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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 Read more »

The Treasury Select Committee has questioned whether individuals should be charged for copies of their credit report. At the moment it costs £2 or you can obtain a copy for free but it requires you to apply online to one of the credit reference agencies, provide credit card details as though you were going to pay monthly for anytime access, then cancel as soon as you’ve downloaded your current report, Read more »

For those that like to own their vehicles and have a penchant for hire purchase there is some good news, you can now receive treatment for this condition, known as ‘bonkers’, on the NHS. OK serious stuff. I reported last year that the EU had issued a directive that meant that, amongst other things, the ability to voluntarily terminate your agreement once 50% of the full cost has been repaid would no longer apply to Read more »

Cleaning up your credit file has never been more important. Less money is available to lend which means that you really must make sure that you have no errors on your file and anything that can be corrected is corrected before you apply for finance. Even using a bad broker, who makes multiple applications to several finance companies, using your single finance application, can cause you to have your credit Read more »

When a driver takes out a fully comprehensive insurance policy he is probably aware that when the policy states that he is insured to drive any vehicle provided he has the owner’s permission he is usually only covered for the basic requirements under the Road Traffic Act 1988, ie. cover against third party only. However, few are aware that this cover does not extend to named drivers, they are only insured to drive the car on which they have named driver cover. Check your policy carefully before driving any vehicle. By Graham Hill

As we know credit has been harder to arrange of late with some vehicle finance funders down to around a 20% acceptance rate. But if you foolishly believed that the situation would ease this year, considering the fact that bankers are again paying themselves some massive bonuses, you would be wrong! You see years ago credit card companies were credit card companies and leasing companies were either part Read more »

It’s your last call for PCP’s if you are to benefit from the 15% VAT. If you take out a contract before 31^st December the price paid for the car by the leasing company will include VAT at just 15% with your repayments remaining fixed for the contract term. After the 1^st January VAT returns to 17.5% so if you are thinking about changing your car you could save yourself some money by doing it sooner rather than later. By Graham Hill

There has been a surge in companies offering services that will help you to legally get you out of HP agreements and personal loans. One strategy has been to request a copy of your agreement and a statement of your account. In certain circumstances if the lender fails to provide you with either piece of information, in the past, under section 61 and 127 of the Consumer Credit Act, the contract was deemed Read more »

Brokers don’t work for the leasing companies, they actually work for their clients, in the same way as an accountant or a solicitor does but without the need for a qualification, just a Consumer Credit Licence, which can be obtained fairly easily if the program about loan sharks aired by BBC’s Panorama is anything to go by. When I started as a broker, many years ago, the situation was the same, we worked for our Read more »

VAT is about to increase as of 1^st January 2010. This means that there are going to be some very strange things happening between now and the end of the year in order to entice you to part with your dosh well in advance of your new car being delivered. If you are buying a new car for cash, that won’t be delivered until early next year, you may want to pay for the car in December in order to save some of the VAT. It is Read more »