Whats the deal on consumer recovery specialists?

javorb

anyone used this solicitor ,i am totally petrified to go through the court procedere in scotland ,i have one claim against ltsb for £743 (small claims)and one for £7666against bos (ordinary action).i do not think i can manage to put up a good defence ,and i have found trawling these forums totally confusing as to defending claims.this is why i think i will use robertson holbrook.

javorb

the reason i am going to use a firm is it seems that ltsb did not even give an offer ,when i phoned them the guy i spoke to was very surprised by his own companies response,he advised me to go to court but i have read so many threads ,yes some successful but most are now having to go to court,i am not a solicitor and i have not seen any real threads on these forums that help people in scotland with a claim as high as mine ,nobody has posted their defence to their successful claims,all you get is read forums ,well i have spent days/weeks trawling but no ones post have given me confidence if i end up standing up in court

AFCChris

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has used these companies? I know the message on here seems to be that you should do it yourself but I really want to do it but have no spare time at all, so I'm actually prepared to let someone do it for me, even if I lose some of the money in fees.

I suppose I look at it like money I didn't ever think I was going to be able to get back, and to get some back would be a bonus even if I lose some in fees. Might sound like a bit thick that someone is saying this but I hope you see my point.

If anyone has used them I would like some questions answered:

i) Who did you use?
ii) Were they any good?
iii) What was the fee?
iv) For people that got some money back, how long did it all take?

Appreciate any help, or guidance why I really shouldn't do this!

Regards
Chris

nel

hi Chris

i spoke to someone at the holbrook company the other day and one thing they said was if you actually ask for your statements yourself you should get them back within a couple of weeks where as as soon as the banks see that their company is involved they drag their heels and wait it out for the full forty days so i for one will be requesting my statements personally.

As for their charge they charge the banks interest on your charges and keep that for themselves which seems to me to be the fairest way of charging for the service, its money you didn't actually pay out yourselves to start with, if you claim it back yourself its a bonus you get to keep (thats if it goes to court, interest isn't paid when settled before court so i understand)

Like i said i will request my statements myself and then the next part of the process i will decide whether or not to do it myself or pass it onto holbrooks when the time arises i may surprise myself and continue, but in anycase you can still hand everything over to holbrook up until its submitted to court.

One step at a time i think

hope this helps

Nel

foolishme

i have been spreading the word of this grreeeeeat site for a while now, anyhow just had to post this,

whenever i mention about this site in connecion with reclaiming bank charges i hear 'oh yes, you pay £15 for them to send for your past 6 yrs charges and then they will reclaimthem for you and they recieve 25% of the money.'

i have a mini heart attack every time!!!!

dont get me wrong i soon put them right, but how infuriating!!!!

i appreciate if people do someones work for them they deserve commision, but come on 25%?????

thanks to all of you that still want people to get what they deserve without fleecing them!!

competitionscafe

Are you talking about those no win/no fee people who write the letters on your behalf and then claim a hefty % of your reclaimed charges as "commission/fees"?

http://www.bankchargerecover.co.uk

http://www.unfairbankcharge.co.uk/
(By the way this is the same company as greasy palm cashback site, both sites say copyright Submission Technology Ltd: http://www.submissiontechnology.co.uk/prop.php )

http://www.getbackbankcharges.co.uk/faq.asp

http://www.recoverbankcharges.com/

........and many more

Not to be confused with the helpful forums and advice here which is 100% free! Why pay a hefty fee (from money which is yours) when with only a small amount of effort (and plenty of willing helpers on here) you can diy for free? As far as I know nobody has had to go to court (yet) in any case?

Filipe_2

Dear all,

I have been a subscriber to this fantastic site for a long time now. Earlier I received an auto email from this site that said the following:

The campaign to reclaim unlawful bank charges is the biggest consumer revolution for years. Anyone who's had a penalty charge/fine from a UK bank in the last six years should get their cash back. Tens of thousands already have, many in the £1000s. Yet it's in danger of being hijacked by commercial claim handling vultures, who are dominating Google with ‘no-win, no-fee’ ads. It's hoped this e-mail will help combat that, spreading the word that you should....

...Never pay any company to reclaim bank charges!

Everything needed, including template letters to send to the banks, is available free, without registration, at https://www.MoneySavingExpert.com/bankcharges. Plus further support can be found at penaltycharges and consumeractiongroup.

I run one of the no-win no-fee companies. I won't say which one as I do not wish for this to appear to be an advert. I wish to defend companies such as mine from these ill-informed, unfounded and cruel attacks.

I am somewhat taken aback by Martin Lewis' accusation that companies such as mine are vultures. Also, he appears to suggest that it is possible to get the service we provide for free. I would like to know where.

I need to explain what it is my company (like my competitors) actually do because this statement clearly means Martin Lewis has misunderstood what we do.

What people can get for free is all the information they would require to do the claim themselves.

What my company does is do all the work for people who do not want to do it themselves. No one has ever suggested that people cannot do this themselves, just as no-one has ever suggested that you cannot change the oil in your car youself and so not need a garage.

Including all the labour and all the research people need to do throughout a claim using forums and the like, it takes anything from 3 to 10 hours work to complete a claim, spread over 1-5 months depending on how difficult their bank is being. This is why some people are using companies such as mine - to do that work for them.

I have done somewhere in the region of 200-400 hours of research since starting my business. I have come across just about every trick that every bank has got up its collective sleeve.

I have over 1500 customers. All of them are well aware that they could do the work themselves if they wanted, but none of them have the time or energy to do it. They are also very pleased with the service I provide. I expect the same applies to my competitors' cutomers.

Allow me to use some analogies:

My local garage charges £17 + the cost of the oil and filter to change the oil in my car, even though it only takes them five minutes. Are they vultures because they don't tell me I could do it myself?

My local grocery store charges me by the lb for vegetables. Are they vultures because they don't tell me I could grow my own veg in my back garden?

My local car wash charges £15 for a good car wash and wax. Are they vultures because they don't tell me I could do it myself?

My accountant does my end of year tax return. I am AAT qualified. Is he a vulture because he charges me for something I could do myself?

I could go on. On top of those examples, my website does give links to all the websites, including this one, that have the info people would need to do the work themselves, so I do actually tell people they can do it. That way I only get requests from people who have considered both options; to do it themselves or to employ a no win no fee company's service.

It is free to do this yourself. What it costs is TIME. This is what my customers are paying for; to save time.

So, just to cap, all my customers are simply paying me to do the work for them. Just like any other service.

I hope this clarifies the difference between no win no fee companies and websites offering free advice. The fact that both options are available to people maximises how many will get their charges back.

Kind regards

Filipe McManus

KelvinF_2

Well said...

Edinburghlass_2

I am somewhat taken aback by Martin Lewis' accusation that companies such as mine are vultures. Also, he appears to suggest that it is possible to get the service we provide for free. I would like to know where.

Everything needed, including template letters to send to the banks, is available free, without registration, at www.MoneySavingExpert.com/bankcharges. Plus further support can be found at penaltycharges and consumeractiongroup.

I never presume to speak for Martin as he is well able to speak for himself but I think if you read the above statements you will see Martin suggests that "everything needed" to reclaim your bank charges is available free on MSE and therefore consumers can in fact do this themselves which you must agree, as a long term reader of Martin's email, is in keeping with the ethos of MSE

Filipe_2

Hi Edinburghlass

Thanks for the reply.

The point I wish to stress is that companies like mine are no more like vultures than any company of any sort.

Yes, I totally agree, people can do this themselves and lots are. Some haven't got the time. The only reason people should use a company like mine is if they haven't got the time or energy to do it themselves.

I have never and never would suggest that people need companies like mine to get their charges back. They do, however, if they know they won't have the time or energy to do it themselves.

I have emailed Martin himself to ask him to argue this with me on his radio slot on Radio 2 because I am upset by his frankly horrible and totally unfounded remark.

Cheers

Filipe