fees & key information
What fees will I pay for your solutions?
There are fees payable on some of the solutions we provide. These fees vary depending on how much you can afford, how much work is involved and what is agreed with your lenders.
Any fees you pay will make up part of your monthly payments. Rest assured that you will only ever pay what you can realistically afford, always leaving you with enough money for essential expenses such as mortgage/rent, bills, food, etc.
Will my credit rating be affected?
Some of our debt solutions may affect your credit rating. We will make sure you are fully aware of this before you enter into any agreements.
What happens if I change my mind?
There is a 14-day cancellation period on all our solutions. You have the right to a full refund of fees paid if you cancel your agreement during this time. After that time you may still be able to cancel, but you wouldn’t receive a refund.
For a more detailed explanation of any of the information on this page, talk to us on 0800 121 48 63.
The fees
Debt management fees
There are two fees payable for entering into a debt management plan with us: a one-off initial fee and ongoing monthly fees.
Set Up Fee
We do not charge upfront fees, we spread the cost of setting up your debt management plan over the first six months of the plan. We charge 50% of the first six months payment, the other 50% is distributed to your creditors on a pro rata basis. This is to ensure your creditors receive a payment as soon as possible.
The initial fee covers the work involved in arranging your debt management plan. This includes putting together your repayment plan and negotiating with your lenders.
Monthly fee
From the seventh month onwards, you’ll start paying monthly fees. These fees are included in your monthly payments and make up 17.5% of each payment you make, subject to a minimum of £32.00 and a maximum of £300.00.
These fees cover the cost of managing your debt management plan on a month-to-month basis. This includes handling payments and carrying out regular reviews of your circumstances to ensure your debt management plan remains suitable for your circumstances.
IVA fees
There are three fees associated with an IVA: an initial assessment fee, followed by a nominee’s fee and supervisor’s fees once your IVA has started.
IVA Set Up Fee
There is an assessment fee payable for the work involved in gathering and assessing the information that will go into your IVA proposal.
The assessment fee is dependent on the length of time it will take to package your IVA and the complexity of your situation. The maximum fee we will charge is 1.5 times your disposable income and in line with FCA regulations we will distribute funds to your creditors from your first payment.
If your IVA application is not successful then the set up fee is in lieu of any fees for your Debt Management Plan with us.
Please note: the IVA assessment fee will not be passed onto your creditors or go towards the actual IVA itself.
Nominee’s fee
Your first few monthly payments will make up your nominee’s fee. This covers the legal costs and other costs associated with arranging an IVA. This fixed fee will not affect your monthly payments, or the duration of your IVA in any way.
Supervisor’s fees
Once your nominee’s fee has been paid, you will pay ongoing supervisor’s fees as part of each monthly payment. This covers the ongoing work involved in looking after your IVA and ensuring it runs as smoothly as possible.
The supervisor’s fees will take up a fixed percentage of each monthly payment you make. They will not affect the amount you pay each month, or the length of your IVA.
| A breakdown of typical payments and fees on an IVA: | |
| You pay each month | £220 |
Total amount paid (60 months)
| £13,200 (£1,500) (£1,900) (£400) |
| Total debt written off on completion | £17,600 (65%) |
This example is based on a typical client – a consumer with approximately £31,000 of unsecured debts who completes an IVA lasting 5 years and has no equity in a home.
For a more detailed breakdown, speak to our experts on 0800 121 48 63.
Trust Deed fees
A proportion of each monthly payment you make will be payable to us as your monthly fee. The proportion can vary from case to case, depending on what is agreed with your lenders. The fee will not affect how much you pay each month, as you will only ever pay what you can realistically afford.
The monthly fee covers the month-to-month running costs of your Trust Deed, including handling payments and reviewing your case on a regular basis to make sure it is still the right solution for you.
Here’s an illustration of a typical Trust Deed:
| A breakdown of typical payments and fees on a Trust Deed: | |
| You pay each month | £220 |
Total amount paid (36 months)
| £7,920 (£4,140) (£450) |
| Total debt written off on completion | £19,680 (85%) |
The example is based on a typical client – a consumer with approximately £23,000 of unsecured debts who completes a Trust Deed lasting 3 years and has no equity in a home. Fees shown are inclusive of VAT where applicable.
For a more detailed breakdown, speak to our experts on 0800 121 48 63.
Bankruptcy Assistance Service
What you will get with our service:
- The service will assist in taking some of your concerns away; as we will be help you through every step of the process and providing technical as well as moral support in the run up to and the general period of the Bankruptcy.
- 1 years telephone support where you will be able to get advice on any issues with regards to your bankruptcy
- Your own dedicated Bankruptcy Consultant who will go through the whole process with you, including filling in the Statement of Affairs.
- We will contact all your creditors to advise them of your intention to petition for your own bankruptcy. This should help minimize the contact from your creditors during this transition.
The fees for petitioning for bankruptcy:
| £525 | Deposit | This is the cost of administering your bankruptcy and goes towards paying the Official Receiver’s costs |
| £115 | Court Fee | This is means tested so may not have to be paid (assessed on an individual basis) |
| £7 | Affidavit | if you swear the statement of affairs in the High Court or before a solicitor |
| £500 | Refresh Support Service Fee | For assistance and advice when applying for bankruptcy – *can be paid by instalments |
*Each married couple pays a separate fee
Terms and Conditions
Terms & Conditions of Business
Our aim at Refresh Debt Services is to help you on
your way to financial recovery. We aim
to be transparent in all our dealings with you so that you understand every
aspect of your Debt Management Plan. Please
read the terms and conditions carefully.
Definition of terms
“Agreement” means the agreement between You and Us made in these
Terms and Conditions of Business.
“Cleared Funds” means (i) any postal orders or bankers drafts made
payable to Us which We have received form You; (ii) any monies which We have
received into our Client Account from You by electronic transfer (such as by
standing order, direct debit or credit transfer) and which have not been
returned unpaid within four working days, and/or (iii) any cheques which We
have received from You which have not been returned unpaid within seven working
days.
“Client Account” means the account where
any monies held on behalf of our clients are deposited and which is not used
for the purpose of our own business.
“Authority to Act Form” means the
form enclosed with these Terms and Conditions 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 Fees and the Monthly Fee.
“Initial Fee” means your first Monthly Contribution and 50% of the
second and third Monthly Contributions, which is paid by You to Us as an initial
fee for our Services and which is not used to pay you Creditors.
| First Payment |
Second Payment |
Third Payment |
| 100% Retained |
50% Retained |
50% Retained |
“Monthly Fee” means the Monthly Fee payable for our Services. This is an amount equal to 17.5% of your
Monthly Contribution, apart from you first, second and third Monthly
Contribution which is the Initial Fee, subject to a minimum of £29 and a
maximum of £300.
“Monthly Contribution” means the
total amount which is paid every month by You to Us throughout the Debt
Management Plan. Apart from your first
Monthly Contribution 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 Contribution to be paid by Us on your behalf to your Creditors.
“Debt Management Plan” means the
plan of Monthly Contributions 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 periodically.
“Services” means the services We agree to provide You with,
under this agreement as debt advisors and debt managers.
“Term” means the period running from the start of this
Agreement as defined in Section 1.2 until we stop providing You with
Services. An estimate of how long the
Term will last is set our in your Debt Management Plan as issued by Us in
accordance with clause 2.1
“Terms and Conditions of Business” means these terms
of business.
“Us” and “We”
means Refresh Debt Services, whose registered office is at Milltown House,
Milltown Industrial Est, Warrenpoint, BT34 3FN; Company Registration No
NI055582 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
and provide the Services.
1.2 This agreement will start when You confirm your
acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Business by returning the completed
Authority to Act Form and the day when We receive the Initial Fee from You in
Cleared funds.
1.3 This Agreement will continue for the Term, unless
ended earlier by You or by Us as set out in section 5.
1.4 You have a right to cancel this agreement at any
time during the first 14 days of the Term.
“Days” here includes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. You can do this by writing to us at the above
address. We will then refund to you any
Fees already paid to us that are Cleared Funds.
2. Our Obligations to You
2.1 Based upon information provided by You to Us, We
will review your income, outgoings and living expenses and prepare and send You
a Debt Management Plan based on the debts to be included in your plan. This will indicate a Monthly Contribution
which we believe You can afford and an estimate of how long it will take You to
repay your Creditors.
2.2 Once the Agreement starts We will notify your
Creditors of our involvement and will attempt to agree with them revised
payment terms on your behalf. We will
attempt to persuade your Creditors 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. Whilst
We will attempt to agree revised payment terms with your Creditors 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. If
Your Creditors continue to charge You interest or other charges during the Term
of you Debt Management Plan it may be necessary for you to make additional payments
at the end of your Debt Management Plan to clear you debt to your
Creditors.
2.3 If your circumstances change and you are unable to
meet the payments set out in the Debt Management Plan, We will 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
Scheme with You and your Creditors if this is appropriate.
2.4 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.
2.5 We cannot provide credit or lend you money.
2.6 We cannot provide Services in relation to secured
debts such as mortgages or hire purchase, nor can We provide Services in
relation to arrears of tax, including council tax, arrears of rent or utility
bill payments.
2.7 A Debt Management Plan may have a detrimental
affect your credit rating and may affect your ability to borrow money in the
short term; there is some likelihood that this may extend to the medium to long
term.
3. Your Obligation to Us
3.1 You must provide Us with full, accurate and honest
details on the form We provide to You of your net income, outgoings, Creditor
and dependants and You must also provide Us with details of any outstanding
judgments against You or any actual or threatened court proceedings. You must where possible send to Us copies or
originals of documents to confirm these details.
3.2 You must make the agreed Monthly Contribution
Payments to Us in accordance with the Debt Management Plan. These contributions will pay for the Initial
Fees, the Monthly Fee and the Monthly Repayments to your creditors.
3.3 You must allow Us to negotiate on your behalf with
your Creditors.
3.4 You must send Us originals or copies of all
correspondence You receive from Your Creditors so that We can deal with them on
your behalf. Your correspondence will be
scanned and stored by us as an electronic image or kept on file. If originals are provided we can only return
them to You if You request this prior to posting.
3.5 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.
3.6 You must tell Us if your circumstances change so
that you are or may become unable to maintain the level of Monthly Contribution
Payments or if there has been an improvement in your circumstances so that You
are able to increase your level of Monthly Contribution Payments. We will require two weeks notice from You to
make any amendments to any direct debit or standing order arrangements You make
for payment of the Monthly Contribution payments to Us.
3.7 During the Term You must incur no further debts,
whether on credit or otherwise, other than those relating to your normal living
expenses.
3.8 All debts included in your debt management plan
must be not be secured, you must inform us if you think a debt is secured as
negotiations in relation to such a debt may result in you losing your asset.
4 Your Contributions
4.1 All Contribution Payments that We receive from You
in Cleared Funds will be paid directly into our client Account. The only payments which We will make out of
our Client Account are: (i) payment of our Fees; and (ii) payment of the
Monthly Repayments to you Creditors in accordance with the Contribution.
4.2 We will distribute the Monthly Repayments amongst your Creditors in accordance with the Debt Management Plan normally within five working days of receipt of the Monthly Contribution from You in Cleared Funds. If there is a delay in any payment to Creditors which is not beyond our control for more than 21 days We shall take 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 Termination of this Agreement
5.1 You have the right to cancel this Agreement under
section 1.4
5.2 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. In the event of
cancellation under this section 5.2, We reserve the right to retain the Initial
Fee.
5.3 We may end this Agreement at any time by giving
you two weeks prior written notice if any of the following happens: (i) You
fail to make two successive Monthly Contributions Payments; or (ii) 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 (iii) 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.
5.4 When this Agreement ends: (i) our duties and
obligations under this Agreement will come to an end; (ii) 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; and (iii) You may within 30 days of the end of this
agreement request Us to send You copies of all paperwork received from You or
your Creditors that has been retained by Us as a retained image or on file.
5.5 If your financial circumstances change during the
term of this Agreement we may refer you to our debt advisors, insolvency
practitioners or financial services advisors to identify a financial solution
which better meets your needs at that time.
5.6 On termination of your agreement with Refresh we
reserve the right to retain funds up to and including the value of £50 which
are currently on file as a termination fee, if not claimed by You within 30
days of termination.
6. Personal Information
6.1 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 7 or to your Creditors
as is necessary in order for Us to negotiate repayments with such Creditors.
6.2 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 to you – and for informing us immediately if your
mobile or personal computer is lost or stolen, your number or email address
changes or if you suspect someone may have access to the information We send
You.
7. Data Protection Statement
7.1 Please read this statement carefully as it
explains what personal information We collect about You and how We use this
information.
7.2 We collect personal information about You both
directly from You when You apply for our Services and from your Creditors as
authorised by your Authority to Act Form.
We may also collect further information as a result of managing your
Debt Management Plan.
7.3 We will use your personal information to provide
our Services to You, and in particular to: (i) prepare and issue to You your
Debt Management Plan, (ii) negotiate with your Creditors on your behalf; and
(iii) keep You informed about your Debt Management Scheme and our Services.
7.4 Subject to section 8.5 We may also use your
personal information to contact You to provide You with details of other
products and services which We think maybe 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.
7.5 You may inform Us now if You do not want Us to use
or disclose your personal information as set out in section 7.4 or if you wish
to amend the way we communicate with you.
7.6 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.
7.7 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.
7.8 Please note that we may record and monitor your
telephone calls to Us to help Us improve our service.
8. Other Terms
8.1 All fees are exclusive of any applicable value
added tax (VAT)
8.2 We may transfer our rights and obligations under
this Agreement by giving You written notices of such transfer.
8.3 This agreement sets out the entire agreement and
understanding between You and Us and supersedes all prior agreements,
understandings or arrangements (whether written or oral) in relation to the
provision of the Services.
8.4 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 the
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.
8.5 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.
8.6 This
agreement is governed by Northern Irish Law.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
This notice sets out details of the complaints procedure
which we operate to try to resolve complaints which you, the client, may have
with regard to the services that we provide to you. This complaints procedure
is aimed at resolving complaints quickly and satisfactorily and further
improving the quality of our service.
What our complaints procedure covers
Our complaints procedure covers complaints which you may wish to make with
regard to the services which we have provided to you, in particular, the manner
in which we have dealt with your Creditors and the information we have provided
to you about our dealings on your behalf.
How to make a complaint
If you are unhappy with the service we have provided to you, you should in the
first instance discuss the situation with your Initial Adviser or Client
Liaison Officer. Should you be
dissatisfied with the explanation he or she has provided to you then your
complaint will be referred to the company's Compliance Department. Written
complaints should be addressed to the Compliance Department.
How we will action your complaint
The Compliance Department will consider the contents of your complaint. We may
need to contact you for further information in order to better understand your
position. We will conduct a full investigation into the points raised and
discuss the details of your complaint with your Initial Adviser and/or Client
Liaison Officer as appropriate. Once all information has been considered you
will be contacted further to confirm whether the company accepts either
completely or to some degree your complaint. Where applicable, you will be
advised of what steps the company will take to put right the complaint and
ensure that the same problem does not reoccur. It is the company's objective to
resolve a complaint satisfactorily within 10 working days although where more
detailed investigation is required the process may take longer and up 8 weeks.
You will be kept informed of the time scale that will be required for us to
investigate your complaint.
Financial Ombudsman Service
If you are not satisfied with our final response, you may be eligible to refer
the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, details of which will be
provided at that time.
Your Rights
We hope that you will accept the decision of our Compliance Department. If this
should not be the case, you remain free at all times to seek an independent
form of advice.
