MSE News: MSE & Which? team up for PPI claims handler guidance

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:


"We are demanding claims management firms stop misleading consumers with false promises over PPI reclaiming ..."

Read the full story:
MSE & Which? team up for PPI claims handler guidance

magpiecottage

The demands are:

• A ban on cold calling - that would be a good idea, spam calls and texts are a pain in the - making any fee agreement resulting from a cold call non-enforcible should stop it in its tracks
• and upfront fees - good idea, not only will it protect consumers but it will reduce the number of spurious complaints businesses have to deal with (and pass associated costs for onto other customers)
• All terms, conditions and fees to be published online, making them freely available to consumers without a requirement to share any personal information - a good idea as it will better enable consumers to make an informed decision.
• Fees to be based only on the money paid directly to the consumer - I think it IS reasonable that a firm should be able to charge a fee not related to the actual redress payable provided this is disclosed as a monetary amount BEFORE the complainant is committed. Thus, for example, there must be a written statement saying "We anticipate you future charges of £10,000 will be waived if the complaint is upheld. We will charge you £2,500 for this plus VAT, a total of £3,000. Because this will not be paid as cash you will need to find additional funds to pay this by other means". I say this because I think there may be circumstances in which consumers actually think it is worth doing that.
  
• Firms to advise potential customers upfront of free options to make a claim/Firms never to claim they improve your chances of success or an increased payout compared to making a claim independently - This is fine, provided there is some way of enforcing it. The obvious one is that a disclosure document must be issued at outset and consumers must sign to say they have received it (a bit like Financial Advisers do).

I would also like to see Claims Companies made to pay the costs of respondent firms investigating fraudulent complaints and paying fees to the Financial Ombudsman Service for submitting complaints that are without merit.

abouttimetoo

I've received a spam email this morning from a company called PPI Claims Management Co Ltd. There is a lot of blurb but one part says

"....Now you can claim compensations worth £1000's. We expect 500,000 claims this year..."

Now I know very liitle about PPI and don't have it but I think I'm right in saying that compensation is not awarded, it's more that if a customer can prove they were mis-sold the product and the company uphold their claim then they will be refunded their premiums plus some interest. To my mind marketing material that says things like you can claim thousands of compensation is nothing short of misleading!

There is also a prominent banner saying that the highest settlement figure this month is £20,000 which no doubt is also enticing.

Last but not least I note that at the bottom it says that should I wish to unsubscribe to their emails (I never subscribed in the first place) to click a link and below it it says "244 5th Avenue, New York'!!!!

Everpool

There are several interesting news articles on the Claims Standards Council website about these Claims Mangement Companies (CMC's) including one from MSE and another from Which?.

There is also an item about a CMC that is now charging a (relatively reasonable) £100 fixed fee and a £30 DIY software solution - I paid a CMC £1200 as I thought that was a good deal at the time!!!!

I hope all of these articles and the Claims Standard Council will help drive these leeches out of the market

magpiecottage

Everpool wrote: »

I hope all of these articles and the Claims Standard Council will help drive these leeches out of the market

The Claims Standards Council was set up by the leeches to represent put a veneer of respectability on them.

pauladownham

Everpool wrote: »

There are several interesting news articles on the Claims Standards Council website about these Claims Mangement Companies (CMC's) including one from MSE and another from Which?.

There is also an item about a CMC that is now charging a (relatively reasonable) £100 fixed fee and a £30 DIY software solution - I paid a CMC £1200 as I thought that was a good deal at the time!!!!

I hope all of these articles and the Claims Standard Council will help drive these leeches out of the market

I also used a claims firm... my claim against a company went to the fso who were in direct contact with me and i sent everything they needed direct to themselves... after a win the claims firm wanted 25% + vat..!! i did most of the work myself, ringing up, faxes, e mails etc... wrote to the claims firm stating this but they will not budge on the amount i owe..:mad:

src007

pauladownham wrote: »

I also used a claims firm... my claim against a company went to the fso who were in direct contact with me and i sent everything they needed direct to themselves... after a win the claims firm wanted 25% + vat..!! i did most of the work myself, ringing up, faxes, e mails etc... wrote to the claims firm stating this but they will not budge on the amount i owe..

Why did you sign up with the company if you were unhappy with the fee? The fee must have been in the paperwork you signed.

The company can't magic up information about your circumstances at the time of the sale. If you were asked to provide information that isn't ''doing all the work''. The FOS need to ask about your recollections from the time of the sale. How can the company provide that if they weren't there?

Claims firms are businesses with overheads. You must have known you were using a business and therefore you have to pay a fee? If you complain its unfair that a business charges money you'll be writing a complaint for everything you've ever bought! :rotfl:

Claims companies have been in the news because they were making misleading statements to sign people up.

If they lied to you and you can prove that they did, then you can dispute the fee. Otherwise you have to pay, as they're only charging the amount that you agreed and were happy with at the time you signed up.

pauladownham

src007 wrote: »

Why did you sign up with the company if you were unhappy with the fee? The fee must have been in the paperwork you signed.

The company can't magic up information about your circumstances at the time of the sale. If you were asked to provide information that isn't ''doing all the work''. The FOS need to ask about your recollections from the time of the sale. How can the company provide that if they weren't there?

Claims firms are businesses with overheads. You must have known you were using a business and therefore you have to pay a fee? If you complain its unfair that a business charges money you'll be writing a complaint for everything you've ever bought! :rotfl:

Claims companies have been in the news because they were making misleading statements to sign people up.

If they lied to you and you can prove that they did, then you can dispute the fee. Otherwise you have to pay, as they're only charging the amount that you agreed and were happy with at the time you signed up.

Yes i knew i would have to pay a fee and thought it would be easier for them to do all the paperwork.. it didnt work out this way as my claim handler at Delloite informed me everytime she got in touch with the claims company they were unhelpful and slow in response which is why she ended up contacting myself... i also had to pay out to get information needed... so while i dont dispute they have a company to run, overheads etc it was quoted to me that i wouldnt have to worry or do anything else.. leave it all to them.. !!! all i wanted was a slight reduction on their fee for all the time i had to put in...

razzy_2

I cancelled a PPI claim in writing with a firm but they went ahead with the claim and I received a cheque from my bamk which I have not cashed and the company are now wanting money. I contacted them by phone and they said that they did not receive my letter. What do I do? Have I to still pay them?

magpiecottage

Do you have a copy of the letter and proof that you sent it to them?

razzy_2

No. I wrote to them back in September and thought that it was settled so I shredded all the documents andcopy of the letter.