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

Rex_Mundi

samfrench32 wrote: »

I know I hate to use a company like this and give them a cut but I'm at my wits end with this bank charge stuff I cannot afford MCOL and I dont really understand how to go about the FO. Hopefully this is a reputable company I just thought that also it would be quicker then me doing it alone, I dont want my account closed either.
Sam

If you cannot afford MCOL. Read post number 7 in THIS THREAD, and use the link for a list of exemptions. You may be able to issue a claim for free if you qualify.

No company would be able to pursue a claim any quicker than you could do it yourself.

As far as the bank closing your account. Nothing will change if you use a company to claim for you, or if you claim yourself. They will either close the account, or not depending on the bank.

Doing it yourself would save you at least £500 on the amount you've quoted. It seems madness paying this much of your own money to a company for doing something you could very easily do yourself.

defender_of_the_weak

Many companies opened up to deal with endowments years ago and now bank charges are seen as a new route to charge for a service. Everybody can do anything themselves, plumbing etc etc we all make a choice

The problems is that many of them are set up with a website and a phone number to take messages while the company owner goes to work daytime in the bank or complaint handling department of a big insurance company.

if anyone wants to use a company they should talk things through with the company before signing, if you dont get simple straightforward answers then dont use them. Many of the historical postings on here seem to relate to contact and updates which of course are hard to do from someone eleses office.

Banks and building societies in turn deliberately with-hold information correspondence and detail when they think they can to delay any settlement. This is the same tactic they used with new endowment companies to try and force them out of business by starving cashflow.

The joke here is that in the original endowment survey by which they couldnt find a single company charging less than 15% and in martins original article he gives the details for three companies charging 25% plus.

I'm not going to defend companies that give poor service and charge IMHO too much money but the reality is that some people cannot or do not want to deal themselves.

On a final note, all claims companies should be regulated and can be found on the claims management regulation website

calandergirl1111

What if I use a Financial Claims Company, no win no fee (10% on what I do win) to act on my behalf? Surely they'll be better equipped legally to sort it out? Any advice welcome.....

Beate

No they are not, they just make you think they are. See above posts.

tilly1969

hi all
has any one else heard of Conkers.co.uk, i received an email from friends re united with their link in.They say they can reclaim bank charges for you but charge a whopping 25%!!! just wondering if any body else has heard of these sort of companies or had any success with them.

Stephen_Leak

tilly1969 wrote: »

hi all
has any one else heard of Conkers.co.uk, i received an email from friends re united with their link in.They say they can reclaim bank charges for you but charge a whopping 25%!!! just wondering if any body else has heard of these sort of companies or had any success with them.

Please, be very wary of these companies. Most have jumped on the bank charge reclaiming bandwagon, thinking that they can make a quick and easy profit for just sending a couple of letters. Now, of course, they find that most claims require either referral to the Financial Ombudsman or court proceedings to be undertaken.

However, there are a few longer-established companies who started out dealing with other types of financial claims and can now use that expertise in this new field. Personally, I would strongly recommend avoiding any charging more than 10%.<O:p</O:p

mb20goo

Hi there. I started reclaiming my bank charges from Nationwide and had got up to the point where my next step was to offer to take a reduced amount to save taking them to court, but then my laptop decided to stop working and I lost a note of all the letters I had previously sent them! Yes I know, I should have backed them up, but I just didnt get around to doing that.

Anyway, I was now thinking of just hiring a company to do all the work for me. I still have a note of all the charges from the past 5 years which I could pass on to them. However, when looking round the internet, I noticed that there are several of these companies that have jumped on the bandwagon. Some are "only" wanting 10% of what I am claiming for, whereas there are several others that want 25% and higher!

Now, I wouldn't mind so much if it was only a small amount I was reclaiming, but mine and my partners joint a/c accumulated over £5,000 in charges, so that means that I am forking out about £600 to a company!

Another reason I want someone else to take over is the fact that in Scotland, you can only claim so much in small claims court, so I would need to go to a bigger court, and personally, I find the whole thing a bit daunting.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any of these companies that offer you a "no-win, no-fee" offer.

I would appreciate others input / advice on this or any other companies.


Thanks for reading,
Paula

Edinburghlass_2

No reflection on yourself but I've removed the link to the website as I have done with others due to a policy of no advertising these companies on MSE.

As you are claiming from Scotland, look at the Reclaiming in Scotland thread where you'll find many users who have successfully gone through the Financial Ombudsman and no cost to themselves which has to be better than giving away 10%.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=308885&page=17

As the five years limit only comes into play when claiming though court if you go down the FO route have a look and see if you have the details of your charges for six years

happy_hammer_2

Hi guys (and ladies). My claim against Barclays is being handled by a company called Robertson Holbrook and has been on going for about 4/5 months. Today i received a letter from barclays telling me that they refuse to deal with Robertson Holbrook but at the same time offering me £3480.00 as a gesture of goodwill (i`m claiming for £5000). Is this a barclays tactic or should i accept and call it quits ? I have tried to contact Robertson Holbrook but they never returned my calls or e-mails. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Edinburghlass_2

Barclays may refuse to deal with RH but they are likely to expect the percentage you agreed to pay when you made the contract with them. As regards the offer from Barclays, well its up to you if you take it or carry on to court.

However if you haven't been dealing with the claim you would need to write to Barclays and tell them you would be proceeding to court with your claim and give them 14 days to respond.