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

thp_2

Hello - please help as I am new to the website.
We have been advised we are entitiled to a large repayment by a company called Legal Claims Direct (they have been specific on the amount yet we have not knowingly provided any financial info).
They are requesting an upfront fee.
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this company which we found on the internet please?

srobbo74

pls help!!

tried to reclaim £1900 worth of bank charges on my own but court case slowed it up, so instructed financialclaimsuk to reclaim credit card charges from citi financial and Halifax This was in ay of last year and as it stands i hae heard nothing. I have rung and complained 4 times but still heard nothing.

can i reclaim on my own and who do i complain to about finanialclaimsuk any advice would be greatly accepted

linniestorm

srobbo74, are you trying to reclaim bank charges from a current account do you mean? Currently, as there is a test legal case, the banks have received a waiver that means they can put all bank charge cases 'on hold' until the outcome of the case and any appeals are over with. So nothing is happening with anyone's bank charge related claims at the moment and nothing will happen with them, probably in the near future. But reclaiming credit card charges is not on hold, that's why people are still having success with them. So if your charges are relating to a current account/s, afraid you're going to have to sit tight and wait (like many of us) for the reclaim process to start again, no idea when that will be! Not sure where you can complain about that company, the Financial Ombudsman perhaps?

boo2905

Hi

I'm wondering if anyone can help me.

My partner's brother is being taken to court by Natwest for a £4,200 overdraft, £3,000 of this is unauthorised but has accumulated thanks to bank charges.

A company has said that they can claim the money back for the charges for him before a court sets out the payment scheme.

Forgive me if I am wrong but I thought all claims were on hold, even those done by companies on your behalf.

Can anyone help?

nickmack

boo2905 wrote: »

A company has said that they can claim the money back for the charges for him before a court sets out the payment scheme.

Forgive me if I am wrong but I thought all claims were on hold, even those done by companies on your behalf.

The company can't do anything more than you can do if you made the claim yourself. The claim could be made, but it's likely it will be stayed.

Beccan_2

5 months ago I was canvassed by a company called Total Refund who offered to reclaim my bank charges for me for a fee of £50. I agreed to this but have not received a penny! I sent a complaint form to the Financial Ombudsman as instructed, and have recieved 3 letters from Lloyds TSB , each one stating i should have a response within 4 weeks. The last was in December and still no joy! I feel like I am being fobbed off now not just by the bank but also by the company who are suppposed to be representing me!
I am a small business and Lloyds have had nearly £4000 in bank charges off me in the last 6 years, most of which for charges for cheques being cleared when I was in credit but waiting on cheques paid in to clear, at £35 a go! This was despite my request several times for a small overdraft to act as a buffer in these occasions , especially as ny account has been in credit for years.
After the complaint was placed by the Financial Ombudsman, Lloyds informed me that my account was to be closed. I consulted Total Refund who told me this would not effect me receiving the refund, but since the account closed, I have had a night mare trying to get any response from Lloyds.
I feel ready to burst & my patience is running out with both companies!
Any suggestions anyone? A friend of mine works at The Telegraph and I am SO SO tempted to tell him all which I have always regarded as dirty tactics!
Becca.:mad: :mad:

annienewman

Hi unsure if I am doing this right as its my first time to a forum site...anyway, does anyone have any advise on hiring one of these no win no fee companies to take on the case (i havent got time to do it myself). If anyone knows of any good ones, please reply. Thanks must get the ball rolling on this ASAP. :A

Edinburghlass_2

You need to read the previous posts and read Martin's article regarding reclaiming.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

Despite what any company may claim, they won't be able to get any further than you can yourself at the moment.

Diane_239

hi,
has anyone used Conkers to claim bank or credit charges back have just received there form to make a claim for credit card charges and note that i have to give my bank account details,
just a little worried about giving these details has have been scammed in the past by other firms.
would be greatfull for your views.

FrenchRay

Hi. I work for one of the big banks in the department that deals with reclaiming bank charges and i feel i must comment on the work of third parties as I get so angry with they way some of these companies rip off their customers.

Firstly I would never recommend using a third party as the process is so simple if you use Martins templates and the advice of other people in the same position that there is just no need to pay others to do it for you. Why let others take from 25%-75% in your money for little work!

Once the test case is over and any appeals go through it is very likely there will be a definitive decision and the banks will have to act accordingly. In other words, if banks are found to be in the wrong, they may have to pay back everything they have charged so the third party will have no work to do on your behalf. You will be paying them to send in a standard letter which you could do yourself! The number of third parties who use Martins standard letters is unbelievable, they dont even write their own version! They literally do nothing that customers do themselves.

One misconception is that banks will take third parties more seriously than they will a customer. In the case of the bank i work for if anything the opposite is the case. A third party request for refund is treated in the exact same way that a customers is so there is no reason to use them.

Now the one thing that really confuses me is when customers who have already logged a request for a refund start to use a third party in the hope that they will speed up the process. As I said earlier, if the decision goes against the banks and they simply have to pay up these customers will have thrown away whatever extortionate percentage of their reclaim the third party take. It really makes no sense whatsoever. If you already have a claim logged DO NOT then use a third party. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Now on a more worrying note some of the third parties often take little care with personal data. If i had a pound for everytime a third party sent the bank i work for details of customers for other banks I would probably have made as much as the banks have in charges! Some seem to have little care for your personal data.

Remember, some of these third parties are little more than an individual working from their front room. The press interest in bank charges has attracted lots of people who are not interested in getting justice for you, but lining their own pockets so please be careful.