Warnings Issued About Claims Management Companies (Graham Hill)

Monday, 15. February 2010

There has been an upsurge in companies known as claims management companies who claim to rid you of credit card and loan debt by claiming that contracts are ‘unenforceable’. In an investigation the BBC found that some firms were claiming very high success rates as high as 93% but when pushed could not provide evidence of anything like that. They were also accused of using misleading statements by claiming that there was no risk to the applicant’s credit rating, which is clearly untrue. One company, Beneficial Claims, charges an upfront fee of £245 with others charging up to £500. Whilst it is possible for you to extract yourself from credit card and loan debt as a result of poorly written and non compliant contracts your credit rating could be badly affected with some lenders and credit card companies unwilling to deal with you again. This should be something you do as a last resort rather than simply a method of writing off all the money that you genuinely owe. Does that sound as though I’m defending the banks? Must be going soft in my old age! By Graham Hill