Companies "helping" with PPI claims?

spirit975

I had a call today, as i'm sure pretty much everyone does, about a company helping to make claims on my behalf for PPI.
I can't remember the name of the company, but they said it's no win no fee, and i'll be sure to read through EVERYTHING before going ahead with anything.
What i'm wondering is, is there any advantage to doing it this way? I know i will lose some of the claim in fees if i'm successful but something is better than nothing right?
Am i more likely to be successful with a company behind me, or is it just as easy alone?

Thanks

mrs_skint

spirit975 Please stay away from these shysters - they are out for your money. They say it's no win no fee but they still try and charge you for work they carried out even if you haven't had a payout. Believe me, I have had my fill of these people, they really tried to stiff me, so I have reported them to the MOJ. There is no advantage and anyway Martin has all of the templates here on his site and loads of nice peeps who will be only too willing to help x

dunstonh

What i'm wondering is, is there any advantage to doing it this way?

No. Indeed the opposite. Claims companies have a lower success rate than personal complaints.

Since the introduction of the PPI questionnaire, its been made easier to complain. So, why waste money?

debt55

dunstonh wrote: »

No. Indeed the opposite. Claims companies have a lower success rate than personal complaints.

Since the introduction of the PPI questionnaire, its been made easier to complain. So, why waste money?

can you substainate this claim you made?

as an IFA, i am sure you hate claims companies, but each to their own, i done all mine and my families complaints, but if i found a decent company to pay 25% to... and could not be bothered myself... what is wrong with that?

marshallka

debt55 wrote: »

can you substainate this claim you made?

as an IFA, i am sure you hate claims companies, but each to their own, i done all mine and my families complaints, but if i found a decent company to pay 25% to... and could not be bothered myself... what is wrong with that?

Because most of the time the claims companies only actually fill in the same forms as you can do yourself (in fact I think now YOU have to fill them in anyway!!) so why allow them to make money from something you can do yourself.

If you saw a lot of the posts on here about claims companies and what they have told clients to get them to sign up (of how much faster they are and how they can get back more than just PPI etc) you would know why we feel like we do on here about them. A lot are scammers and will take upfront fees and do nothing with your claims. I dare say that "some" are legit and if people feel they need to use one then fine but it is only a form that you fill in and then another one for FOS. Only the complainant actually knows what happened at the point of sale, claims companies do not although they often TELL you that you have been missold before knowing anything!

debt55

marshallka wrote: »

Because most of the time the claims companies only actually fill in the same forms as you can do yourself (in fact I think now YOU have to fill them in anyway!!) so why allow them to make money from something you can do yourself.

If you saw a lot of the posts on here about claims companies and what they have told clients to get them to sign up (of how much faster they are and how they can get back more than just PPI etc) you would know why we feel like we do on here about them. A lot are scammers and will take upfront fees and do nothing with your claims. I dare say that "some" are legit and if people feel they need to use one then fine but it is only a form that you fill in and then another one for FOS. Only the complainant actually knows what happened at the point of sale, claims companies do not although they often TELL you that you have been missold before knowing anything!

i get that much

but dunstoh made a claim that claims comps are not as successful as me or you complaining oursleves, i wanted that bit substaintied?

or was it a best guess?

mrs_skint

AND they also omit to give you the full info. Like, for example, if you have ever had a loan that you settled in "full and final settlement" then your PPI refund will almost certainly be used to pay whatever was "owing" on your loan. Maybe you owed £5,000 - but the bank (or whoever) settled for £4,000 and then just say, your PPI refund totalled £1,000 (just plucking figures out of the air - pls don't rubbish me). Then your £1,000 PPI claim would not be refunded to you but will have been put towards your settlement figure in order to pay off the full amount. However, the CMC would still take their chunk as they would class this as a WIN - say 25% which is £250 of your PPi refund that you actually won't have in your hand. Therefore you will have to find this money somewhere else in order to pay them. What happens if you've got 5 or 6 claims with the same company ..................

dunstonh

can you substainate this claim you made?

Only by using internal stats and the fact that the FOS have stated that template letters have a lower success rate than personal letters and most claims companies use template letters.

I know some complaints handlers and I can tell you for a fact that they treat complaints companies derived complaints more cynically than personal complaints. They say they are always more sympathetic to a personal complaint. There are a number of claims companies that they will look as hard as they can to reject the complaint. One of handlers is ex FOS.

as an IFA, i am sure you hate claims companies, but each to their own, i done all mine and my families complaints, but if i found a decent company to pay 25% to... and could not be bothered myself... what is wrong with that?

The issues I have with claims companies are:
1 - they are not qualified to discuss the areas they are telling people to put complaints in
2 - they nearly all lie about the chances of success
3 - they nearly all use template letters which are the same for everyone regardless of circumstances.

Common_Sense_2

dunstonh wrote: »

Only by using internal stats and the fact that the FOS have stated that template letters have a lower success rate than personal letters and most claims companies use template letters.

My internal stats agree with these

I know some complaints handlers and I can tell you for a fact that they treat complaints companies derived complaints more cynically than personal complaints. They say they are always more sympathetic to a personal complaint. There are a number of claims companies that they will look as hard as they can to reject the complaint. One of handlers is ex FOS.



The issues I have with claims companies are:
1 - they are not qualified to discuss the areas they are telling people to put complaints in
2 - they nearly all lie about the chances of success
3 - they nearly all use template letters which are the same for everyone regardless of circumstances.

Totally agree, sometimes i'll send a copy of the letter the CMC sent me back to the customer. If I had a pound for everytime a customer then calls me up and says 'I didn't say that'......

CMC's just prey on people who are either trying for a quick buck or don't know the full story.

jooliona

besides which why would you knowingly provide ALL your personal and financial details to somebody you don't know from Adam? Might as well leave all your bank statements etc on the doorstep?!

these people make my blood boil. but as the saying goes a fool and his money are easily parted. unfortunately my father is just such a fool!

spirit975

Thanks for all the replies. I'll give these guys a miss then and try and start the ball rolling alone, but it all sounds so complicated. I have no idea when i even signed up for the credit card let alone the PPI options that were available! I do know that even if i signed u for PI willingly i was out of work within 6 months of signing up for it, but have been paying it since for approx 5 years as i didn't know i could cancel it