FRESH START UK BUSINESS CONDITIONS
Introduction
Fresh Start UK wants you to know we aim to be completely transparent in all our dealings with you and your creditors, hence these Terms of Business explain our obligations to you and yours to us. They are the basis of all dealings we have with each other, so please take time to read them carefully. Any changes to these terms will be brought to your notice in appropriate time.
Definition of terms
“Agreement” means the agreement between You and Us made mainly on these Terms of Business.
“Cleared Funds” means any cash, cheque, postal orders, standing order, direct payment or banker’s drafts made payable to Us which We have received from You.
“Client Authority Form” means the form enclosed with these Terms of Business which We ask You to sign to give Us authority to contact your Creditors and to act on your behalf.
“Creditors” means all of the people or businesses You have told us You owe money to and who are included in your Debt Management Plan.
“Fees” means the Initial Fee and the Monthly Fee payable by You to Us under this Agreement which is set out in your draft Debt Management Plan issued by Us.
“Initial Fee/Setup Fee” means the first full monthly payment to the DMP, subject to a minimum of £100 maximum of £600. This payment is a fee and is for our services and not distributed to your creditors unless agreed as tokens.
“Token” means a token payment made from your Initial Fee to your creditors in order to keep them happy. This payment is typically in between £1 and £5 and will only be paid when necessary and agreed with you.
“Monthly Fee” means the monthly Fee payable for our Services. This is 17.5% of the monthly payment made to us, rounded up to the nearest £ and subject to a minimum of £35 maximum of £100. This payment is not used in distribution to pay your creditors. This fee is subject to an annual increase, all changes will be announced in writing with a minimum of 30 days’ notice.
“Monthly Payment” means the total amount which is paid every month by You to Us throughout the Debt Management Plan. Apart from your first Payment which is the Initial Fee, this is made up of the Monthly Repayment to be made to your Creditors, and our Monthly Fee and any
other payments as instructed or agreed with You.
“Monthly Repayment” means the part of the Monthly Payment to be paid by Us on your behalf to your Creditors.
“Debt Management Plan” means the programme of Monthly Payments by which You repay your Creditors through Us and pay for our Services, prepared by Us based on the information provided by You, as revised from time to time.
“Money back Guarantee” means if for any reason you are unhappy with any part of the services we have provided we will on request, issue a full refund of the last fee paid, whether this was the “Setup Fee” or “Monthly Fee”. The money back guarantee only covers the payment last made and within a period of 40 days from the date of the request being received by us. The offer only covers a single payment and not a period of time or multiple payments made.
“Services” means the services We agree to provide You with under this Agreement.
“Term” means the period running from the start of this Agreement until we stop providing You with Services.
“Terms of Business” means these terms of business.
“Us” and “We” means Fresh Start UK Debt Management, whose registered address is Fresh Start UK, 6 Kings Court, 71/76 Wright Street, Hull, HU2 8JR. Company Registration No 627185 or anyone to whom we transfer our obligations and rights under this Agreement.
“You” means you, the person entering into this Agreement named in the Debt Management Plan.
1. Appointment and Term
1.1 You appoint Us and We agree to act on your behalf, as debt counsellors and debt adjusters and to provide the Services.
1.2 This Agreement will start when You confirm your acceptance of these Terms of Business by returning the signed copy of your letter of authority either by post, email or fax.
1.3 This Agreement will continue for the Term, unless ended earlier by You as set out in sections 7 or by Us as set out in section 8.
1.4 You have a right to cancel our agreement at any time. You can do this by writing to us at the above address, by email to contactus@freshstartltd.co.uk or by telephone on 08009247244 saying you wish to cancel. We will only refund fees if requested
and as per our money back guarantee. We will be unable to refund any payments that have already been forwarded to your creditors.
2. What We will do
2.1 Based upon information provided by You to Us, We will review your income, outgoings and living expenses and discuss with you what you can afford to pay back each month to your creditors.
2.2 Once the Agreement starts and we have carried out the details as in section 2.1 we will notify your Creditors of our involvement and will attempt to agree with them revised payment terms on your behalf. We will in particular attempt to persuade your Creditors, where appropriate, to accept reduced monthly repayments from You, not to charge interest and to either suspend or withdraw any recovery, or
similar, proceedings, which they may already have taken against You or may have threatened to bring against You. We will endeavour to provide as much assistance to You as We can based on our expertise and experience of dealing with creditors.
2.3 Following receipt of the Initial Fee in Cleared Funds We will provide you with a receipt and a full breakdown of the plan, including a list of creditors and their references, balances and payments. We also include the fee we have charge, when you will be debt free based on that information and what you will pay us in fees.
2.4 If your circumstances change and You are unable to meet the payments set out in the Payment Programme, We shall attempt to re-negotiate with your Creditors and arrange with You a revised Debt Management Plan. We will in any event periodically review your situation, normally every twelve months or earlier if your Creditors insist, and We will prepare and issue a revised Debt Management Plan with You and your Creditors if this is appropriate.
2.5 We shall provide to You a statement/receipt after each payment (maximum one per month) listing your creditors and their references, balances and payments. We also include the fee we have charge, when you will be debt free based on that information and what you will pay us in fees.
2.6 We shall keep You informed of all material communications between your Creditors and Us, and We shall deal with all communications from your Creditors to Us (or to You and provided by You to Us) appropriately and promptly.
3. What You will pay
3.1 You will pay Us the Initial Fee, the Monthly Fee and the Monthly Repayments and any other fees agreed in writing between You and Us for additional services.
4. How We handle your money
4.1 All payments that We receive from You in Cleared Funds will be paid directly into Our Account. We will hold these funds and distribute them from our secure client fund account:
(a) payment of our Fees; and
(b) payment of the Monthly Repayments to your Creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Plan, and;
(c) Any other payments as instructed or agreed with You.
4.2 We will distribute the Monthly Repayments amongst your Creditors in accordance with the Payment Programme normally within five working days of receipt of the Monthly Payment from You in Cleared Funds. If there is a delay in any payment which is not beyond our control, We shall take the appropriate action to put You in the position You would have been in if the payment had been made within five working days in Cleared Funds and shall make good any additional interest which has accrued and any default charges that have been applied to the account as a result of the delay.
5. What We won’t do
5.1 We cannot lend You money or offer You any credit facilities.
5.2 We will not ‘usually’ provide the Services in relation to secured credit (such as hire purchase arrangements, secured loans and mortgages), rent (including rent arrears), utility bill payments (including arrears), council tax payments (including arrears) and other similar debts.
5.3 We are not solicitors and cannot give You any legal advice.
5.4 We will not arrange for anybody to attend any court hearing on your behalf.
5.5 Whilst We will attempt to agree revised payment terms with your Creditors in accordance with section 2, We cannot stop your Creditors from continuing to charge You interest and other charges, or from continuing any current, or bringing any future, recovery proceedings against You if they want to do this.
6. What You will do
6.1 You must provide Us with full, accurate and truthful details by telephone, email or in writing of your net income, outgoings, Creditors and dependants and You must also provide Us with details of any outstanding judgments against You or an actual or threatened court proceedings. You must, where possible, send to Us copies or originals of documents to confirm these details.
6.2 You must make the agreed Monthly Payments to Us in accordance with the Debt Management Plan.
6.3 You must allow Us to negotiate on your behalf with your Creditors.
6.4 You must send Us or notify us of all correspondence You receive from Your Creditors so that We can deal with them on your behalf. Your correspondence will be scanned or documented in note form and stored by Us electronically and the original paperwork destroyed. If originals are provided we can only return them to You if You request this prior to posting.
6.5 During the Term You must not make any payments directly to your Creditors unless You have notified Us in advance that You propose to do so and We have agreed that such payment can be made. We will not withhold our agreement for you to do so unless we have good reason to.
6.6 You must tell Us if your circumstances change so that You are or may become unable to maintain the level of Monthly Payments or if there has been an improvement in your circumstances so that You are able to increase your level of Monthly Payments. We will require two weeks’ notice from You to make any amendments to any Standing Order arrangements You make for payment of the Monthly Payments to Us.
6.7 During the Term You must incur no further debts, whether on credit or otherwise, other than those relating to your normal living expenses.
6.8 You must notify us if any of your credit agreements have been taken out up to 7 days of signing your letter of authority and these
business terms.
7. How You may end this Agreement
7.1 You have the right to cancel this Agreement under section 1.4.
7.2 You may also cancel this Agreement at any time if the total Fees payable under the Debt Management Plan differ significantly from the Fees estimated in the draft Debt Management Plan issued by Us in accordance with clause 2.1 above submitted to you.
7.3 In addition to your right to cancel under sections 7.1 and 7.2, You may also end this Agreement at any time by giving Us two weeks prior written notice which You may serve at any time whether or not You believe We may have been in breach of our obligations under this Agreement.
8. How We may end this Agreement
8.1 We may end this Agreement at any time by giving You two weeks prior written notice if any of the following happens:
(a) You fail to make your agreed monthly payment for a period of one month and you fail to notify us and make a satisfactory agreement with us; or
(b) You are otherwise in serious breach of this Agreement or have persistently committed a series of minor breaches (even if any one individual breach would not necessarily be regarded as a serious breach on its own); or
(c) You become bankrupt, file a bankruptcy petition, make an arrangement or composition with your Creditors generally, or make an application to a court of competent jurisdiction for protection from your Creditors generally.
9. Effect of ending this Agreement
9.1 When this Agreement ends:
(a) our duties and obligations under this Agreement will come to an end;
(b) 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 under the Debt Management Plan.
10. Personal information
10.1 We agree to keep confidential all information received from or about You. We will not pass this information to anyone else without your permission, except in line with our data protection statement contained in section 11 or to such of your Creditors as is necessary in order for Us to negotiate repayments with such Creditors.
10.2 If you have opted to receive information from us by text messaging (or email), You are responsible for the security of your mobile telephone (or personal computer) – and must take all reasonable precautions to prevent anyone else from accessing your information, including using all security features available on your mobile telephone (or personal computer) – and for informing us immediately if your mobile (or personal computer) is lost, your number (or email address) changes or if you suspect someone may have access to the information we send
you.
11. Data protection statement
11.1 Please read this statement carefully as it explains what personal information We collect about You and how We use this information.
11.2 We collect personal information about You both directly from You when You apply for our Services and from your Creditors as authorised by your Client Authority Form. We may also collect further information as a result of managing your Debt Management Plan.
11.3 We will use your personal information to provide our Services to You, and in particular to:
(a) prepare and issue to You your Debt Management Plan;
(b) negotiate with your Creditors on your behalf, and;
(c) keep You informed about your Debt Management Plan and our Services.
11.4 Subject to section 11.5 We may also use your personal information to contact You to provide You details of other products and services which We think may be of interest to You, including those offered by selected third parties. We may share personal information with these selected third parties and they may contact You directly to provide You with details of such products and services.
11.5 You may let Us know if You do not want Us to use or disclose your personal information as set out in section 11.4 above or if you wish to amend the way we communicate with you.
11.6 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 authority, 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.
11.7 You may contact Us by writing at any time to the Data Protection Officer at our address given above for further information, or if you want to request a copy of the personal information which We hold about You or to ask Us to amend any inaccurate information held by Us. If you request a copy of the personal information which We hold about You we will charge You a fee of £10.
11.8 Please note that we may record and monitor your calls to Us to help Us to improve our service, verify details, resolve disputes and for your and our staffs security.
12. Other terms
12.1 We may transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement by giving You written notice of such transfer.
12.2 All notices sent under this Agreement, shall be valid if sent by first and second-class post.
12.3 This Agreement sets out the entire agreement and understanding between You and Us and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings or arrangements (whether oral or written) relating to the provision of the Services.
12.4 You acknowledge that You have entered into this Agreement in reliance only on the representations, warranties and promises specifically contained or incorporated in this Agreement and, except as expressly set out in this Agreement, We shall have no liability in respect of any other representation, warranty or promise made prior to the start of this Agreement unless it was made fraudulently.
12.5 We shall not be deemed in breach of this Agreement or otherwise liable to You if We are prevented or hindered from performing our obligations under this Agreement by reason of any event beyond our reasonable control.
12.6 If any part of these terms and conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part shall be deemed severed from our agreement which will otherwise remain in full force and effect.
12.7 Any failure on our part to insist on strict performance of any part of these terms and conditions will not be deemed a waiver of our rights and remedies in respect of any future breach.
12.8 We may vary these Business Conditions from time to time and will write to give you at least 30 days’ prior notice of any changes.
12.9 If you do not with your details to be passed to any third party companies then please check this box _____
13 This Agreement is governed by English law
Fresh Start UK Debt Management