Debt Free Management, Terms and Conditions of Business
Important Notice
These Terms and Conditions explain our obligations to you and yours to us.
Definition of Terms
"Agreement" means the agreement between you and us made mainly on these terms and conditions of business.
"Creditors" means any and all of your unsecured creditors whose details you will provide us with in accordance with section 3.
"Debt Management Programme" means the plan of repayments by which you repay your Creditors through us (as may be revised from time to time)
"The Fees" means the fees to be paid by the client to the company in accordance with clause 4 for the provisions of the service.
"Monthly Payment" means the total amount which is paid every month by you to us throughout the period. Apart from Initial Fee, this is made up of the Monthly Repayment to be made to your creditors, our Monthly Fee and any other payments as instructed or agreed with you.
"Monthly Repayment" means the part of the Monthly Payment to be paid by us on your behalf to your Creditors.
"Period" means the period during which the Debt Management Programme will operate.
"Services" means the services we agree to provide you with under this agreement.
"Terms of Business" means these terms and conditions of business.
"us" and "we" means Debt Free Management, whose registered address is Hanover House, 1 Tabley Court, Victoria Street, Altrincham WA14 1EZ or anyone to whom we transfer our obligations and rights under this agreement.
"you" means you, whose name is recorded overleaf (and your partner where any of the debts are in joint names).
1. Appointment and Period
1.1 You appoint us and we agree to provide the Services (as defined below)
1.2 This Agreement will commence when you confirm the acceptance of these Terms of Business either by telephone or by returning the completed client authority form enclosed with these Terms of Business or if earlier, the day when we receive the Initial Fee from you in cleared
1.3 This Agreement will continue for the Period unless ended earlier by you as set out in sections 1.4 and 6 or by us as set out in section 7.
1.4 You have a right to cancel this Agreement at any time during the first seven calendar days of the Period. You can do this by writing to us at the address above or by telephone 08702 24 26 25. We will then refund you any fees already paid to us that are cleared funds
2.Services
2.1 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.
2.2 In consultation with you we will produce a Debt Management Programme by which you can pay off your creditors out of your disposable income at rates you can afford. The Debt Management Programme will let you make 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 different Creditors, if there is more than one.
2.3 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 Fees) as calculated by us for the same period.
2.4 We shall attempt to agree with your Creditors, where appropriate, that they freeze interest or reduce their interest charges and that they suspend or withdraw enforcement proceedings issued in connection with your agreements with them.
2.5 We shall make payments to your Creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Programme.
2.6 Should your circumstances change during the period, we shall review the Debt Management Programme and if necessary make changes to it in agreement with you and with any Creditors concerned.
2.7 All payments to us will be made into our client 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 the funds that we hold. At all times funds held for distribution to your Creditors will be classed as client monies.
2.8 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.
2.9 We take any complaint regarding our practices seriously. Any complaints can be sent in writing to Complaints Officer at Debt Free Management, 1 Tabley Court, Victoria Street, Altrincham, WA14 1EZ
3. Your responsibilities
3.1 You will provide to us on request information relating to your finances. This will include, but will not be limited to, details of your income and expenditure, your Creditors and any agreement you have with them, any loans or mortgages you have, your dependents and any other 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.
3.3 You will forward to us copies of all correspondence from your Creditors 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 nor incur further debts during the period.
3.4 You will consult with us in relation to your Debt Management Programme and in relation to any alterations and/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 On occasion your Creditors may not provide us with balances of your accounts due to their own company procedures. If these circumstances arise then you will obtain this information for us and supply us accordingly.
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, hire purchase agreement, credit card or any other form of credit.
3.7 Lack of contact from you will not be considered cancellation of the agreement.
3.8 If you do not maintain regular payments we will suspend any action and payments on your account. Your Creditors 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. Fees
The company will deduct from each monthly payment a fee equal to 17.5% of the monthly repayment figure subject to a minimum fee of £35 or a maximum fee of £125 (in each case exclusive of VAT), or such other monthly figure as it may agree in advance with the client.
To reflect the Company's initial work in establishing the program, the Company will retain a setting up fee equal to twice the value of your calculated discretionary income, plus £70. This is payable over, no longer than, two calendar months.
5. How we handle your money
5.1 All payments that we receive from you in cleared funds will be paid directly into our client account. The only payments which we will make out of out client account are:
(a) payment of our fees;
(b) payment of the Monthly Repayments to your creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Programme; and
(c) any other payments as instructed or agreed with you.
5.2 We will distribute the Monthly Repayments amongst your Creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Programme normally within five working days of receipt of the Monthly Payments from you in cleared funds. If there is a delay in any payment which is not beyond our control, we shall take the appropriate action to put you in the position you would have been in if the payment had been made within five working days in cleared funds and shall make good any additional interest which has accrued and any default charges that have been applied to the account as a result of the delay.
5.3 All full and final settlement monies we receive from you in cleared funds will be paid directly into our client account. We will then negotiate reduce/partial settlements on your behalf. Our fees are charged at 50% of the total saving of your settlements.
6. Your right to terminate
6.1 You have the right to cancel this Agreement under section 1.4
6.2 You may also cancel this Agreement at any time if the total Fees payable under the Debt Management Programme differ significantly from the fees we estimate to you at the commencement of the Agreement provided that this right to cancellation will not be available in the event that such difference in Fees is due to any misrepresentation by you of your finances, including, without limitation, your Creditors. In the event of cancellation under this section 6.2, we reserve the right to retain the Initial Fee.
6.3 In addition to your right to cancel under sections 6.1 and 6.2, you may also end this Agreement at any time by giving us two weeks prior written notice which you may serve at any time whether or not you believe we have been in breach of our obligations under this Agreement. In the event of cancellation under this section 6.3 we reserve the right to retain the Initial Fee
7. Our right to terminate
We may terminate this agreement at any time by giving you two weeks prior written notice if any of the following happens:
(a) You fail to make two successive Monthly Payments; or
(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, make an arrangement or composition with your Creditors generally, or make an application to a court of competent jurisdiction for protection from your creditors generally; or
(d) we are prevented from fulfilling our obligations by reason of force majeure.
8. Effect of Termination
When this Agreement ends:
(a) our duties and obligations under this Agreement will come to an end;
(b) your liability 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 Debt Management Programme; and
(c) you may within 30 days of the end of this Agreement request us to return all paperwork received from you or your Creditors that has been retained by us.
9. Complaints Procedure
A copy of our complaints procedure is available on request and can be found on our website.
10. Changes to our Terms & Conditions
We reserve the right to make changes to our terms & conditions without prior notice.
Online Debt Help is a trading style of Hanover Sterling Financial Management Ltd.