Brighthouse Back Down in Manchester Court Case

Brighthouse have backed down in a Manchester court case in which Debt on our Doorstep have been involved. Brighthouse were attempting to repossess goods from a Manchester woman who subsequently contacted Debt on our Doorstep. We were able to provide assistance through one of our member organisations to raise a defence alleging that the original agreements were extortionate and that default charges made by Brighthouse over the lifetime of the agreement were punitive and should be refunded. We also requested full details of all payments made on the accounts, which Brighthouse subsequently failed to provide, and challenged Brighthouse to prove that costly insurance policies taken out with the loans were truly optional.

Brighthouse's solicitors failed to respond to the points made in the defence and last month we applied for the case to be struck out by a District Judge in Manchester County Court. This has now been done. However, as the case was struck out no judgment was made on the main points in the case.

Damon Gibbons, Chair of Debt on our Doorstep commented:

"This case reveals that Brighthouse is unwilling to contest allegations of extortionate lending. Whilst this is a great success for the individual concerned, it also shows the weakness of relying on court based systems of redress. We believe that many borrowers from Brighthouse will have good defences to any claims for repossession of goods, but they are unlikely to seek advice and when they do, Brighthouse and other lenders in this market will seek to ensure that court precedents are not set by withdrawing from the case."

We are interested in hearing from advice agencies wishing to pursue similar cases on behalf of low-income borrowers. A draft statement of case for similar cases involving Brighthouse is available here.