When it comes to challenging your Bounce Back Loan, and hopefully getting it written off, or at the very least getting a huge chunk of it wiped out, you need to have a good, solid, legal argument to do so, and that is exactly what will be put forth on your behalf when utilizing the service offered by Back British Business.
I personally discovered all manner of wrongdoing by banks during the lifespan of the BBL scheme and even after the scheme closed to applicants, in fact there is a good chance you were messed about by one of the lenders in one way or another.
Common problems experienced by those applying for a BBL included:
- Unable to Open an Account with a BBL Lender
- Problems with the Shared Industry Database
- BBL Applications Getting “Lost”
- Confusing and/or Conflicting “Rules”
- Long Delays Opening a Bank Account
- Declined for Various Unfair Reasons
- Lenders Making Up Non Existent Rules
- Bank Staff Telling Out and Out Lies
- Approved Then Suddenly Declined
- Approved and Paid Out BBLs Being Snatched Back
I could write a book, and it would be a big thick book, on the other problems people encountered with the BBL scheme, in fact you will find a huge number of those problems mentioned in different articles and updates dotted around this website.
However, the legal experts have decided the best course of action is to challenge those loans based on the following aspects of law.
That being the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943:
You can read the entire Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943 on the Government website by following the link below:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/6-7/40/section/1
It also encompasses the doctrine of Common Mistake, that being:
“The law of mistake comprises a group of separate rules in English contract law. If the law deems a mistake to be sufficiently grave, then a contract entered into on the grounds of the mistake may be void. A mistake is an incorrect understanding by one or more parties to a contract.”
Back British Business have put the following up on their website, to give you some form of understanding of how your Bounce Back Loan will be challenged if you utilize their service:
“The argument based upon the doctrine of frustration is that at the time the loans were taken out the banks and their customers expected companies to be able to repay their loans out of future trading profits, but that the lockdown restrictions imposed upon British businesses forced them to shut or to have substantially reduced trading (the further restrictions were a ‘frustrating event’). As a consequence, under the Frustration Act 1943 s.1(2) the expenses businesses suffered should justly be offset against the sums otherwise repayable to the bank.
The argument based upon the doctrine of common mistake is similar i.e., at the time the loans were taken out the banks and their customers were mistaken as to how long lockdown would last and as a consequence the contract should be avoided (torn up); and under the law of restitution (an equitable remedy at the discretion of judges) businesses should not have to repay the full amount of their loans.
So, for example, we will rely upon the statement of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 28th March 2020 that the UK could turn the tide of the outbreak in 12 weeks; and again, on 27th April 2020 when he said that ‘this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it [the virus] to the floor’. Many similar statements were made by HMG at about this time.
Crucially, we will be arguing that the losses that your business suffered due to extended lockdown restrictions should be offset against your loan repayments in partial or total extinguishment of the loan.
The legal arguments will be set out on your behalf in considerable detail in our complaints to the banks and the Financial Ombudsman.”
If you do decide to take them up on their service be aware that the EUA Campaign do have their discount code:
You Have to Decide for Yourself Whether to Challenge Your BBL
It is going to be your decision whether you do make use of the service offered by Back British Business, and as such please do think about your options moving forward.
I am not offering any type of advice, legal or other, but am committed to ensuring you are aware of all of the options available to you, and I am carefully watching the progress made by the Back British Business team in getting BBL’s either written off or reduced in value and will continue to report on that aspect and all other aspects of the BBL scheme moving forward.
Having seen the stunts pulled by banks and those in charge of the rules of the scheme and their flat out refusal to acknowledge the problems the BBL scheme have caused and the devastation to many businesses moving forward, the time has certainly come to challenge those loans.
