Claim company did nothing, do we pay??

natdjay

Hi. I'm hoping for some advice, or just an opinion even.
Just over 12months ago my DH decided to use a PPI claims company to reclaim on 4 loans. We did NOT get a copy of any agreement at the time (someone came to the house). We received only one letter from them which is dated 12 Oct 2010, and they never made contact with us after that, we did ring them once to see what was going on just before the court case started but were told the usual about it being on hold.
Not long after the court stuff finished we recieved a letter from Halifax (we had been ringing them ourselves to find out the status of our claim) and we dealt with them directly to eventually claim back £6700 in total plus a £2000 reduction on the current loan.
Anyway, we have just had a phone call from the claim company but i told them my DH wasn't here at the moment and to try another time.
What do we do now??
I don't feel like we should have to pay them the full amount that i'm guessing their going to ask for (we will have to pay something of course), seen as thay did nothing after whatever they sent to halifax and the one letter we received.
Yes, i know my DH shouldn't have used the company in the first place for something so simple, but i'm afraid it was his choice. He is clueless i know that much! :huh:

kelly993

Hi Natdjay
I think you are in the same boat as allot of people who used a CMC, they do very very little for the amount of money you will end up paying them. I’m afraid if you signed an agreement with them then you are going to have little choice but to pay them what you owe. The whole PPI reclaiming takes along time with long period of silences in between its a waiting game for everyone and you can guarantee that all they did was send in the form to company with nothing else. But having said that, did they actually say in the contract that they would do anything more than this? If for example they have stated in the contract that they will contact you every week, chase the creditor you are claiming from every month etc then you may be able to get out of it due to a breach but I would be very shocked if that is in the contract as they will do very little for an extraordinary amount of money. I did actually think about using a CMC before finding this wonderful site, they make it sound like they can get you so much back and take care of this 'complicated claiming procedure' they are very convincing so your DH can be forgiven!!

magpiecottage

Without knowing the full details, it is not possible for us to say.

However, it seems odd to me that this firm took the matter to court at all. Normally they would either use the Financial Ombudsman Service or give up. Court is not without its costs and risks to the complainant or (in this instance, the CMC) whereas the FOS is free.

However, if it goes to FOS, the actual complainant, not the CMC must sign the FOS form (courts may allow it to be done on line - I am not sure).

As Kelly 993 says, though, if you can demonstrate that the CMC has not done what it said it would do, or that it failed to comply with the MOJ code of conduct, you may have cause for complaint.

kelly993

However, it seems odd to me that this firm took the matter to court at all. Normally they would either use the Financial Ombudsman Service or give up. Court is not without its costs and risks to the complainant or (in this instance, the CMC) whereas the FOS is free.

I could be wrong but I think the court case that the OP was referring to was the JR rather than the CMC taking their particular case into court. That’s the way I read it anyway!

pipz_2

I stupidly used a claim management company who did very little! However when I received a letter from FSCS about my welcome finance claim saying they had not received my application form and would close the claim if they didn't hear from me, I emailed the claim company as I had sent it 'off' a couple of months before. This claim company told me they hadn't received it so I insisted they look for it. They found it buried in another claim file of mine which was closed ages ago!! I told them that they had not acted in my best interests by doing this and I expected a reduction in the fee. I managed to get it from 25% to 17.5%, I wanted 15% but they wouldn't have it! My point is, haggle with them if you don't feel they have met their part of the terms and conditions contract that you signed. Good luck