A badly written credit agreement has resulted in a claim by a debt collection company being thrown out. Hillesden Securities brought the action against Harry Moore at Oxford County Court after their demand for full repayment of a debt was not met.
His Honour Judge Charles Harris QC found that Hillesden Securities had not fulfilled its obligations under the Consumer Credit Act to provide Moore with legible information.
Following an order by Judge Harris for Hillesden Securities to produce easily legible documentation, the claimant returned to court with virtually the same barely readable documents as before. The problem was illustrated most notably by Judge Harris when he had trouble reading out Moore’s address.
The Hillesden barrister asked for yet another chance to make the necessary improvements to the credit agreement. The ‘final chance’ request was granted by the judge with the proviso that if they failed to comply there would be a judgement in favour of Moore.
At the third court hearing Hillesden Securities yet again produced illegible documents and accordingly their claim was dismissed and the firm was ordered to pay Mr Moore’s costs.
Recorder Bowdery QC acknowledged there had been some improvements in the literature but large parts remained unclear and in his view would leave the consumer trying to work out what they were reading.
Moore’s legal representative, Paul Tilley, a consumer credit specialist at QS Howlett Clarke, said: “This sends out a clear message to any company that buys a debt, and the credit industry at large, that the courts will not tolerate poor, illegible documentation when dealing with compliance with the Consumer Credit Act.
“The original credit agreement came from MBNA and was wholly unreadable, evidenced by the repeated, albeit failed, attempts to rewrite it. How difficult can it be in the 21st Century for documents to written clearly for consumers, as opposed to the illegible text presented to the courts on three separate occasions.”
The recorder stated he would expect the contracts with consumers to be easily legible, to have significant and clear spacing between the words and lettering and the lines so the consumer could easily read the document, understanding what they were reading and what their obligations and rights were.
