With credit card debts causing such great problems for UK consumers, it’s no suprise that many people are looking for all sorts of ways to free themselves from these debts.

The most often encountered ways are the old standbys of debt consolidation and debt management, with possibly an IVA or even bankruptcy as a last resort. Lately, however, there is a new kid on the block when it comes to clearing credit card debts: the legal write off.

This supposedly works by making use of a legal loophole in the consumer credit act that means that unless a credit agreement complies with a set of exacting rules, then it is invalid and thus cannot be implemented legally. The practical effect is that any money owed on such agreements cannot be collected, and so does not have to be repaid. There are plenty of web sites claiming to be able to quickly and easily arrange for your debts to be wiped out like this, but is this realistic?

The first thing to be aware of is that only credit agreements drawn up before April 2007 have any hope of being declared unenforceable under this tactic. If this condition is met, there are several reasons why the agreement may be invalid, including not being signed by both parties, the Annual Percentage Rate not being intelligibly expressed, or copies of the original papers not being available on request.

Specialist lawyers will inspect your credit agreements on your behalf to ascertain whether or not they are all sound. But here lies the catch: you normally have to pay a fee before an expert will even consider your case, whether or not you have any chance at all of having your debts written off. If you have several credit cards, this can make it an expensive and maybe useless exercise.

Also bear in mind that some less honest sellers of these services exaggerate the prospect of success, which many impartial observers say are not as high as they are being described.

So what’s the upshot? Certainly ask your credit card providers for copies of your credit agreements and inspect them yourself, but before going ahead with anything else ask a free debt charity for some advice. If you suspect you might have an illegal credit agreement then find a solicitor willing to work on a no win no fee basis, rather than paying out at the outset in the possibly useless hope of freeing your self from your debt worries.