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

bardenny

:T Hi im trying to find out if anyone has heard of the company Advantage Claims Management. My daughter has in the past been charged by her bank, I think unfairly and I am encourageing her to reclaim them, she has been given this company's name to let them do it for her. I am not sure about it has she has to give all her banking details before they can act on her behalf. Has anyone heard of them, are they trustworthy and would she find it easy to do herself as they take a one off payment of £50.00 + VAT and any interest the overcharge has made? I would be grateful for anyone's comments.

Orford

They will not get your money back any quicker than if you do it yourself ( and save £50). There are plenty of examples of peoples bad experiences using one of these companies.

I can almost certainly guarantee, if you go down this route, that you will rue the day you had anything to do with them

defender_of_the_weak

Apparently this company 'advantage' lie. Their website says they are the cheapest in the uk but are not as they sneak in the interest charge alongside their fee. The website makes no mention of the 50 pound upfront but does state a 100 pound minimum fee. Up until last year they were known as i-smart wireless so their pedigree or otherwise is vaguely dubious

In the world of financial claims companies there are the good (seems to be me ) the bad (most of the rest, with opaque T & Cs and charging structures who charge too much for the service provided) and the ugly (they sting you fee big up front fees and melt into the mist with your money or win the claim and disappear with all of it).

To clarify for recent posters I run a claims company

andyw76

All

I have just had a call (on my work mobile I might add) from a company called Reclaim to Gain telephone number 01253 755781 asking if I would like them to reclaim my bank charges. Of course I said no because I am doing it myself thanks to Martin's help !

So watch out for cold callers :money:

Andy

hendec

A number of law firms, and claims handlers, offer to claim back your charges for you. In general, I wouldn’t bother; simply do it yourself 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 make sure you fully understand the charging structure. You should NEVER PAY ANYTHING UPFRONT OR IF YOU LOSE. If the company is not open and up front about its fees (usually around 25% of what you get back) look elsewhere. You could also ask for references from other satisfied customers, which it should be happy to do if kosher.
All claims companies must be regulated for claims management activities and will have a reference to check (e.g. CRM1234) on the Ministry of Justice database. Avoid anyone not on this list.

I know that this site does not like to promote companies that are offering to reclaim your charges for you, however, the above is an extract from the reclaiming guide on this site.
I have been approached by a company called Total refund, they are on the list as suggested above.
the only reason I am considering using them is because they advertise that they will get me a full refund including interest and the money will be paid to me via cheque regardless of whether I have an outstanding balance or not, in total I have 3 cc's which total around 2.5k in charges, with this amount i could pay off 1 of the cc's or my bank loan and to be honest I think I am entitled to decide what happens to the money (my opinion rightly or wrongly) They are offering to do this for a fee of 74.95 which i am happy to pay if they can get me my money back.

All comments are welcome but please don't give me a hard time for considering it, I have spent the last 2 years getting on top of my finaces and have had to enter in to a repayment plan with the cccs. It's hard work, and yes its my own doing but like most the charges started to spiral, I became ill, the ppi didnt cover my illness so the debts just snowballed, the rest as they say is history!

Hendec:rolleyes:

Elise1309

If you have access to online bank statments, or if you've been well organised and kept your paperwork tidy at home, it isn't actually that difficult or time consuming to work out what you are owed (the online calculator on here adds interest etc for you). And there are template letters which you can use virtually verbatim.

I don't think I'd consider using a recovery company unless I had a horrendously complicated case and/or very poor literacy skills.

Edinburghlass_2

hendec wrote: »

A number of law firms, and claims handlers, offer to claim back your charges for you. In general, I wouldn’t bother; simply do it yourself 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 make sure you fully understand the charging structure. You should NEVER PAY ANYTHING UPFRONT OR IF YOU LOSE. If the company is not open and up front about its fees (usually around 25% of what you get back) look elsewhere. You could also ask for references from other satisfied customers, which it should be happy to do if kosher.
All claims companies must be regulated for claims management activities and will have a reference to check (e.g. CRM1234) on the Ministry of Justice database. Avoid anyone not on this list.

I know that this site does not like to promote companies that are offering to reclaim your charges for you, however, the above is an extract from the reclaiming guide on this site.
I have been approached by a company called Total refund, they are on the list as suggested above.
the only reason I am considering using them is because they advertise that they will get me a full refund including interest and the money will be paid to me via cheque regardless of whether I have an outstanding balance or not, in total I have 3 cc's which total around 2.5k in charges, with this amount i could pay off 1 of the cc's or my bank loan and to be honest I think I am entitled to decide what happens to the money (my opinion rightly or wrongly) They are offering to do this for a fee of 74.95 which i am happy to pay if they can get me my money back.

All comments are welcome but please don't give me a hard time for considering it, I have spent the last 2 years getting on top of my finaces and have had to enter in to a repayment plan with the cccs. It's hard work, and yes its my own doing but like most the charges started to spiral, I became ill, the ppi didnt cover my illness so the debts just snowballed, the rest as they say is history!

Hendec:rolleyes:

They may advertise that you will receive your money via a cheque but it is up to the bank/credit card that you are claiming from as to how they repay any claims and if they put this towards any debt then you will have to pay the company any fees owed.

Also note they say FROM £74.95, read the small print before you agree. You say they will get you a full refund including interest, there is nothing to say this on their website?

edited to add, you say you have been approached by this company, you need to consider why?

philltee

MarkG,

I also have used Boomerang Bank Charges, and noticed that their costs include a VAT amount also on their website. I contacted them about this, as there is nothing on the T&C to state this. They told me that they have only recently introduced the VAT charge, as they themselves now have to pay VAT, but they will not charge VAT to any customers who registered before this was implemented.
I think companies such as boomerang are very useful for people who dont have the time to put together all the necessary documentation, or going through all their statements. At the end of the day, a lot of people would not complain at all if it wasnt for reclaim companies doing the work for them - I know I wouldnt have. And the more money the banks are forced to pay back, the better.

Africa

I received a cold call on my mobile from Reclaim to Gain (bankcharges etc) advising that for a one off fee of £40 they will do all the necessary paperwork! has anyone else had this call? I am not touching them with a bargepole especially after all Martin has done to help us!

ed1981

I have recently been contacted by a company called reclaim2gain advising they could recover my bank charges within 2-3 months for a charge of £40. Is this a good idea considering the uncertainty surrounding the current test case/appeal? Thanks, Ed