Claims management company (CMC) complaints - ask the ombudsman your question

Heidi1975 · 10 November 2016 at 8:06PM

Hi , i need some advice on a CmC issue which is ongoing in the forums atm.

It is regarding a company called SmS Legal which has had it's Authorisation Cancelled last week by the Fsa.
I wrote a letter to them of complaint and received a letter back on the 25th August saying they would be in touch within 8 weeks.
The letter requested my refund of the initial fee i paid £495 as it has been a year since they received my money and i have had no claims refunded , they never replied in the 8 week window and still havn't and today i read a post saying their Authorisation has been cancelled and no one can get in touch with their office...
Can you clear this up for me...what does it mean....??

Thx Heidi

Legal_Ombudsman · 14 November 2016 at 11:38AM

Hello Heidi, thank you for your query.

The Claims Management Regulation Unit cancelled Scarlet Marketing Services Ltd’s (also known as SMS Legal/U legal) license to operate on 27 October. As you have already complained directly to them, and as they have not responded to you, we are able to consider your complaint. Please contact us on 0300 555 0333. If you paid the upfront fee on either a credit or debit card, you may be also able to obtain a refund from your credit or debit card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Take a look at this case study to see how we could help: http://!!!!!!/2aw5yya

sally_platt · 30 December 2016 at 1:22AM

I do the accounts for a CMC. They pay a LOT of money (thousands of pounds every year) to the LeO and MoJ. They've only ever had 2 compaints escalated about them in 10 years NEITHER were upheld. The best in the industry pay for the 'bad behaviour' of the very worst.

[Deleted User] · 30 December 2016 at 1:24AM

sally_platt wrote: »

I do the accounts for a CMC. They pay a LOT of money (thousands of pounds every year) to the LeO and MoJ. They've only ever had 2 compaints escalated about them in 10 years NEITHER were upheld. The best in the industry pay for the 'bad behaviour' of the very worst.

You signed up to the forum just to say that??

This thread is supposed to be for questions to the Legal Ombudsman, not for random "observations" about your employer!

I'm afraid in your industry there are no "best":eek:

dunstonh · 30 December 2016 at 9:28AM

They pay a LOT of money (thousands of pounds every year) to the LeO and MoJ.

You think they pay a lot now, just wait until they are FCA authorised.

The best in the industry pay for the 'bad behaviour' of the very worst.

Same in financial services.

ianINWEY · 30 January 2017 at 9:57PM

Around two years ago I had a successful payout from a PPI claim and was more than happy. I then received calls from one company who said they could claim more for me on a store card, so I decide to follow it up - this claim proved to be unsuccessful at the time, Then another firm claimed that they could do it, this again proved unsuccessful and then another tried.

I may have been naive in using all three but I was beginning to get fed up with their calls. Fast forward to around three months ago and they all started writing to me, telling me that the situation had changed and enclosing letters of authority to sign and return. The claim has been successful and i sent the letter of authority back to the first firm that contacted me. But now I am still getting letters from the other firms, all telling me they can get me some compensation and asking for a signed letter of authority. I also believe one is continually calling and leaving no message

I have looked further at their T's and C's and they all seem to imply that I am liable to pay them the equivalent amount that I have won.

Has anyone else been in this situation - I don't mind paying an administration fee to the unsuccessful companies or the fee due for the successful company, but they seem to be as bad as the original PPI Mis-sellers.

Rusty_Lee_2 · 23 February 2017 at 12:12PM

Hi, I have recently used Claim 4 you Ltd for a PPI claim. I received money from Claim 4 you and paid the fee but now have received several letters threatening legal action on a fee I haven't paid on a claim I never had! I've tried calling and emailing but can not get hold of them, could you please advise the best course of action?
Regards
Russell Lee

connor08 · 13 March 2017 at 7:41PM

Legal_Ombudsman wrote: »

Have you used a CMC to reclaim PPI or other financial products and received poor service? The Legal Ombudsman is here to answer your CMC queries and concerns. We resolve complaints about legal service providers and CMCs and our service is free.

It may be that your CMC has:

failed to do what they agreed

hasn’t handled your mis-sold PPI claim the way you expected them to

has been slow in responding

increased their charges without explaining why

unreasonably refused you a service

pressured you to accept a service you did not want

We will investigate your complaint and if we decide the service you received was unreasonable, we can make sure your CMC puts it right.

How to get in touch with your questions and concerns

We're happy to answer your questions in this thread, so just reply below and we'll get back to you.

Alternatively there are lots of other ways you can get in touch.

Use our live chat function Mon-Fri between 08:30am and 5:30pm: https://legalombudsman.live-chat-help.com/

Call us Mon-Fri between 08:30am-5:30pm on 0300 555 0333 or on our minicom 0300 555 1777

Email us on [EMAIL="cmc@legalombudsman.org.uk"]cmc@legalombudsman.org.uk[/EMAIL]

Or write to us at Legal ombudsman, PO Box 6804, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WG

You can also follow us on facebook or twitter @Legal_Ombudsman

I did contact them but they could only take complaints about claims management companies not actual companies but its nice to know of the help out there for people who need it but they couldn't help with my position but its good that you have taken the time to try and help my situation thank you very much and I appreciated it
thank you from the bottm of my heart

[Deleted User] · 13 March 2017 at 10:17PM

ianINWEY wrote: »

they seem to be as bad as the original PPI Mis-sellers.

To my mind they are worse.

21rob1 · 4 April 2017 at 2:35PM

Good afternoon

I have had a PPI claim go through with The Claims Guys recently.
I was pretty disappointed with their overall level of service, I did everything direct with the lender direct on the phone after the Claim Guys initial letter, so I cancelled their claim and removed their authority on the 21st March via email and registered post.

3 days later, we received an offer letter from the lender that was dated the 21st March, but was posted out to me on the 22nd March.

The claims guys are using threatening tactics to get the money they say are owed, but in their T's and C's, you can cancel the claim at any point up to receipt or notification of a a compensation offer.
I cancelled on the 21st and the offer was received by me on the 24th and the claims guys on the 23rd.

I believe I comply with their T's +C's and do not need to pay the 30% + vat, I just need to pay them for the letter they sent and text message they sent me (again, charges that are in their T'c + C's)

Any advice would be of help

Thanks

Claims management company (CMC) complaints - ask the ombudsman your question

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