From This is Money

TV duo's Credit Card Killer debt-buying offer

Alan O'Sullivan, This is Money
9 July 2009

Basil and Amanda Rankine, who starred in a Panorama documentary, claim to be able to cancel clients' credit agreements by 'buying' their debts.

But can it work and why has the OFT branded 'debt sale' a scam?

A couple spotlighted by TV's Panorama for trying to escape massive debts have set up a business claiming to be able to cancel clients' credit agreements by 'buying' their debt off them.

Credit Card Killer - www.creditcardkiller.co.uk - set up by Basil and Amanda Rankine, which has been trading in its current form since early this year, says it buys credit agreements – including personal loans, credit cards and car loans – and legally challenges them.

But the parent company of Credit Card Killer, Momentum Network, has just been stripped of its authorisation to deal in the debt industry today by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the debt industry's main regulator.

The MOJ declined to comment on the company but said suspended firms are not allowed to advertise, offer debt advice, or handle debt claims.

The move follows a recent warning by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) about debt sale companies, which it branded a 'scam'.

Birmingham-based Basil and Amanda Rankine appeared on a BBC documentary late last year, Can't Pay, Won't Pay, in which they described arguing their way out of repaying approximately £100,000 worth of debt.

The Rankines have since stepped up their business Credit Card Killer, using the TV publicity to promote themselves on their website.

They charge indebted clients a flat fee of £450 plus 10% of the outstanding debt for a loan agreement, in return for 'buying' it off them for a nominal payment of £1. There is a further charge of £350 plus 10% for additional agreements.

Credit Card Killer says it is then no longer the client's debt and the original lender should not pursue them for repayment.

If contacted by the original lenders, the Rankine's solicitors plan to argue their way out of repaying the debts in the courts by finding fault with the original contracts.

Basil told This is Money that he and his wife are the founders of a nascent 'credit card cancelling industry', believed to currently consist of approximately half-a-dozen rival players.

The OFT recently branded companies offering to help people become debt free through buying or selling on debts 'debt sale scams' and warned consumers to steer clear of them. It argues the law does not permit the sale of debt without the original lender's permission.

The OFT says these companies are encouraging people to violate contract law, an illegal activity, which will eventually leave consumers out of pocket. The companies' advertisements violate industry guidelines as a result as they are 'misleading' members of the public, it added.

Basil Rankine strenously denies that Credit Card Killer's debt buying practices fall foul of any law or are a scam. He says the OFT's public criticism of the debt selling and buying industry brands him and his wife criminals, and has threatened to take them to court over the issue.

He argues contract law does not apply in this case as anyone can allegedly get out of a contract by refusing to repay a loan: once out of contract, they can sell their debts to whomever they wish.

Basil said: 'The OFT is right, you can't sell your debts while you are in a contract, but anybody can cancel their contract if they want to and then sell the debt on. None of the lenders have tried to take me to court, that's the important issue. It's because they're scared to.'