Dispute Resolution

Recently the Court held in the case of McGuffick –v- The Royal Bank of Scotland that the Royal Bank of Scotland was entitled to refer the customer to credit referencing agencies when the customer stopped payments whilst seeking a copy of his Credit Agreement.  In essence the Court held that it was still “fair” for consumers to receive “black marks” on their credit ratings if they do not maintain regular payments until the debt under the agreement has either been successfully written off or the Court has ruled that it is irredeemably unenforceable.

Daven Naghen commented on the case that “If you still wish to obtain a copy of your Credit Agreement, and challenge whether or not it is in accordance with the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act then you can continue to do so.  It simply means that in most cases that the consumer should continue to make the minimum payments required under the Agreement pending any agreement or ruling to the effect that the Agreement is unenforceable.

The decision of the Court is so far limited.  It does nothing to suggest that the Court might not be intervene in order to prevent the lender referring customers to credit referencing agencies e.g., when this threat is arguably being used coercively, or if such threat were to follow a finding by a Court that a Credit Agreement is irredeemably unenforceable.”

If you have a Credit Card, or have entered into a Loan Agreement then please feel free to contact Daven Naghen who can advise you as to whether or not it is likely that the Agreement is enforceable.

If it is not enforceable, then all remaining sums due under the Credit Card or the Loan Agreement may be written off.