Unenforceable Loan

[Nicholas1]

Hi there,

 

This is my first post. I am currently considering whether to enter in to a no win no fee agreement with a solicitors (in Northhampton) who specialise in financial misselling concerning a personal loan taken out in 2006. Following a check of the agreement I entered into they have offered to act on my behalf to have the agreement declared unenforcable. I woould be interested to know what questions you feel I should be asking of the solicitors in considering whether to instruct them. I would also be interested in peoples experience of where they have taken similar action and what has happened (either win or lose).

 

Thanks for your time.

[car2403]

I'd be asking them why you should pay them to do something you can do yourself, without that cost.

 

If you have the time and the inclination to read some of the success stories on here, you'll see that the job they are asking you to pay them to do is easily achieved without giving them your hard earned cash.

[rory32]

I would also be interested in peoples experience of where they have taken similar action and what has happened (either win or lose).

 

You won't really get peoples experience of using such companies on CAG because the people who use CAG do it all themselves. There is lots of help and advice on this site enabling you to do it all yourself without paying someone to do it for you.

[Josie8]

If it is truly no win no fee and you don't have the confidence to mount the legal argument yourself then thats your decision.

 

However stay clear of the claims companies............

[Nicholas1]

Thank you for your replies. I have spent some time doing searches and reading some of the stories on the site (perhaps not the right ones) and I applaud peoples courage in doing it themselves. I find the idea of taking on a major bank which is now owned bt the Government extremely intimidating in an area that is ultimatly a legal process. I dont have legal training and it feels like doing it myself is entering into a battle with out the right weapons. In saying this I dont wish to denigrate any of the expertise on the Forum.

 

Thanks again

[car2403]

Each to their own, Nicholas.

 

Personally, I won't let the swines get away with it and I prefer not to pay someone for something I can do myself.

 

CAG is here to help those that want to help themselves - if you don't want the hassle, (and it can be hassle, I'll give you that!) I can see why these companies exist.

 

One thing you definately want to know from them, if you do go along with it, is what happens if you lose - you could be open to costs, if they misadvise you, for instance. (Another reason I choose to do it myself... but I'm bias)

[pt2537]

Now there are a lot of companies which offer valuable services to people and if you dont feel confident to deal with this yourself and the deal is right for you then its your call

 

of course you should make sure the deal is right and that you are not going to have to hand over a lump sum of any money claimed

 

that said, we are all here to help;)

[Nicholas1]

Thank you for all your replies and I will let you know what I decide and if and how it progresses.

[a_bx]

I also have been approached by on of these very keen no fee-no win companies.

 

Paying them might depend on the sum of money in dispute, because if its a large amount their fee may be well worth the savings!

 

Also, unenforceability of CCAs exploits the over complex law governing them and learning exactly how this works maybe too risky. If a bank can make 1 small error, so might you?

 

I agree its more satisfying to do yourself though;-)

[car2403]

I also have been approached by on of these very keen no fee-no win companies.

 

Paying them might depend on the sum of money in dispute, because if its a large amount their fee may be well worth the savings!

 

Also, unenforceability of CCAs exploits the over complex law governing them and learning exactly how this works maybe too risky. If a bank can make 1 small error, so might you?

 

I agree its more satisfying to do yourself though;-)

 

Not really - the law actually isn't that complex. What is complex is dicephering the creditors reply that tells you the agreement is enforceable and then applying the simple law to that response. Usually this results in an "sorry, creditor, but you're wrong, see you in Court, so there" letter being sent - it's this letter that gives the most satisfaction.

[andrew1]

The trouble is that the loan companies won't just sit back and admit their agreement is unenforceable and there are many reasons why an agreement might be unenforceable, that's where the knowledge comes in handy from some of these solicitors so long as they know what they are doing. As Josie says though, there are many of these companies out there who act as 'claims companies' and I spoke to one fellow after getting one of these automated telephone calls telling me what they could do. Once I'd been put through to a 'specialist' and gave him 5 minutes of my time just to suss out what they actually know and if we on CAG are missing anything I realised how duff they were. The chap I spoke to didn't have a clue by comparison with what can be gleaned from here.

One must never forget that if one is taking legal routes and you end up in court, doing it on your own can be very costly if a) you don't get it right and b) if you lose. Get proper legal advice if you have any doubts at all.