Anyone had experience of a company/solicitor doing the work of reclaiming? (merged)

ncrossland

Got a spam e-mail today (to an address I don't use for registering anywhere, but appears only on one website, so it must have been harvested from there) offering to reclaim bank charges for ONLY 25% of the amount reclaimed.

I think this is taking advantage of publicity about these charges (generated in a large part by this site) but completely exploiting people who may not know any better.

nickmack

Definitely.

As with other spam, it should be deleted.

simongregson

I note that GreasyPalm https://www.greasypalm.co.uk (a cashback site) now has an entry for a company offering to 'reclaim your bank charges without hastle. It doesn't make clear if the company charges a fee - I suspect they do.

I have submitted a review of the retailer pointing them in the direction of https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk and this site. I suggest others do the same so as many people as possible get the message!

lewt

it says no win no fee... but i wonder what the fee is.

Rex_Mundi

The ones I've seen advertised have been between 25% and 40% of the total charges reclaimed.

In other words..........A complete rip off!

easternhammer

Anyone seen the Greasypalm offer. Doing all the reclaims for you. Is it safe? I would love to reclaim all my charges but am struggling to open another account due to a credit record from a £100 outstanding charge fro rubbish Orange phones and £15 for british gas. Both debts have been paid.

liz105

sounds like someone cashing in, like the endowment mortgage adverts, why pay someone else to do it when its so easy to do yourself?

Rex_Mundi

The company on greasypalm wont help you get another account. They will just reclaim your charges, then take at least 25% of them. They are doing nothing different that you cant do yourself. If you are already in debt, it doesn't make sense to pay your money out to another company when you don't need to. Martin called these companies vultures.

All the information you need is in Martins article. This includes templates of all the letters you need at each stage.

onthinice

A relation of mine has recomended ,not sure if its a company or a private individual who say they can reclaim bank charges for you for a small fee (removed) this is part of thier email addy.Have tried to google them to see who they are but cant find anything. i did say recommend thier actually having doubts as the replys are taking up to three or four weeks.Hmmmmm.

nickmack

onthinice wrote:

A relation of mine has recomended ,not sure if its a company or a private individual who say they can reclaim bank charges for you for a small fee (removed) this is part of thier email addy.Have tried to google them to see who they are but cant find anything. i did say recommend thier actually having doubts as the replys are taking up to three or four weeks.Hmmmmm.

This is Martin's position on these companies:

"A growing number of law firms have recently started jumping on the bandwagon to sort through cases. In general, I wouldn’t bother; simply do it yourself through the Small Claims system and don't bother using a law firm. However, if your case is more complex and/or you simply wouldn’t do it yourself, then bringing in a law firm is a reasonable last resort.

If you are going to use a lawyer, then ensure you don’t pay any fees upfront, or if you lose, and ensure you fully understand the charging structure. Some of the firms advertising services are ChargeClaims, Robertson Holbrook and Bank Complaints, but please note they are listed here for your convenience and their listing does NOT imply any form of recommendation."

From:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,#help

onthinice

Cheers for the info really helpfull,