With credit card debts causing such great problems for UK consumers, it's no suprise that many people are looking for all sorts of ways to free themselves from these debts.
The most often encountered ways are the old standbys of debt consolidation and debt management, with possibly an IVA or even bankruptcy as a last resort. Lately, however, there is a new kid on the block when it comes to clearing credit card debts: the legal write off.
The basic idea is to make use of a part of the consumer credit laws that means that unless a credit card agreement abides by a group of rigorous regulations, then it is invalid and therefore cannot be enforced legally. The effective result is that any debts built up under such agreements cannot be collected, and so does not have to be repaid. There are lots of web sites claiming that it is possible to rapidly and easily arrange for your debts to be wiped out in this way, but is this a realistic option?
The first thing to consider is that only credit card agreements drawn up prior to April 2007 have any chance of being declared unenforceable under this method. If this condition is met, there are quite a few reasons why the agreement may be invalidated, including not being signed by both you and the issuer, the true costs of the finance not being clearly expressed, or copies of the original papers not being available on asking for them.
Lawyers specialising in the financial field will examine your credit agreements for you to ascertain if they are all binding. But here lies the gotcha: you usually have to pay a charge before an agent will even look at your case, whether or not you have any prospect at all of having your debts declared unenforceable. If you have a lot of agreements to check, this can work out to be an expensive and possibly useless exercise.
There's also the fact that some less professional suppliers of this service overstate the likelihood of succeeding, which many dispassionate observers say are not as high as they are being portraid.
So what's the upshot? Certainly ask your credit card providers for copies of your agreements and look at them yourself, but before taking any further action talk to a free debt advisor. If you think you might have an illegal credit agreement (see http://www.debtnation.co.uk/illegal-credit-agreements.html for more) then look for a solicitor ready to work on a no win no fee basis, rather than spending money upfront in the mere hope of freeing your self from your debt worries.