25% for doing virtually nothing?

Kevandzoe

Hi all....have a question i would like to ask..
we recently used Belmont Thornton to reclaim PPI on a Black Horse Loan...but i have a gripe over the £750 they want from us...

Basically, they sent off the initial letter to B/H, all of a sudden black horse decide to sell the debt to a collections company, and refer the PPI claim to the FOS....now, its the FOS, in conjunction with Black Horse, that have done the work in settling this claim....NOT Belmont Thornton......so do they still have the right to charge £750 for what basically amounted to just a couple of letters??..the other issue i have, is that the £2450 settlement went off the exhisting debt we have with Black Horse regarding this claim....so ive not actually got the money to pay Belmont Thornton....

Can i contest there charges of £750 on the grounds they didnt do the work to get the PPI back? or am i basically stuffed??
Many thanks in advance

Harry_Flashman

I feel your pain. I had this with a couple of PPI claims (I wasn't made aware that the money recovered would be paid into the debt and I'd be left paying fees).

I couldn't get out of it as it was in the contract I'd signed (my fault I didn't read it properly) so I just had to swallow it.

Kevandzoe

i find it highly stupid that they can claim these charges although they done no work to earn it! 'work on your behalf'?...more like let the FOS do the work while we sit back and cream the money off it....ive not got the £750 to pay them, so im going to have to tell them i can only pay a small ammount every month to pay them off if thats the case?? they wont like that, but what can i do??

dilus

Kevandzoe wrote: »

i find it highly stupid that they can claim these charges although they done no work to earn it! 'work on your behalf'?...more like let the FOS do the work while we sit back and cream the money off it....ive not got the £750 to pay them, so im going to have to tell them i can only pay a small ammount every month to pay them off if thats the case?? they wont like that, but what can i do??

Unfortunately that is the big problem with using a claims company when there is an outstanding debt. Not only does the redress get used to pay off the debt but you still end up with a bill from the claims company.
Claims Companies are the reason the FOS are snowed under because all too often they just fire your claim off to the FOS. It doesn't matter to them how long it takes, they get their cut in the end, from you
There is nothing you can do to get out of paying them, they did what was contractually asked and have every right to be paid there fee
We never advise using a claims company on this site, especially when there is outstanding debt, as your unfortunate example highlights.

magpiecottage

You may have grounds for complaint. Clearly you already had considerable arrears when you contracted with Belmont Thornton.

Client Specific Rule 1e of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2007 says: "A business shall where advice is given, only advise the client to pursue cases only where it is in the best interests of the client to do so", whilst Client Specific Rule 14 says, "A business must take reasonable steps to ensure that the client is able to understand the contract that he is being asked to agree to."

It is difficult to see why you would have signed up if those rules had been complied with.

I suggest a complaint to [EMAIL="complaints@belmontthornton.co.uk"]complaints@belmontthornton.co.uk[/EMAIL] on those grounds, making clear that you are copying it to their regulator at consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk might be the best way forward.

Harry_Flashman

Kevandzoe wrote: »

im going to have to tell them i can only pay a small ammount every month to pay them off if thats the case?? they wont like that, but what can i do??

That's what I did - fiver a week