In Debt Solutions

Robert Mitchell Vs Bank Of Scotland

Robert Mitchell, a self employed, sixty year old from Wetherby in Yorkshire recently challenged the enforceability of his Credit Card debt with Bank of Scotland, in Leeds County Court

His Legal representative used a Legal argument prepared by Queens Council (a very senior Barrister). Mr Mitchell’s case centred around his claim that when he took out his Credit Card, through his local Halifax branch, his application form did not contain all of the terms & conditions applicable to the Credit Agreement and that he was not provided with any other form of Credit Agreement

Prior to the Court hearing, Bank of Scotland argued in their defence that when Mr Mitchell originally took out his Credit Card, he was provided with a separate document containing the terms & conditions of the Credit Agreement. However, Mr Mitchell could not recall receiving this document and Bank of Scotland were unable to prove that he had received it, because their terms & conditions booklet did not contain a section allowing him to sign to confirm receipt

Mr Mitchell’s Legal representative argued that under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, a Credit Agreement is only binding or enforceable if it is a single document that contains all of the prescribed terms (terms & conditions of the Credit Agreement) and has been signed by both Borrower and Lender, in keeping with section 61(a) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

Judge Langan QC, decided in Leeds County Court that Mr Mitchell’s Credit Card Agreement with Bank of Scotland was Legally Unenforceable and then ordered that all costs should be paid in full by Bank of Scotland to Mr Mitchell, which included the costs of his Legal representative and his Barrister

Mr Mitchell, following the Trial, commented that he was delighted with the outcome but disappointed that he needed to take this issue to Court and stated: “I hit problems because the bank kept increasing my credit limit and in the end I was struggling to simply pay the interest” and “The bank didn’t seem to listen to me. I kept making the same arguments, but it took court action before finally the Bank of Scotland were made to concede that they had no case”

Following his verdict, Judge Langan QC commented that he believes that the Bank of Scotland did not fight the case because it feared highlighting failings in their Credit Card lending system that may open the floodgates to numerous further claims