Gladstone Brookes fees

Skazza

Hello,

I have had Gladstone Brookes working on my behalf for almost a year now and in this time have found out (To my horror) that what they have done for me I could have done myself.

Apparently my case has been successful and we are just waiting on the ombudsman for the settlement figure. I contacted my bank and asked if there was anyway I could take the third party out of the equation and they told me yes but the third party needs to agree it.

So I rang GB and (Understandbly) they do not want to cancel the contract as it has been declared successful they want their money.

I said I no longer want to proceed with the claim as this didn't feel worth the wait but they told me that if I pulled out now I would be liable for "fees". I have already paid the £50 charge which I was told was for admin work (A couple of letters, probably a cut and paste job, takes no longer than 30 minutes) but they insist that the admin fees were a separate charge.

Should I ask them for these "fees" charges and pay them or leave it go through and end up paying them their 30% win fee for what can only be described as sweet FA work on their part??

My own fault I know but I wondered if anybody had encountered a similar problem and how they resolved it.

I have signed a contract with them.

Thanks

kelly993

Hi

If you have signed a contract with them then you are going to find it very hard to get out of. I don’t agree with these companies at all but if you have recruited them to do work for you then you cant really expect to pull out of a contract when it comes to payment time. You are correct, they have done very little work on your behalf but does their terms and conditions of the contract actually state what they will be doing? The only way I can see that you would be able to terminate the contract would be to prove that they have breached it in some way. You might want to read through your contract and see if they have breached any part of it. If not then you will have to pay them and put it down to a lesson learnt. I know its not the best for you as you clearly want to be able to keep all of your redress but contracts are a complete nightmare to get out of in general and especially at this stage.

roonaldo

You signed a contract with them, they made a successful complaint for you and won you money, but now you dont want to pay them?

dunstonh

A couple of letters, probably a cut and paste job, takes no longer than 30 minutes

A fellow IFA showed me one of their letters a few months back and I would say it was closer to 30 seconds.

As much as I dislike some claims companies, if you enter into a contract to use their services then they have every right to be paid. You cant just pull out now because you have won. You needed to withdraw long before the outcome.

magpiecottage

As others have said, you signed a contract so you have to pay.

Download Martin's Teen Cash Guide and read it. In future remember that whoever you sign a contract with is only going to enter into that contract because they think it is to their advantage to do so and it is your job, not theirs to make sure it is to your advantage as well.

Learning that will be far more valuable than their fee in the long run.

Skazza

Yes I sort of new I wasn't gonna get out of it but I thought I would check it out with more responsible folk first lol.

I will run through the contract meticulously but I know I made a costly mistake here.

Quite rightly I will put it down to a lesson learnt.

Never been very good with money or research,

Thanks again all

Skazza

UpTheSwanny_2

Maybe you could tell a little porky - that you have another loan with the same bank and that the bank is insistent that the compensation is used to reduce your current outstanding debts? Wonder if firing off a letter to the claims company stating that you are unhappy with the amount the bank has offered and you are revoking their authority to pursue your claim any further. Somebody must have answers against these rip-off firms!

magpiecottage

UpTheSwanny wrote: »

Maybe you could tell a little porky - that you have another loan with the same bank and that the bank is insistent that the compensation is used to reduce your current outstanding debts?

An absolutely stupid idea. They find out it is untrue, you are done for fraud and unable to get insurance or credit.

Then you really would be UpTheSwanny!

roonaldo

UpTheSwanny wrote: »

Maybe you could tell a little porky - that you have another loan with the same bank and that the bank is insistent that the compensation is used to reduce your current outstanding debts? Wonder if firing off a letter to the claims company stating that you are unhappy with the amount the bank has offered and you are revoking their authority to pursue your claim any further. Somebody must have answers against these rip-off firms!

and a great way to get sued at the same time.

Yorik

Hi,

Just wondering what your thoughts are on my letter to Gladstone Brookes Ltd - whom I deem to have failed me in their contractual agreement and have rescinded the contract as such. No doubt they will try to hang on using whatever legal jargon etc. Your views would be greatly appreciated.

Termination of contract between G Es & Gladstone Brookes Ltd – XXXXX-1

Further to my telephone conversation of Friday 09 September with Mr (removed)I am rescinding my contract with immediate effect.
Despite a telephone conversation with one of your colleagues on the 31 August informing him that:
(a) No reply had been heard from Lloyds TSB and that they were not working in line with the requirements set out by the FSA and the time line of 31 Aug.
(b) The fact that the above mentioned colleague did not ring me back on Friday 02 September as promised with an explanation.
Because of the reasons above I deem that you have broken the terms of any contract that may have existed between us by failing to take any pro active action necessary, as clearly stated in earlier correspondence, to further my claim, even after being informed by myself via the above mentioned telephone conversation.
I reserve my right to withdraw from the contract at any time. And I would further ask that any charges to me shall be limited to what is deemed reasonable in the circumstances and shall reflect work undertaken up to the 09 Sept by your business.
I would request that you supply me with written evidence / copies of any contact made by you on my behalf with Lloyds TSB, including times and dates of any telephone conversations.
I will at the same time be requesting my contact at Lloyds TSB to confirm the above, as it was made very clear during my last verbal conversation on Friday 09 September that no such contact has been made by you or logged in relation to resolving my claim, and to this date I have still not received a final response letter.
I further request that due to the contract being rescinded that you no longer have my consent to act on my behalf, and as such will have no further contact with Lloyds TSB regarding this matter.

Yorik

What would be the circumstances if there appears to be very little reference at all to the terms relating to cancelling the contract?

It also appears that my wifes claim which has been successful was claimed using a what seems in my opinion to be a "Standard across the board" Statement of Allegations! Could this, now coming to our attention after reading other threads, be classed as mis-representation [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Terms and Conditions

You are entitled to cancel this agreement at any point within 14 days of signing it. If you cancel after that time we are entitled to charge you a reasonable figure for the work that we have done.

What would be deemed as reasonable? And could this not be more precise?