We wish to make our service as clear and transparent as possible so we have created terms and conditions which we hope are simple to understand and avoid unnecessary legal-speak wherever possible. Please make sure you read through these carefully and if you do have any questions relating to them, our staff are available to answer them on 0845 05 05 329.
In Control Debt Solutions Ltd Terms and Conditions
1 ABOUT YOUR AGREEMENT WITH US
1.1 In these Terms and Conditions we refer to In Control Debt Solutions Ltd Limited as “us”, “we” or “our” and we refer to you as “you” and “your”. If you are entering into this agreement with your spouse or partner, such references are to you jointly.
1.2 The following terms have the following meanings:
“Agreement” means the following documents: the Terms and Conditions; your completed Income and Expenditure Form; your completed Creditor Commitment Form; your completed and signed Letter of Authority; your Welcome Letter; the Monthly Payment Plan; and our Privacy Policy;
“Cleared Funds” means: (a) any cash, postal order or banker’s draft made payable to us which we have received and know came from you; (b) any moneys that electronically transferred transfer into our bank account or into the Client Account which we know came from you and which have not been returned unpaid; or (c) any cheque received and banked by us either where we have not within 21 days received notice that the cheque has been returned unpaid;
“Client Account” the account with our bank into which your Monthly Payments will be paid for distribution to your Creditors after deduction of our Management Fee;
“Cooling-off Period” a 14 day period during which you can cancel this Agreement which starts on the day after we receive your signed Letter of Authority. This period excludes weekends and public holidays. You may cancel during the cooling off period without being liable for the Instruction Fee
“Costs and Benefits Illustration” means the illustration of the costs and benefits of the Service including, without limitation, details of the Instruction Fee, the Monthly Payment and Management Fee, the likely total fees under the Agreement and the likely duration of the Agreement, as set out in the Welcome Letter and as subsequently replaced by the illustration in each version of the Monthly Payment Plan;
“Annual Statement” means a statement sent to you during the review process which includes, without limitation, details of total debt outstanding, total fees paid, estimated term remaining and estimated fees payable
“Creditors” means the companies, organisations and/or people that you have told us that you owe money to and who are referred to in the Monthly Payment Plan;
“Disposable Income” means that amount of money that you say that you have available after the payment of priority debts as set out in Condition 7.1 (whether you tell us this in your Income and Expenditure Form or subsequently if it changes);
“Income and Expenditure Form” means the form completed by you (or by us on your instructions) setting out details of your income and expenditure that you provided during the application process;
“Instruction Fee” means the £195 fee payable by you which covers the front-end work in setting up your DMP The Instruction Fee will be spread over a minimum period of 6 months at the start of your plan (for example 6 payments of £32.50 or 12 payments of £16.25) and will be taken from your Monthly Payment during these months. This will be agreed with you.
“Letter of Authority” means the form that is sent to you for your signature which authorises us to act on your behalf on the terms of this Agreement;
“Management Fee” means the monthly management fee due to us for the Service which will be £36.00 per month and taken from your Monthly Payment.
“Monthly Payment” means the monthly payment that is due from you to us in accordance with your Monthly Payment Plan comprising the amount that we will use to pay your Creditors together with our Management Fee and which will be calculated by us based on your Disposable Income;
“Monthly Payment Plan” means the plan of monthly repayments by which you are able to repay your Creditors out of your Disposable Income, as may be varied from time to time by us in providing the Service to you based on the information you provide to us:
“Privacy Policy” means our latest policy stating how we collect and use your personal information. You can find our Privacy Policy on our website by visiting www.getbackincontrol.co.uk.
“Service” means the debt management service as further described in Condition 6;
“Terms and Conditions” means this document;
“Welcome Letter” means the welcome letter sent to you inclosing these Terms and Conditions and a Costs and Benefits Illustration;
“Working Day” means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in the United Kingdom. “Token Payment” means a payment issued to your Creditors by Us which is lower than the agreed Monthly Payment.
2 HOW TO CONTACT US
If you need to contact us, you can call us on 0845 05 05 329. Calls from a landline will be charged at national rates. Calls from a mobile may vary and will be charged at your provider’s rates. Please be aware that your calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes. You can also email us at enquiries@getbackincontrol.co.uk or write to us at 11-15 Dix’s Field, Exeter, EX1 1QA.
3 WHEN THIS AGREEMENT STARTS
3.1 The Agreement between you and us will start following a 14 day cooling-off period. The 14 day cooling-off period starts on the day after we receive the signed and completed Letter of Authority from you. The 14 days are exclusive of weekends and bank holidays.
3.2 Once this Agreement starts you will be liable to pay the £195 Instruction Fee if you have not paid it already. We may cancel this Agreement under Condition 11.2 if you fail to pay the Instruction Fee.
3.3 This Agreement will continue until the earlier of: (a) completion of the Monthly Repayment Plan; (b) you ending the agreement under Condition 4; or (c) us ending the Agreement under Conditions 10 or 11.
4 WHAT IF I CHANGE MY MIND AFTER THIS AGREEMENT STARTS?
4.1 You can cancel this Agreement by contacting us in writing or by telephone using the details set out in Condition 2 at any time during the “cooling-off period” which starts on the day after we receive the signed and completed Letter of Authority and ends 14 days after (“Cooling-off Period”). If you cancel the Agreement during the Cooling-off Period, we will refund, in full, all moneys that you have paid us up to that date (including the Instruction Fee).
4.2 You may also cancel this Agreement at any time after the Cooling-off Period by giving us at least 30 days’ written notice to the address set out in Condition 2 stating that you wish to cancel your Agreement. If two persons have entered into this Agreement jointly, both must sign the notice of termination. Please note that if you decide to cancel this Agreement after the Cooling-off Period, this Agreement will be at an end and you will not be entitled to any refund of the Instruction Fee or the Management Fee that you have already paid. If you cancel this agreement before you have paid the full Instruction Fee of £195, you will still be liable to pay this. You will be entitled to a refund of any part of the Monthly Payments that have not already been paid to your Creditors, providing you have paid your Instruction Fee in full.
5 WHAT DO I HAVE TO PAY?
5.1 You will make a Monthly Payment on or before your plan due date equal to your disposable income as agreed during our financial assessment with you.
5.2 To start with, your monthly payments will be paid to your creditors minus the Instruction Fee instalment and Monthly Management Fee. Once you have paid your full £195 Instruction Fee (for example 6 payments of £32.50), your monthly payments will be paid to your creditors minus the Management Fee.
5.3 When you start your Monthly Payment Plan you may fall behind (or fall further behind) with your Creditors. Unless your Creditors agree to reduce or freeze interest, late payment charges, administrative charges and any other charges, this will lead to an increase in the total amount of debt you will have to repay to your Creditors. Also, this may affect your credit rating and you may find it difficult to get further credit until you complete your Monthly Payment Plan, and even after that time.
5.4 Because we issue monthly payments to your Creditors after receiving the first Monthly Payment from you in Cleared Funds, the date that we make payment to your Creditors may not match the due date on which you are contractually obliged to make payments to your Creditors. We cannot guarantee that your Creditors will not charge you interest, additional interest, late payment charges, administrative charges and any other charges as a result of this or that they will not take legal action.
5.5 if you fail to make a Monthly Payment or are late making a Monthly Payment, your creditors may charge you additional interest, late payment charges, administrative charges, any other charges or they make take legal action against you.
6 WHAT WE WILL DO FOR YOU
6.1 Your Welcome Letter will contain a Costs and Benefits Illustration. The details in the Costs and Benefits Illustration are based solely on the information provided during the application process. If the total fees differ significantly from the initial estimate provided within the Welcome Letter (for example if balances are confirmed to be much higher) then a new Costs and Benefits Illustration will be provided to you. A refund will be allowed where the total fees paid differ significantly from the estimate.
6.2 After this Agreement starts, we will liaise with you and your Creditors as necessary so that we can provide the Service to you in respect of the unsecured debts and arrears which we confirm that are covered by us which may include, for example, personal loans, credit cards, overdrafts, catalogue debts and store cards but which does not include the types of debt specified in Condition 7.1. We will then send you a Monthly Payment Plan which will include a Costs and Benefits Illustration confirming details of the Instruction Fee, the Monthly Payment, our Management Fee, the likely total fees under this Agreement and the likely duration of the Agreement. You are entitled to cancel this Agreement pursuant to Condition 4.1 if, when you are told of the likely total fees under the Agreement, you decide the Service is unsuitable for you.
6.3 We will hold all monies sent to us for distribution to Creditors on trust for you in the Client Account. This is a non-interest bearing account which means that deposits will not attract interest. If we were to go insolvent, all monies in the Client Account would be distributed to our clients in line with their respective contributions.
6.4 Once we have received the Monthly Payment from you in Cleared Funds into the Client Account we will;
- a) issue payments to your Creditors, within five Working Days of receiving Cleared Funds from you.
- b) transfer the management fee owed under this agreement into our business account
If we have not issued these funds to your Creditors within this timescale, we will take all reasonable steps to contact you and let you know what has happened and the reason for the delay. If payments are made weekly or fortnightly, we will hold your funds in the client account until your full agreed monthly payment is reached. Should you fail to make your full payment by its due date, we will inform your creditors within 30 days of this.
6.5 If in any month you pay us an amount which is less than the Monthly Payment (inclusive of the Management Fee) as set out in your Monthly Payment Plan, we may not issue payments to your Creditors as described in Condition 6.4 if these payments would be below the amounts normally accepted by your Creditors. Under these circumstances, we may distribute a token payment to your creditors if this is in your interest to do so.
6.6 If any funds we have issued to your creditors are returned to us, we will redistribute these funds on your behalf either as one off distribution or in addition to the next monthly disbursal. No extra fee will be charged in this event.
6.7 So that we can issue payment for you to your Creditors, we will inform them of your financial circumstances and our involvement.
6.8 We will ask your Creditors to accept revised payments for the debt, or debts, that you owe as described in the Monthly Payment Plan and to reduce or freeze interest, interest, late payment charges, administrative charges and/or any other charges (where appropriate) or to suspend or withdraw any legal proceedings which are related to your debts with them.
6.9 We will send you a monthly update showing that the Monthly Payment has been issued to your creditors and (as far as possible from the information we have received and if applicable) any changes to the Monthly Payment Plan, including (as appropriate and without limitation) any changes to the Monthly Payment, the monthly Management Fee, the likely total fees under this Agreement and the likely duration of the Agreement.
6.10 We will contact you to review your Monthly Payment Plan every 12 months from the agreement start date. We will review whether the information we hold in relation to your circumstances is up to date, provide you with an annual statement, try and identify how you may be able to pay off your debts more quickly and, if appropriate, we will send you an updated Monthly Payment Plan. If we are unable to carry out a review with you, for example if you do not respond to our requests to carry out a review, we will inform your creditors that we have been unable to carry out the annual review and will continue the payment plan. Unless we are able to carry out an Annual Review, we may have to cancel the agreement under term 11.2 (c).
6.11 We will contact you every 6 months to provide you with up to date balances of your debts.
6.12 If your circumstances change and you request us to by contacting us on the details set out in Condition 2, we will also review your current Monthly Payment Plan before your next annual review under Condition 6.10. Any such review shall be conducted on the same basis as set out in Condition 6.10.
6.13 We will keep you informed if there are any material changes with the arrangements we have set with your creditors.
7 WHAT WE WILL NOT DO FOR YOU
7.1 We do not provide the Services in respect of certain forms of debt. This includes, without limitation, rent or mortgage payments, loans secured against your real or personal property, council tax and utilities payments such as gas, electricity, water, broadband and telephone bills. You must continue to make these payments yourself and priority should be given to these payments because of the serious consequences of not maintaining regular payments towards these debts. Provided that you give us the information about these payments, we will take the payments into account when we work out your Disposable Income in the Monthly Payment Plan.
7.2 We do not lend you money or give you credit facilities.
7.3 We will not issue payment to your Creditors until we have received your Monthly Payment in Cleared Funds from you.
7.4 We do not give you legal advice. If you are subject to or are likely to be subject to enforcement proceedings from your Creditors we strongly recommend that you seek legal advice.
7.5 While we will try to persuade Creditors to reduce or freeze interest, late payment charges, administrative charges and any other charges, we cannot prevent your Creditors from continuing to make such charges, which may result in an increase in the total debt you have to repay and, consequently, may result in an increase in the period over which you can repay them under your Monthly Payment Plan.
7.6 While we will try to make sure that your Creditors suspend or withdraw any legal proceedings, we cannot stop your Creditors sending you default notices or taking or continuing with legal action to recover your debts with them. If your Creditors take or continue with any such action, you may have to pay costs which they will add to your debts and this may result in an increase in the period over which you can repay them under your Monthly Payment Plan.
7.7 Unless you let us know about a change in your financial position or circumstances, we will only consider whether changing your Monthly Payment Plan would be in your interest when we review your monthly payment plan as set out in Conditions 6.9 and 6.10.
7.8 We will not charge Instruction fees or management fees or a combination of both at a level exceeding 50% of your Monthly Payment.
8 WHAT YOU WILL DO
8.1 You must co-operate with us to ensure the Monthly Payment Plan reflects your financial position.
8.2 You will give us any information that we reasonably request relating to your financial circumstances during the setting up of your payment plan and during the review process. This will include, but not be limited to, current payslips, identification, bank statements, other evidence of your income, your expenses, any dependants, your assets, details of your Creditors and the agreements you have with them, any mortgages or other secured loans, copies of any judgments against you and details of any pending or ongoing enforcement actions against you.
8.3 You will ensure that all information that you provide us with is, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and not misleading.
8.4 You will inform us as soon as possible if your circumstances change in a way which might affect your Disposable Income or the viability of your Monthly Payment Plan.
8.5 You should not ignore correspondence or other contact from your Creditors or those acting on behalf of them. You will promptly forward copies of any correspondence with or from your Creditors and tell us if you make any payments directly to your Creditors or if you contact Creditors directly. Any direct contact you have with Creditors (unless requested by us) may prevent or hinder us in providing the Services to you.
8.6 You will make the payments required by the Monthly Payment Plan in full and promptly and you will continue making such payments until you have repaid all your Creditors covered by the Monthly Payment Plan in full using our Service (including all interest, late payment charges, administrative charges and any other charges due to your Creditors) or until this Agreement is cancelled.
8.7 In so far as is reasonably possible: (a) you will not spend any money over and above your reasonable living expenses as described in your Monthly Payment Plan; (b) you will not continue to use any existing credit facility (including, without limitation, any credit cards, charge cards or overdrafts); and (c) you will not apply for any further credit from any source.
8.8 You will sign any necessary forms of authority or other documents to enable us to carry out our obligations under this Agreement.
8.9 You will agree to any reasonable and necessary changes to the Monthly Payment Plan that we propose in accordance with Conditions 6.9 and 6.10 and, if you do not agree that such changes are reasonable and necessary, you will tell us why.
9 AUTHORISATION
By signing the Letter of Authority, you: (a) authorise us to act on your behalf in relation to dealings with your Creditors; (b) authorise us to liaise and exchange your personal information with your Creditors or their authorised agents on your behalf; (c) authorise us to use the Monthly Payment to issue payments to your Creditors as described in the Monthly Payment Plan; (d) confirm that none of the debts you have instructed us to deal with are secured.
10 EVENTS BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL
We are not responsible for events beyond our reasonable control. Such events might include network failures, war, terrorist activity, riots, malicious damage, fire, flood, storm, nuclear accident or compliance with any new law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction. We may suspend or cancel the Agreement if, despite trying to do so, we are not able to provide it to you as a result of events beyond our reasonable control. Condition 12 will apply in the event of any such cancellation.
11 OUR RIGHTS TO CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT
11.1 We may cancel this Agreement at any time by giving you at least 30 days’ notice.
11.2 We may (but are not obliged to) cancel this Agreement immediately by notice to you if:
a) you fail to pay in full the Instruction Fee within twelve months of the start of this Agreement;
b) you fail to pay make any Monthly Payment;
c) you breach a material term of this Agreement being any of Condition 8 (What you will do);
d) we find you have given us false information or acted fraudulently;
e) if you or, if this Agreement has been entered into jointly by two persons, one of you:
(i) enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement;
(ii) have a petition of bankruptcy petition issued against you;
(iii) are adjudicated bankrupt; or
(iv) dies.
12 WHAT HAPPENS IF THE AGREEMENT IS CANCELLED?
When this Agreement ends, your and our respective duties will come to an end. We will return any money that we may be holding for you in the Client Account less any Management or Instruction fee due to us.
13 WHAT RIGHTS AND REMEDIES WILL YOU HAVE AGAINST US?
13.1 We do not exclude or limit our liability for fraud or for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence.
13.2 Your statutory rights (which include, for example, that we will provide the Service to a reasonable standard and within a reasonable time) are not affected by anything in this Agreement. For more information about your statutory rights, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.
13.3 Save for the types of liability which we will not limit or exclude as set out in Conditions 13.1 and 13.2 and unless otherwise agreed in writing, we limit our total aggregate liability to you under this Agreement in any year to a maximum of £10,000 and we will not be liable under this Agreement for any damage or loss that could not have been reasonably expected by you and us at the time of entering into this Agreement, any financial loss (including any loss of income, business or profits, but excluding the fees and Monthly Payments payable under this Agreement) or for any damage or loss suffered or incurred by you as a result of any use of the Service in breach of this Agreement.
14 YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
14.1 We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. The storage and use of personal details that we hold about you is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. We take your privacy very seriously and the personal information which you provide to us will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and our Privacy Policy.
14.2 By asking us to provide the Services to you, you consent to allow us and our carefully chosen suppliers, advisers and sub-contractors to use your personal details in order to provide the Services to you and also to monitor, develop and improve our Services including the computer and software systems used to provide those Services. We will also pass on your personal information to your Creditors as is required for the purposes of performing our obligations under this Agreement.
15 CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT
We may change the Service, the Management Fee and/or this Agreement at any time. We will publish any changes on our Website. If we believe you will be caused significant disadvantage by any change we will notify you of that change at least 40 days before it takes effect. We may do this by publishing the change on our Website, by giving you written notice by post or by email, or by sending a message with your monthly client log. If we cannot publish the change at least 40 days before it takes effect (for example because of regulatory change at short notice), we will publish the change as soon as we reasonably can. If you are caused significant disadvantage by any change, you may cancel the Agreement under Condition 4.2.
16 COMPLAINTS
If at any time you are not happy with the Service that we have given you, please contact us using the details at Condition 2. We have a written complaints procedure; it can be read online at www.getbackincontrol.co.uk or by requesting it directly from us using the contact details at Condition 2. You may also refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you remain unhappy with how we have handled your complaint at: Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183, Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR. The Ombudsman can also be contacted by telephone at 0845 080 1800.
17 OTHER MATTERS
17.1 We may wish to transfer our rights or obligations under this Agreement to someone else. You agree that we may do so provided that the transfer does not affect your rights or otherwise significantly disadvantage you and after we notify you of the date of the transfer, your only rights under or in connection with this Agreement will be against that other person and not us.
17.2 If any court or other competent authority finds any of the terms of this Agreement to be invalid or unenforceable, the other terms of this Agreement will not be affected.
17.3 This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties in relation to the subject matter covered by this Agreement and it supersedes any previous agreement or understanding between you and us relating to its subject matter. The Agreement can only be varied by us in accordance with Condition 15 or by you and us by written agreement.
17.4 This Agreement is governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales (or the laws of Scotland if you live there). Any dispute in connection with this Agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales unless you choose the courts of your home in Scotland or Northern Ireland.