Bank-smart now charging me!

magpiecottage

Bank Smart say on their website:

"Our staff are highly experienced in the jobs they carry out."

So were the Kray twins.

esmerellda

Was that £326 arrived at through adjudication with the Legal Ombudsman or something BankSmart came up with. If via the Legal Ombudsman then it would be great if you could share their decision letter.

Hastings69 wrote: »

So after contacting both Bank Smart and the Legal ombudsman we have come to this situation...

The initial invoice of around £550.00, it has been reduced to £326.00 as the initial work they carried out for me was chargeable, they failed to inform me that the company they was trying to get some PPI back for me wanted further information, therefore that part isn't chargeable to me.

Both parties have to agree to the final cost or the case will be moved to a senior advisor.

To say that after 3 years of aggravation, stress and worry, this wasn't the outcome i was expecting, and to hand over £300 plus is gutting.

I will not be giving them my bank details, or card details. They will be getting several cheques from me..

Please, Please avoid this company like the plague, If they send you a letter asking if you would like them to claim back your PPI, throw it away.

7yearnightmare

My case is still with the Legal Ombudsman but I had cause to call the company who manage my IVA last week and was informed that Bank Smart had been in direct contact with them requesting that they "ensure their fees be added to my IVA". My IVA company replied to them stating that debts incurred after commencement of the IVA could not be added. This was done without my knowledge and it was only by coincidence that I found out about it. I am livid that Bank Smart can do this sort of thing.

Has anyone had any further updates on their own issues with Bank Smart?

7yearnightmare

Hi there Magpie,

I've heard back from the Legal Ombudsman today and am shocked to find out that they have ruled in favour of Bank-Smart. Their response is below. However, I have some issues with this. Firstly that Bank-Smart initially invoiced me for six claims - there were never any more than this and the details were provided in 2007. They are stating that the original claims were unsuccessful and that I then gave signed consent for them to investigate a further eight claims in 2011. This is not the case. There were never more claims than the ones I originally gave details of. I am going to reply to dispute the ombudsman's decision but I would very much appreciate your advice on next steps as I really don't feel that their fees are in any way justified.

"Unjustified fees - You believed, due to the period of time which passed since you had heard anything from them, that Bank-Smart were unjustified in charging you any fees as your claims had been set up on a no win, no fee basis. Bank-Smart have provided me with evidence which demonstrates that after your original claim from 2007 was unsuccessful, a further eight Third Party Authorisation & Agreement documents, with your signature, were sent to them authorising them to act for you to investigate further potential compensation claims. These documents were all dated from 4 May 2011 and one of these claims from Santander led to a small award in January 2012. Bank-Smart have provided evidence of letters and communication to and from lenders which illustrate that they were engaged in work relating to your claims. Bank-Smart have also provided evidence of the requests for further information which they sent to you, but these received no response and the claims stalled as a result. There is no evidence of any request to cancel this agreement that I have seen, so on balance, I am satisfied that Bank-Smart were entitled to invoice you for the work completed on your claims.

Failure to Keep Updated - You advised that after your initial claim agreement with Bank-Smart, dating from June 2007, had been concluded, that you had heard nothing from Bank-Smart, other than occasional letters requesting further information, before, in April 2015, receiving a payment demand letter from MiL Collections. You also said that you had returned a number of these forms directly back to the sender. Bank-Smart have provided evidence of the letters sent to you which support the view that they did attempt to correspond with you on a regular basis about the claims which had been authorized on the signed documents from 4 May 2011. Based on the evidence I am satisfied that this met the necessary requirement and that Bank-Smart did attempt to contact you prior to your receiving the letter from MiL Collections in April 2015."

Hastings69

I have just sent you a PM 7Yearnightmare. The final amount was decided by the ombudsman, Initially BS refused the first ombudsman's findings, so it was escalated to a more senior member of staff, who came to the same decision. I'm pleased that i spoke to the ombudsman about this and am happier that the amount was reduced, but I'm still annoyed with myself for getting involved with these cowboys. Make sure you all contact the ombudsman as soon as is possible

esmerellda

Just had BankSmart cancel one of these invoices as a 'gesture of goodwill' - http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?67072-Thank-you-Sharon&p=558919#post558919

doreengore

I'm a 74 year old disabled lady and for 8 years I've been harassed by banksmarts bailiffs, so i took it upon myself to take them to a small claims court the charges were harassment a restraining order and compensation I won my case on the 16th of June 2015, I go to court soon to for compensation. I you would like to know how to done this then feel free to email me at doreengore@hotmail.co.uk

magpiecottage

doreengore wrote: »

I'm a 74 year old disabled lady and for 8 years I've been harassed by banksmarts bailiffs, so i took it upon myself to take them to a small claims court the charges were harassment a restraining order and compensation I won my case on the 16th of June 2015, I go to court soon to for compensation. I you would like to know how to done this then feel free to email me at [EMAIL="doreengore@hotmail.co.uk"]doreengore@hotmail.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Well done. Do please make sure this is drawn to the attention of consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk

Please let us know how youb get on.

DarylLewis

Years and years and years ago (over 10 at least) I contacted bank-smart to reclaim the charges on my old Halifax account. I sent them all statements etc that they required to make the claim, after a couple of years of chasing them, i gave up and forgot all about them and never did see any money from them or Halifax for my bank charges... Until today!

My ex wife had a knock on her door today from a company called Marstons High Court Enforcement, wanting £4500 for a court order in the name of Banksmart!!

!!!!!!!!!! I havent dealt with this company for over ten years! how have they managed to take me to court??? and for what?? Not reclaiming bank charges???

Since dealing with them, ive had 3 children, got divorced, changed my surname, met someone else, had another baby and have moved 5 times!!

I have no idea how to progress with this! i need help and i dont know where to turn, any help gladly appreciated. thankyou

Robbie_N

Having read the above post , this is basically word for word what has happened to me ! This has been going on for approx 2/3 years !
Every 6 months a new debt collection company starts harassing me re unpaid fees , they never carried out any work and no ppi was refunded due to work carried out by them !
They have even sent me a letter which states there is no money owed , of which i have just sent them a copy with a letter explaining that due to suffering severe ptsd i lost my job as a police officer and this constant harassment is not good !
They have now sent a letter to my ex stating that they are starting legal proceedings ( i know how it works i've been in court a few times ) . The amount is £750 . I have also asked for a breakdown of their actions and work carried out !
The company that they used to start this attempt to recover the fees for work not carried out was a company called 'SherForce' !

This company Banksmart need to be stopped in the way the conduct business