Debt management firm refused licence

THE Office of Fair Trading has refused an application for a consumer credit licence from a “misleading” Lancashire debt management business.

The OFT said A&H Debt Dissolvers (A&H), which had been offering debt management services without a license, failed to comply with the OFT’s guidance by making misleading website statements and by not being transparent about its fees.

The OFT said A&H had misleadingly advertised “free help and advice” and “expert advice” to consumers with serious debt problems through its own website and the site of an associated company. Both have since been closed down.

An OFT adjudicator decided that the company was not fit or competent to hold a consumer credit licence and its application was refused.

OFT director of consumer credit Ray Watson said: “Where businesses show themselves to be unwilling to comply with their legal obligations and to lack competence to engage in credit activities we will take all necessary action to ensure consumers are protected.

“Unlicensed trading is not acceptable. It poses real risks of harm to consumers and denies them effective protection under the law.”