setting Your plan up and includes the initial assessment of Your financial situation, carrying out a fact find of Your Income and Expenditure, preparing Your Financial Statement and providing this to Your creditors along with an offer of payment. The Initial Fee is equivalent to 2.25 times your Monthly Payment and will be collected by Us as follows:
Month 1 – 100% retained
Month 2 – 75% retained and 25% distributed to your creditors Pro-Rata
Month 3 – 50% retained and 50% distributed to your creditors Pro-Rata
As none of Your first monthly payment will be going to Your creditors You may fall into arrears if You have not already done so.
5.3 All payments We receive from You in Cleared Funds will be paid directly into our Client Account which is separate to our Business Accounts. The only payments We will make out of this account are the payment of the Monthly Repayments to your Creditors, the payment of our Monthly/Management Fees and any other payments agreed with you.
5.4 Your Monthly Repayments will normally be distributed to your Creditors within 5 working days of receipt of your Monthly Payment in Cleared Funds. If there is a delay in this due to circumstances which are within our control then We will make good any additional interest which has accrued and any default charges your Creditor have charged due to the delay.
5.5 Where We are unable to make payment within 5 working days of receipt, or where a payment is returned to Us by a Creditor, We will make the payment at the next earliest opportunity. If You send less than the agreed monthly payment to Us We will either be unable to make a payment to Your creditors or will make a partial payment based on the reduced amount You have sent. If We are unable to make a payment to Your creditors, the monies will be held on Your behalf until the correct monies have been received. If You send more than the agreed monthly payment, We will either pay Your Creditors the agreed monthly amount only, or pay them the higher amount You have sent. If We send the agreed amount only, then any monies remaining will be held on Your behalf and discussed with You when We have the opportunity to do so.
5.6 We will waive the fees for the final six months of the Debt Management Programme providing that: You have never missed a payment to the Debt Management Programme You have never been late making a monthly payment to the Debt Management Programme You have complied with all the standard terms of business .
5.7 We reserve the right to increase Your fees at any time. You will be informed in writing no less than 28 days before Your next payment. We will not increase Your fees if Your plan has not run for a complete 6 months. We will not increase Your fees if the payment to Your creditors would be below their agreed minimum requirements. If We increase our Fees, You will have the option to increase Your payment accordingly or have the amounts to Your Creditors reduced. If You do not accept the increase You can terminate the Agreement without serving the 2 Week’s notice required under 6.2 and without incurring any additional fees.
5.8 Where a Full and Final Settlement is negotiated with Your Creditors the fee will be a maximum of 30% of the saving You make as a result of the settlement.
6. Ending the Agreement
6.1 You have the right to cancel this agreement as set out in 2.3.
6.2 You may also cancel this agreement at any time after the 14 day cooling off period by giving us 2 weeks written notice to the address above. We reserve the right to retain the Initial Fee in this instance.
6.3 We retain the right to terminate this Agreement by giving you 2 weeks written notice if any of the following happen:
a) ) You are in breach of this Agreement and do not remedy that breach within 7 days of us bringing it to your attention;
b) You fail to make 2 successive payments on your account; if you subsequently wish to restart your plan we will charge you a reconnection fee equivalent to your monthly payment.
c) You enter into an IVA/Trust Deedd
d) A bankruptcy petition is filed against you;
e) We are prevented from or hindered from performing our obligations under this Agreement by reasons of events outside our control.
6.4When this Agreement ends all duties and obligations under this Agreement owed by You to Us and Us to You will come to an end. If there are any outstanding balances owed to your Creditors over and above the Monthly Repayments made to them under the Debt Management Programme or any monies owing to Us you will remain liable for them.
6.5 If there are any cleared funds held on your account once this Agreement ends we will contact you to arrange to return them to you less our Fee. If the funds remain unclaimed after 14 days following the end of the Agreement we reserve the right to charge a termination fee to cover the cost of the work done informing your creditors that we are no longer authorised to deal with them on your behalf.
7. Data Protection
7.1 Personal Information about You will be collected by Us both directly from You and also from your Creditors as authorised by your Declaration Authority to Act form. Further information may also be collected by Us as a result of managing your Debt Management Programme.
7.2 We will use your personal information so that We can provide our services to You. We may also use your personal information to provide You with details of other products and services We feel might be of interest to You, including those offered by select third parties. We may share your name and address, mobile phone and email details with these third parties so that they may contact You directly about these products and services. Other than that your personal information will only be disclosed to the extent required by Law or to any company or other entity We transfer or subcontract any of our obligations to You under this Agreement.
7.3 If You do not wish Us to use or disclose your personal information as set out in 7.2 You may let Us know by writing to Us at the above address. If at any time You require a copy of the personal information We hold about You We will charge You a fee of £10.00. You can request this information by writing to Us at the above address.
8. Other Terms of Business
8.1 Our Tell a Friend promotion will work as follows:
a) We will send You a cheque for £75.00 as soon as We receive the first full monthly payment in Cleared Funds from anyone You recommend to Us, provided that We have also received your first full monthly payment in Cleared Funds.
b) A cheque will be made payable to You and sent to the address We hold for You unless You request otherwise by writing to us at the above address or contacting Us by telephone on 0845 241 7676.
8.2 In the unlikely event you are unhappy with any aspect of our service you may request a copy of our complaints procedure or alternatively it can be found on our website:
www.personaldebthelpline.co.uk/complaints.
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