No such thing as a free laptop? Schools' lease deb

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No such thing as a free laptop? Schools' lease debts written off!

24 September 2012

Clydesdale Bank has agreed to write off millions of pounds of debt allegedly owed by schools throughout the country in relation to mis-sold office equipment leases.

Schools were overcharged by suppliers for IT equipment such as laptops and photocopiers but then promised cash back payments which would meet a proportion (or all) of the cost, but the cash back payments often ceased before the leases were paid off.

An offer to write off this debt should provide some good news to those schools still being pursued for tens, or sometimes hundreds, of thousands of pounds. The BBC is reporting further on Panorama this evening.

Browne Jacobson is currently advising a number of schools and local authorities being pursued by such finance companies in relation to the arguments they can raise to challenge the validity of such contracts.

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