Terms & Conditions

1.1 Definitions of terms

‘You’ – The person signing the client representation authority
‘Us’ – Community Law Service (Northampton and County) Registered office: 49-53 Hazelwood Road, Northampton, NN1 1LG. Licensed by the Office of Fair Trading under Consumer Credit License Number: 641362/1.
‘Creditors’ – Any and all of the unsecured creditors whose details You have provided Us in accordance with section 4.2
‘Debt Management Plan’ A plan of repayments produced by Us in accordance with section 4.2
‘Period’ – The period during which the Debt Management Plan is in operation
‘Fees’ – The fees to be paid by you to us in accordance with the Debt Management Plan.

2. Agreement

2.1. Upon your agreement to instruct us, a Financial Statement, List of Creditors, Income and Expenditure schedule, Terms and Conditions, Authority to Act, Complaints procedure and the fee structure will all be signed, witnessed and dated by the customer.

3. Your responsibilities


3.1 You will provide to us on request with information relating to your finances. This will include but will not be limited to details of your income and expenditure, your creditors and any agreements you have with them, any loans or mortgages you have, your dependants and any 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 pass copies of all correspondence from your creditors to us and keep us informed of any dealings you have with any creditors, whether we are negotiating with them or not. All correspondence that is passed to us will be securely destroyed for the purpose of data protection, we will at all times be able to provide copies of the correspondence from your creditors that you have provided to us. 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 or incur further debts.
3.4 You will consult with us in relation to your Debt Management Programme of repayments and in relation to any alterations to it or reviews of it. Your payments to us will need to be amended to refl ect 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, HP agreement, credit card or any other form of credit.
3.7 If you do not maintain regular payments we will suspend any action and payments on your plan.  Your creditors may have to be informed that payments are not being maintained. This may result in your creditors continuing legal action for which we cannot be held responsible.
3.8 You remain responsible for continuing to pay any secured loans, mortgages or hire purchase agreements and all household bills (including insurances).

4. Our responsibilities

4.1 We will review your finances, covering your income, expenditure, debts and assets. We will calculate your disposable income based on reasonable living expenses.
4.2 In consultation with you, we will produce a Debt Management Plan by which you can pay all of your unsecured credit out of your disposable income at rates you can afford. The Debt Management Plan will allow you to make one monthly payment to us and will take into account all of your creditors and our fees.
4.3 We will negotiate with your creditors and will attempt to agree repayment terms with them of the amounts outstanding.  In doing so we will use the Debt Management Plan and we shall ensure that the periodic payment that we agree with them will not exceed your disposable income (minus our fee) as calculated by us for the same period
4.4 We shall attempt to agree with your creditors, where appropriate that they freeze or reduce their interest charges and they will suspend or withdraw enforcement proceedings issued in connection with your agreements with them. In rare instances county court proceedings may still be actioned against you. In these cases we will assist in completion of all the relevant paperwork as required. We cannot guarantee to stop legal action by your creditors
4.5 Payments will be made to your creditors in accordance with the debt management plan
4.6 The payments made to your creditors will be reflected in the statements you will receive from them. A full break down of payments we have made can be obtained on request. On all creditors accepting the offers of repayment we will issue you with a break down of these. In addition we will issue monthly statements showing all payments and receipts on your account.
4.7 Should your circumstances change during the period, we shall, in consultation with you, review the Debt Management Plan and make any changes as necessary.
4.8 From time to time, your creditors will request an update of your financial situation. We will, where necessary action this request on your behalf.  We will review your situation every 6 months from the first payment into your Debt Management Plan.
4.9 During the negotiation process some creditors may continue  to charge interest and other recovery charges. We cannot always prevent these charges being applied. They will be paid off as part of your Debt Management Plan.
4.10 We can only provide advice on the services that we offer
4.11 We take any complaints seriously.  Any complaints should be made in accordance with our complaints procedure provided to you at the outset of the case, further copies are available on request.
4.12 Financial services complaints that we cannot settle may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR 08450801800 or 03001239123; www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk; email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Please ask us about the areas of our business covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service

5. How we will be paid.

5.1 Payments are made in accordance with our fee structure provided to you at the outset of your case, a further copy of this is available on request.

6. Termination of the agreement

6.1 On receipt of your first payment, we will issue you with a Client Care Letter explaining what happens next. You can cancel your contract at any time up to 7 working days from the date of this letter. To do this, please email us or write to us. You do not have to give any reason for cancellation. However, a brief explanation will allow us to improve the service we offer to customers in the future.
6.2 After your seven days cooling off period, you may end this agreement by giving us four weeks notice in writing
6.3 We may end this agreement by giving you four weeks notice in writing if any one of the following things happens:
i) You breach this agreement and do not remedy the breach within seven days of our bringing the breach to your attention;
ii) A bankruptcy petition is issued against you;
iii) You enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement / Trust Deed;
iv) Where the information provided to us is knowingly incorrect;
v) The Information provided by you at the time of acquiring a loan (HP agreement, credit cards or any other form of credit) is deemed incorrect or fraudulent by any creditor; or
vi) If we are affected by Force Majeure.
6.4 When this Agreement ends:
i) Our duties and obligations under his Agreement will come to an end;
ii) 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 by Us.

7. Data Protection Statement

7.1 Please read this statement carefully as it explains what personal information we collect about you and how we use this information.
7.2 We collect personal information about you both directly and when you apply for our services, and from you creditors as authorised by you on our Client Authority Form. We may also collect further information as a result of managing your Debt Management Plan.
7.3 We will use your personal information to provide our services to you, and in particular:
i) prepare and issue to you your Debt Management Plan;
ii) negotiate with your creditors on your behalf. And;
iii) keep you informed about your Debt Management Plan and our services
7.4 Other than as set out above, we will only disclose your personal information to the extent required by law, court order or as requested by other government or law enforcement authorities, or to any company or other entity to whom we either transfer or subcontract any or all of our obligations to you under this Agreement.
7.5 You may contact our Data Protection Offi cer in writing at any time at the address given below for further information or if you want to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you or ask us to amend any inaccurate information held by us. If you request a copy of personal information which we hold about you, we will charge you a fee of £10. This will be sent to you within 21 days of receiving cleared payment of the charge.