Mental capacity - OFT guidance for creditors

[pompeyfaith]

A long time coming but alas it's here and we now have clear guidance on what creditors can and cant do when someone with limited capacity is wanting credit.

[URL]http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/oft1373.pdf[/URL]

[5corpio]

Re: Mental capacity - OFT guidance for creditors

[CENTER][B]Mobility aids scams threaten elderly says OFT[/B]

[/CENTER]
Elderly and disabled people face risks from unscrupulous traders offering stair lifts and other mobility aids on the doorstep, a watchdog is warning. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is promising to try to stamp out unfair sales practices, by removing credit licences and encouraging trading standards officers to prosecute. The watchdog said it had received thousands of complaints. Buyers can pay 50% more than High Street prices on the doorstep. Some have overpaid by hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

[B]Promises

[/B]The OFT has received thousands of complaints about sales of the equipment, which includes mobility scooters, special chairs and adjustable beds. Some victims found the equipment they were promised failed to turn up. May Bell, an 88-year-old from Sheffield, told BBC News how she was left £1,800 out of pocket and trapped on the ground floor of her house after a visit from a salesman.
"I thought I'd had it," she said. "I thought it was the end of my time."

She had been promised a new stair lift. But after her old one was disconnected, the replacement did not arrive. For five weeks, she was forced to sleep in a chair and use a commode instead of her toilet. In July, the man who visited her, Shane Johnson of Nottingham Mobility, was convicted of breaching consumer protection regulations and sentenced to a year in prison. Ann Pope, from the OFT, promised more enforcement activity to protect consumers. "We are issuing a warning to the industry that we will take further action where necessary," she said. Rules There is nothing to prevent traders knocking on doors, although there are rules on what they can do once they gain entry to a........Read more on this morning story---> [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15097985"]BBC News - Mobility aids scams threaten elderly says OFT[/URL]

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Mental capacity - OFT guidance for creditors

5corpio,

Thanks for the above.

Regards

[mark62]

Re: Mental capacity - OFT guidance for creditors

I was seriously mentally for many years. I was sectioned twice and in and out of hospital for 15 years. I have no memory of the credit cards I applied for back then starting in 2001. I do have some copies of credit agreements that they say i entered into. The details in put down were all nonsense and I look at them now in disbelief. The banks never checked any of my details and if they had done their job then I would not have had to endure over 7 years of abuse by banks and DCA's. I had an application for bankruptcy turned down by the judge because of my mental illness at the time of the debts took place. The DCA's were toldby the CAB that as a vulnerable person I should not be contacted. I paid £1 a month and still they hammered myself and my parents with calls and letters.They Knew I had no way of paying but for whatever reason they through they had the right to harass a severely disabled person to the point of distraction and despair. But there is a potentially happy ending here which proves we(the disabled) can fight back. I have collected medical evidence from the NHS that clearly shows I was severely mentally ill. I have DWP statements that show my income at the time disability benefit. And I have successfully argued this with DCA's who have written off some of my debts. Some absolutely refuse to give up and hopefully with the help of this site I can finally be free of the hell that was created by the banks not doing their jobs properly.
However you be extremely careful in admitting that you put down false information on an application form for credit as this could be a criminal offence. But I discovered the Limitation Act 1980 and that means that I anything i put down on the forms many years is covered by a limitation. There also for me, carries a double edged sword. For if the bank or DCA challenges that limitation, the very act of doing so is evidence that they did not check my details. The limitation starts at the time the negligence took place. Therefore to question the limitation is an admission of negligence by proxy. Its so complicated and it took me quite a while to work that one out.
But If you have accrued debt due to mental illness there can be ways out. Please be very careful and have your facts and evidence all prepared and checked out before you proceed.