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

esmerellda

cleaningbloke wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right thread.
I got a company called Advantage Claims to manage my credit card charges claim I had an offer of £814 in charges and £841.37 in interest totalling £1655.37 said claims management company have sent me the banks claim form to send back to teh claims management company with an invoice for their fees as follows

Proffesioanl fee on bank charges 10% £81.40
VAT 17.5% £14.25
Interest paid by bank 100% £841.37
Total feee £937.02

This is unfair tht means that they are making more than me. What would happen if I sent the claim form straight to the bank?

That sounds like a lot of interest for the amount of the claim. I assume they have claimed contractual interest on your behalf.

The actual charges you were claiming were £814.00, advantage claims take 10% of that, AND any interest the credit card company agree to pay on your claim, so all you were ever going to get would have been £814 less £81.40.

I havent looked fully at their terms on their site but it will probably state the 10% is subject to VAT.


If you had of done it yourself, then you could have got the full amount (814 + 841 interest), if thats contractual interest then you might have got your 814 plus 8% PA interest as statutory court interest.

Its how these companies make their money, and yep can be gauling, but they do state their charges clearly. The interest can add up quite quickly so can be a lot more than you bargained for when you started off.

esmerellda

craigieboy7 wrote: »

Hello everyone!
Has anyone used "Advantage Claims", or know anything about them? They are a trading name of "i-sm@art consumer services ltd".
I was told about them by a friend (they are currently handling his claim). They only want 10% of any claim (others i have seen want about 20-30%). Don't know why but it's got my alarm bells wringing! Weird web address too www.bankcharges.biz , maybe i'm just paranoid! As it's for my mothers claim, i don't want to give her dodgy advice!

Has anyone had any dealings with them?

Regards
Craig

see the above post - the 10% comes off the actual charges repaid, then the company retain any interest paid on the refund.

cleaningbloke

The way they worded their terms made it sound like they wanted 10% of your charges and interest not !0% of charges and all of the interest 937.32 seems a lot of money for 3 hours work

esmerellda

[FONT=Georgia,serif]The Fee we charge[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia,serif]Our fee is 10% ex.VAT in addition to any interest that is payed on your claim[/FONT][FONT=Georgia,serif].

and


[/FONT][FONT=Georgia,serif]4. How much does your service cost?[/FONT][FONT=Georgia,serif]Our fee is 10% (exc. VAT) plus any interest paid on your claim of any amount recovered on your behalf. If you find a cheaper deal elsewhere, we will beat that deal by 1%. That’s our promise to you. Our minimum fee is £100 on any claim.[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia,serif]

I agree it may be misconstrued but it should be all laid out in the terms and conditions signed before they took on the claim. Do you have a copy of those?
[/FONT]

Edinburghlass_2

cleaning bloke, I realise you are upset but there is no need to be rude and I've removed a few posts.

esmerellda

Oh I hope I didn't offend you cleaningbloke, I just meant if you have the T&Cs we can have a better look see if they are misleading you in those as well as on the site.

cleaningbloke

I have hust sent you a PM

esmerellda

Thank you, i have replied and its fine, honestly.

If you do want some help with your other bits and bobs then please feel free to PM me or post on here...its good to deal with it all as a oneness (if that makes sense).

((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))

Stellasaurus

I have recently had a cold call from a company offering to claim my bank charges for me. The company is called CMS Solutions. They offer this service for a one off payement of £74.95. http://www.cmssolutionsonline.co.uk/

Has anyone used one of these companies?

Is it a scam and should I be on the Watchdog website instead?

I must admit, it is very tempting to use them as I have £1,000s to reclaim and don't really want the hassel of court and endless .comunication with my bank.

I would be grateful for any feedback.

cat1979_2

I have not heard of that company, I am using Bank smart as are several of my friends. They charge a flat 10% fee of your charges. Like you, the thought of reclaiming all that money myself seemed daunting so i looked for an agency. This one has a website to do it all from. Hope this helps.