Claims companies??

david2979

I am confused having been called by a company who want to try and reclaim money for me from previous mortgage companies. I did not have PPI protection on any mortgages but this company still thinks they can claim money back on my behalf. I'm not sure what. They stated that they can often reclaim fees that are hidden in the interest of the mortgage?

The company is registered with the FSA and the Ministry of claims regulators, i have checked. They seem to be genuine but i am not convinced there is a claim to be made.

They ask for a review fee to start legal proceedings and operate on a no win no fee basis. Your review fee is supposedly returned to you if there is no case to answer. I guess i am not happy to part with the money without any written guidance as to how they intend to proceed.

I'm sure there are many others who share my circumstances, any help/advise would be valued. Thanks

David

amersall

Please steer clear of any company. If you know you have no ppi then you will not have a claim, trust me!!! someone who is more expert with things like this will come along and advise you, but i dont think you will get anyone who will advocate a company.

dunstonh

I did not have PPI protection on any mortgages but this company still thinks they can claim money back on my behalf.

Magic beans.

They stated that they can often reclaim fees that are hidden in the interest of the mortgage?

Seeing as there are no such fees hidden in the interest, it would be interested to know what they mean. Perhaps more magic beans?

The company is registered with the FSA and the Ministry of claims regulators, i have checked. They seem to be genuine but i am not convinced there is a claim to be made.

To become registered as a claims company is an absolute doddle. My teenage daughter could. It requires no qualifications, no experience, no knowledge. Indeed it requires nothing apart from you agreeing to abide by the limited rules that exist. Indeed, you could be up and running as a claims company within weeks if you wanted to.

They ask for a review fee to start legal proceedings and operate on a no win no fee basis.

It is against MoJ rules to cold call people where legal action is likely to be required. The Law Society can take action against solicitors that obtain business this way. Most genuine legal firms will not get involved in these cases to avoid breach of rules.

Your review fee is supposedly returned to you if there is no case to answer. I guess i am not happy to part with the money without any written guidance as to how they intend to proceed.

It is against MoJ rules to take money from you up front until such time that you have been provided with a terms of business and costs from the company in writing allowing you to read them first before committing to any payment.

I'm sure there are many others who share my circumstances, any help/advise would be valued. Thanks

Claims companies has to be the single biggest "legal" scam going at this time. Many are ripping people off big time and putting enormous pressure on the free-of-charge complaints process. Companies are reporting around 1/3rd to 1/2 of complaints generated by claims companies do not even have the product being complained about. Even the FOS is now phoning people to ask what their complaint was about only to be told by the person complaining that they dont know and only did it because a claims company told them to. Some financial firms are now blacklisting claims companies or writing into their terms and conditions that they will seek compensation from people putting in fraudulent complaints. Its one of the reasons the banks have pushed for the Judicial Review as abuse is so great.

The other thing to note is that a significant number of claims companies have a business model that takes money up front, then they send in a one-size-fits-all template letter which is not personalised in any way. Then after 12-24 months when you query why you havent heard anything, the claims company (if it still exists) will fob you off for a while. When ultimately you complain and ask for your money back you will either take ages to get it or you find the company has gone into administration taking all the up front payment with them. The model works on those getting refunds being funded out of new people paying money up front. That model is unsustainable and the longer a company can hold out, the more money they can make.

The biggest failure so far has been cartel client review which took over £25 million pounds in up front money. It then went into administration after being heavily in the red (as the directors had sucked the funds out of the business) leaving no-one getting refunds of their up front money. Some people face large legal bills as well as they end up being responsible for the legal costs of cases put in under their name. There are plenty of other similar failures too. Most of whom can be read about on this forum.

david2979

Thank you dunstoh for your time and comments. My initial thoughts are confirmed and i will stear well clear. David