not signing a catalogues credit agreement

[killasmile*]

can you tell me were where i stand about not having signed a credit agreement with a catalogue and paying the bill? am i by law bound to pay it?if not how do i discarde te debt?

[dzug]

Yes you are bound to pay.

The catalogue company is entitled NOT to allow you to pay by instalments (if that's what the credit agreement was about) but to insist on the lot, now.

[Killerschick]

Hi again Killasmile

This is actually something I wanted to mention in my answer to your bankruptcy query but I ran out of characters!

You are NOT bound by law to pay the debt to a catalogue company if you have not signed a credit agreement with them, in fact the situation is quite the reverse. Normally if you stop paying a creditor they take you to Court & get a CCJ. The evidence that you owe the money is the credit agreement. If you have never signed an agreement you have a complete defence to any Court proceedings. The catalogue company may take Court proceedings because the majority of people do not defend cases like this and they get judgments with no problem because the Court do not require evidence unless a defence is filed. However, if you put in a defence they won't be able to provide the required evidence of the debt and you will win!

In some cases with catalogue companies the form that you sign requesting the catalogue incorporates a "credit agreement". You have nothing to fear from these etiher because they don't comply with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and as such are unenforceable in a Court of law.

I hope this sets you mind at rest and I wish you luck dealing with your current difficulties.

[dzug]

hmm two answers saying exactly the opposite.

My argument was you haven't agreed to pay the catalogue company on credit and they haven't agreed to extend you credit. You don't have a credit agreement. Therefore normal contract law applies and you have to pay a fair price for the goods.

Killasmile says you have an undocumented and therefore unenforceable credit agreement with the company and are in the clear.

Which of us is right in your circumstances I've no idea.

[stanleyman]

If you ordered and received the goods you are required to pay the price of the goods under normal contract law. You can only get out of this if the goods were unsolicited or an unfair contract or you rejected them. A credit agreement has nothing to do with this and only details the payment terms. If you haven't agreed to credit terms by signing an agreement then the bill is now due and can be demanded. Check the small print. Your order is evidence of a contract and if the court asks you if you received the goods what can you say?

[Killerschick]

Hi again

I'm a money adviser and I'm giving you the information I would give to a client who came into the office. Whilst I would generally agree with the contract law points if the sale were a simple mail order transaction with the full balance to be paid on receipt of the goods, it's a different matter when a commercial organisation offers to sell something to someone on credit terms even if they are interest free, then the Consumer Credit Act 1974 takes precedence.

A credit sale agreement, which is one way goods are sold through catalogues, is a regulated agreement and as such should take a prescribed form including certain information. If there is no signed agreement there is clearly no document setting out the information required by the CC Act.

The other way goods are sold through catalogues is by running credit account and this is also a regulated agreement which must take a prescribed form and include certain information in accordance with the CC Act.

I would maintain my argument that you are NOT bound to pay as the retailer has not complied with the Consumer Credit Act 1974. It might seem morally wrong that someone can get goods and not pay for them but the onus in these types of transactions is on big business to follow the letter of the law to protect the consumer.

In order to "discard" the debt. Stop paying, they may use debt collectors, threaten to sue you etc but if they do take legal proceedings you have a defence.

[killasmile*]

thank u. i have sent a letter 2 the catalogue to send me a copy of my signed credit agreement with a payment of �1.00 and have been told that by law i must recieve it within12 working days or the debt will be unforcable.is this true-it was in a debt advise booklet?- i do feel bad for this but im in a desperate posstion and i have defantly learned from my mistakes-well livin with them!

if this is all true do i just stop paying and wait for them 2 take me 2 court,after seeing if have signed an agreemnt im cluelss what happens next?!

[Killerschick]

Hi again

As you have now requested copy agreements using the Consumer Credit Act, the creditor cannot take any action against you until they have provided you with copies of the agreements. If they do threaten anything cite the lack of response to your request, particularly if they have exceeded the time limit. It's perfectly reasonable to request proof of a debt before you agree to pay it and it's quite a good tactic with debts in general. The record keeping of some financial organisations is surprisingly haphazard, so even things you genuinely believe you owe can be avoided.

I note from your other thread about bankruptcy that you are planning to go to a CAB, so if you get anything from the creditors take it with you for them to check out whether it's legal.