Loancheck/Watsons Solicitors

maxdp

Oh Well done Marshallka. It is nice when it works out like that.

marshallka

maxdp wrote: »

Oh Well done Marshallka. It is nice when it works out like that.

Yeah and i have gone against my better judgement also here in doing all this by email but they have been really quick to respond and really cannot argue it cause when all is said and done we are over insured and could never claim on theirs also. I was checking out pensions about 3 weeks ago and noticed that along with our pension scheme we also have this income protection. It was actually just cancelling it that i was going to do but just out of cheek really I asked for it back and cited treating customers fairly etc and they have come up trumps saying they agree and they will refund. Just got to get all the relevent docs now from work.

I actually told the accoutant at my hubby's work the other day that I bet lots have done the same as us and they are also over insured. You cannot claim at any one time for more than 75% of your salary. We have never had to claim on it ever so we have been lucky there BUT they are reducing the amounts back (I think!!) for the redundancy cover (although have put there is little chance of them making my hubby redundant and IF it ever did happen he would just go self employed again so have to see how they view this) and making us have that part but still better than a kick up the bottom.

I daren't get more cheeky and ask for the 8% statutory though:eek:. They have been fair TBH and we are grateful. I did not use a broker and we took this out online BUT I did speak to someone after we did it!!! It was not attached to anything like a mortgage also as it was just a basic income protection and a STAND ALONE policy.

ahsila5

Hi,this is my first post so please be patient with me.I have been reading all the loancheck/watsons posts with great interest as I am also a victim of this scam.
My story is similar to most that I have read on here
Started off with Protected Investments Ltd who identified we had 2 possible claims
We then had the visits to our house from the ex policeman to provide id and sign the forms for CFA .
I had my doubts even then {SEPT08} and refused to sign forms until I asked some questions from Watsons. Wish now I had trusted my instinct!
At first we had regular letters from Watsons with copies of letters they had sent to our Lenders and things seemed to be progressing ok if slowly.
Then it suddenly hit me we hadnt heard from them since July09 so I started ringing them but never got anywhere then Ifound this Thread and realized why I had no contact from them.

In Feb I spoke to someone at Watsons,I suspect it was Andrew watson though he denied it.
He said there had been problems with parts of Loancheck being in administration which had caused delays,I argued that he should have told me but he ignored my comments and said the cases may be passed to another solicitor to deal with.

I said I wanted my files back ,I wanted Watsons to release me from the CFA and assure me in writing there would be no fees payable to them .
He said he would look into my files and get back to me but I Heard nothing.

Then I sent a letter recorded delivery 3 weeks ago repeating my requests in the phone call and threatning to complain about Watsons to the Law Society.

Today I have recieved 2 letters from Watsons referring to our 2 claims.

Letter1 says they have coincluded they can no longer act on our behalf under the terms of CFA,our claim is worth less than 5000.00 now although 18 m onths ago it was worth 8000.00.
The other Letter says they have concluded the prospects of sucsess are less than 50% so they can no longer continue under CFA.

I have e-mailed all the above to mse investigations and really hope they look into what has been happening at Loancheck/Watsons.
I would like some answers as to why its taken 18 months to tell me they cannot act on my behalf when originally was told we had definite claims.

Ahsila

marshallka

ahsila5 wrote: »

Hi,this is my first post so please be patient with me.I have been reading all the loancheck/watsons posts with great interest as I am also a victim of this scam.
My story is similar to most that I have read on here
Started off with Protected Investments Ltd who identified we had 2 possible claims
We then had the visits to our house from the ex policeman to provide id and sign the forms for CFA .
I had my doubts even then {SEPT08} and refused to sign forms until I asked some questions from Watsons. Wish now I had trusted my instinct!
At first we had regular letters from Watsons with copies of letters they had sent to our Lenders and things seemed to be progressing ok if slowly.
Then it suddenly hit me we hadnt heard from them since July09 so I started ringing them but never got anywhere then Ifound this Thread and realized why I had no contact from them.

In Feb I spoke to someone at Watsons,I suspect it was Andrew watson though he denied it.
He said there had been problems with parts of Loancheck being in administration which had caused delays,I argued that he should have told me but he ignored my comments and said the cases may be passed to another solicitor to deal with.

I said I wanted my files back ,I wanted Watsons to release me from the CFA and assure me in writing there would be no fees payable to them .
He said he would look into my files and get back to me but I Heard nothing.

Then I sent a letter recorded delivery 3 weeks ago repeating my requests in the phone call and threatning to complain about Watsons to the Law Society.

Today I have recieved 2 letters from Watsons referring to our 2 claims.

Letter1 says they have coincluded they can no longer act on our behalf under the terms of CFA,our claim is worth less than 5000.00 now although 18 m onths ago it was worth 8000.00.
The other Letter says they have concluded the prospects of sucsess are less than 50% so they can no longer continue under CFA.

I have e-mailed all the above to mse investigations and really hope they look into what has been happening at Loancheck/Watsons.
I would like some answers as to why its taken 18 months to tell me they cannot act on my behalf when originally was told we had definite claims.

Ahsila

So you were only told of "possible" claims and went ahead with them passing you onto a solicitor.

As your complaint was worth more than £5000 originally then what were they actually "trying" to claim back for you? Was it just PPI or PPI, commissions etc (whatever they say they can - I think there was also interest on the loan wasn't there in some cases??). So now they are finding it difficult to make the other things stand in court they are reducing peoples claims to under the £5000 mark so that they can get you either to go along with it and most probably be out of pocket OR pull out and be liable to their fees? Have they mentioned any fees to you at all? What did the CFA cover? Did they say anything in the terms and conditions that you would be liable to costs if your claim was less than £5000 and did you get it in writing that your original claim was over £5000?

Have you any idea how much your PPI was on each of the two claims? Is this what they are now going to try and claim back for you?

maxdp

ahsila5 wrote: »

Hi,this is my first post so please be patient with me.I have been reading all the loancheck/watsons posts with great interest as I am also a victim of this scam.
My story is similar to most that I have read on here
Started off with Protected Investments Ltd who identified we had 2 possible claims
We then had the visits to our house from the ex policeman to provide id and sign the forms for CFA .
I had my doubts even then {SEPT08} and refused to sign forms until I asked some questions from Watsons. Wish now I had trusted my instinct!
At first we had regular letters from Watsons with copies of letters they had sent to our Lenders and things seemed to be progressing ok if slowly.
Then it suddenly hit me we hadnt heard from them since July09 so I started ringing them but never got anywhere then Ifound this Thread and realized why I had no contact from them.

In Feb I spoke to someone at Watsons,I suspect it was Andrew watson though he denied it.
He said there had been problems with parts of Loancheck being in administration which had caused delays,I argued that he should have told me but he ignored my comments and said the cases may be passed to another solicitor to deal with.

I said I wanted my files back ,I wanted Watsons to release me from the CFA and assure me in writing there would be no fees payable to them .
He said he would look into my files and get back to me but I Heard nothing.

Then I sent a letter recorded delivery 3 weeks ago repeating my requests in the phone call and threatning to complain about Watsons to the Law Society.

Today I have recieved 2 letters from Watsons referring to our 2 claims.

Letter1 says they have coincluded they can no longer act on our behalf under the terms of CFA,our claim is worth less than 5000.00 now although 18 m onths ago it was worth 8000.00.
The other Letter says they have concluded the prospects of sucsess are less than 50% so they can no longer continue under CFA.

I have e-mailed all the above to mse investigations and really hope they look into what has been happening at Loancheck/Watsons.
I would like some answers as to why its taken 18 months to tell me they cannot act on my behalf when originally was told we had definite claims.

Ahsila

Hi There Your claim is so similar to mine. May I respectfully suggest that you contact the SRA and look into their complaints procedure. If you do this you know you have complied with the usual route. It takes 28 days for them to reply if they do not reply as you expect you then elevate the complaint so that the SRA Complaints society look into it and try to resolve it. So sorry you have had this although you are more successful than me in talking to HIM he ignores me. If I was not confident I would be getting a complex about being ignore.:eek::rotfl: LOL Know this happens but seems to be happening more to me at mom.x

marshallka

maxdp wrote: »

Hi There Your claim is so similar to mine. May I respectfully suggest that you contact the SRA and look into their complaints procedure. If you do this you know you have complied with the usual route. It takes 28 days for them to reply if they do not reply as you expect you then elevate the complaint so that the SRA Complaints society look into it and try to resolve it. So sorry you have had this although you are more successful than me in talking to HIM he ignores me. If I was not confients I would be getting a complex about being ignore.:eek::rotfl: LOL Know this happens but seems to be happening more to me at mom.x

Maxdp, have you tried being someone else? It may work if you ring and just say assertively "Andrew Watson please, hes expecting my call. We spoke yesterday and I said that I would call him back after something or other" just tell a big porkie!!! Put a muffle over the phone or voice changer lol.

ahsila5

marshallka wrote: »

So you were only told of "possible" claims and went ahead with them passing you onto a solicitor.

As your complaint was worth more than £5000 originally then what were they actually "trying" to claim back for you? Was it just PPI or PPI, commissions etc (whatever they say they can - I think there was also interest on the loan wasn't there in some cases??). So now they are finding it difficult to make the other things stand in court they are reducing peoples claims to under the £5000 mark so that they can get you either to go along with it and most probably be out of pocket OR pull out and be liable to their fees? Have they mentioned any fees to you at all? What did the CFA cover? Did they say anything in the terms and conditions that you would be liable to costs if your claim was less than £5000 and did you get it in writing that your original claim was over £5000?

Have you any idea how much your PPI was on each of the two claims? Is this what they are now going to try and claim back for you?

Hi Marshallka,
I will try and answer your questions,

Firstly when I said we had possible claims I meant in the very beginning when I checked on the Loancheck website where you had to input your loan details .
I was told we had claims worth in excess of 5000.00 before it got to the solicitor stage.
Claim 1 had secret commissions and interest on loan [no ppi]
Claim 2 had commissions and ppi and other complex issues according to solicitor.
The letters do not mention anything about owing any fees to Watsons and because the letter says the CFA arrangement is ended I am hoping I do not owe any fees. Letter also said my file was in storage now for 6 years,so guess thats a sort of final letter.

I need to look through all the letters but I am sure I remember seeing one that outlines values of our claims.

Watsons are not acting for me now,I take it that the letters I recieved formally ended our arrangement.



Maxdp,

Thanks for your advice,I will complain to the SRA,i had a look on the SRA website and will complete the form over the weekend.

When I rang Watsons a man answered and said Andrew Watson was on the other line!
He seemed to know a lot of information and I just got the feeling I was speaking to HIM.
I may be wrong but he sounded like a solicitor if you know what I mean.


Ahsila

marshallka

ahsila5 wrote: »

Hi Marshallka,
I will try and answer your questions,

Firstly when I said we had possible claims I meant in the very beginning when I checked on the Loancheck website where you had to input your loan details .
I was told we had claims worth in excess of 5000.00 before it got to the solicitor stage.
Claim 1 had secret commissions and interest on loan [no ppi]
Claim 2 had commissions and ppi and other complex issues according to solicitor.
The letters do not mention anything about owing any fees to Watsons and because the letter says the CFA arrangement is ended I am hoping I do not owe any fees. Letter also said my file was in storage now for 6 years,so guess thats a sort of final letter.

I need to look through all the letters but I am sure I remember seeing one that outlines values of our claims.

Watsons are not acting for me now,I take it that the letters I recieved formally ended our arrangement.



Maxdp,

Thanks for your advice,I will complain to the SRA,i had a look on the SRA website and will complete the form over the weekend.

When I rang Watsons a man answered and said Andrew Watson was on the other line!
He seemed to know a lot of information and I just got the feeling I was speaking to HIM.
I may be wrong but he sounded like a solicitor if you know what I mean.


Ahsila

I think I must have misunderstood you then if they have ended your contract and keeping your file for 6 years. Are you allowed to have your file so that you can try to reclaim yourself perhaps. I would make sure though and get it in writing that your complaint is closed and that you owe them nothing. Its sad that they are not able to act BUT at least they seem to have released you without charge as some were thinking they would incur.

THOMAS123

marshallka wrote: »

I think I must have misunderstood you then if they have ended your contract and keeping your file for 6 years. Are you allowed to have your file so that you can try to reclaim yourself perhaps. I would make sure though and get it in writing that your complaint is closed and that you owe them nothing. Its sad that they are not able to act BUT at least they seem to have released you without charge as some were thinking they would incur.

I always said they could only charge for work done and as many of these cases seem to have been sitting around for ages without anyone looking at them then they can hardly be racking up big fees.

Anyway, for a solicitor to engage a client on a CFA they have to have more than a 50% chance of success.

If they have not got enough information how can they make that judgement?

Surely the lack of information would make these agreements invalid if the case is closed and therefore no charges could be made.

marshallka

Are there any legal people aboard? What is vexatious litigation? How is this looked at by our courts? From what I can google about it it says


The Court will find that a litigant is a “vexatious litigant” according to Section 42 if they have “habitually, persistently and without reasonable ground” instituted civil or criminal or all types of proceedings. In particular, the Court will consider the entire history of the litigant’s activities of Court proceedings. In the past Courts have held that the hallmarks of vexatious proceedings are that they have little or no basis in law. Furthermore, the effect of the proceedings is to subject the defendant to inconvenience, harassment and expense out of all proportion to any gain likely to accrue to the claimant, as well as involving an abuse of process of the Court.

IF the solicitors actually said to people that they had claims in the first instance that would stand in court then could this be classed as vexatious litigation OR do the cases have to get to court for it to be considered and fail. IF all that people were wanting in the first instance was to just claim back PPI (and not all the rest that was told could be claimed by both Loancheck and the solicitors) then surely they would not have signed contracts with a solicitor. Surely the solicitor should have known that the cases he was actually taking on lacked merit in the beginning?

Remember I am no lawyer here and most probably a load of tosh but how does this vexatious litigation work?