The Office of Fair Trading has recently demanded that thirteen debt advice companies be closed down after revealing that they were providing misleading information to consumers.

The watchdog stated recently that it was planning to take legal action against the thirteen firms – the companies are involved in arranging debt management plans for consumers who are struggling with their debt repayments.

According to the OFT the companies were using website addresses that were similar to non-profit organisations even though they were commercial operations. The companies in question charge consumers for their assistance unlike real non-profit agencies such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and Consumer Credit Counselling Service, both of which offer free advice and assistance to consumers.

Between them, the thirteen companies operate nearly thirty websites, and officials from the OFT have said that the chances are that a large number of consumers have been misled in total as a result of the large number of websites that these companies operated.

An OFT official said: ‘We believe they are misleading consumers by holding themselves out as free advice agencies such as Citizens Advice, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, the Money Advice Trust and Advice UK.’

He also said: ‘There is a danger that with increasing unemployment, more people could run into financial difficulty and we are concerned that at the point where they are most vulnerable and seeking advice, they are being deliberately misled by people who are trying to gain a commercial advantage from them.’

Related posts:

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  2. Demand for debt advice on the rise
  3. Rash of debt firm closures in the UK
  4. Debt advisory service urges homeowner to seek advice if necessary
  5. Consumers should budget to pay off credit card debt

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