PPI Reclaiming Discussion Part 5

societys_child

I will keep my fingers crossed that others might contribute to this thread today other than this guy

You can't cross your fingers and stick them in both ears at the same time.

You were given the correct info, one thing that CMCs do very well is collect their pound of flesh, they're really good at it, and I've never heard of anyone getting away with not paying.

[Deleted User]

Woodsy76 wrote: »

I will keep my fingers crossed that others might contribute to this thread today other than this guy

If you want others to post encouraging you simply not to pay the Claims firm, I think you are going to be disappointed.

Unfortunately, once the Letter Of Authority is signed a legally binding contract is formed.

You say the company made your Mother sign the forms under duress, but that's something you'll have to go to court to prove I'm afraid.

Simply refuse to pay and you'll have debt collectors chasing you and, ultimately, a CCJ.

blue70

Woodsy76 wrote: »

I will keep my fingers crossed that others might contribute to this thread today other than this guy who seems firmly on the side of rip off companies that take a third of claims for doing almost no work. I won’t go into how they visited my mother in person to get her signature on the form and didn’t explain the charges in any detail. She lives on a residential estate so it appears they were targeting elderly people who would be more vulnerable. Buy hey it’s a contract so they’re the good guys, right? 👍🏼
Anybody else?
Expected more from MSE forum

I think if you really want to go down that route then you need professional legal advice but you have got to consider the fact that if you don't pay this fee your Mother, not you, could end up in court and once the process starts she could also be liable for the other sides legal costs. In my opinion it's not worth the stress for your Mother.

The only way you will know if there has been a breach of contract is to have a solicitor look at the circumstances, the contract, the payment that has been made etc. but I would imagine that the claims company have considered this and that their contract is pretty watertight.

No one is suggesting that the claims company are anything other than parasites but unfortunately the MSE site doesn't provide a magic bullet.

dunstonh

I will keep my fingers crossed that others might contribute to this thread today other than this guy who seems firmly on the side of rip off companies that take a third of claims for doing almost no work.

How is telling you the facts and truth making me on the side of CMCs?

. I won’t go into how they visited my mother in person to get her signature on the form and didn’t explain the charges in any detail.

And we won't go into the fact that none of that matters as she could cancel it when they were gone as she had cooling off rights but she didnt.

Buy hey it’s a contract so they’re the good guys, right? 👍🏼

She has a contract. End of story.

Expected more from MSE forum

If you want posts telling you lies to wrap you up in cotton wool and make you feel better, then go elsewhere. If you dont think the truth is of value, then there is little point you posting here.

Woodsy76

When I posted on here I hoped there may have been other people who’d been in a similar position and some experiences of challenging the claims firms cut and possible options.
I’m glad there has been some other input now and appreciate that. Thanks to blue70 for going into more detail than just ‘truth’ and ‘facts’
Apologies if I came across a little short, not looking for a miracle but I guess I hoped for some glimmer of hope and not being called a fraudster (I think you could see what I was getting at)

[Deleted User]

Woodsy76 wrote: »

When I posted on here I hoped there may have been other people who’d been in a similar position and some experiences of challenging the claims firms cut and possible options.

I think you've mistaken what this forum is about. No one here recommends the use of a Claim Company and we always actively discourage anyone from employing them. However, once the contract is signed and the PPI refund is awarded, there is virtually nothing that can be done retrospectively to avoid paying the agreed fee.

Your only possible option is to complain to the Legal Ombudsman about the alleged duress. Can you provide any actual evidence of this, though?

The problem is that your mother could have simply cancelled the Claim Company's "services" even if she was intimidated into signing up. Waiting until the PPI complaint was successful and only then complaining is not the wisest move at all.

Woodsy76

I admit I’m a novice with the forums and have come on to try and help my mother, if I’m mistaken please advise why?
Some of this advice is now useful so not a waste of time but just to be clear, as she is in her 80’s she didn’t realise the situation and only bought it to my attention when she received her cheque and realised the claim company were demanding £1200. As the company in question visited a residential estate in person to drum up claims from elderly residents, while a contract has been signed, there is obviously no evidence as to how this was explained in terms of fees and cancellation rights. It seems a pretty transparent case of heavy handed sales to easily influenced elderly. Is there any legal advice re these doorstep sales?

dunstonh

It seems a pretty transparent case of heavy handed sales to easily influenced elderly.

Without any evidence to support that allegation, it is not "pretty transparent". It just looks like someone trying to get out of paying a bill. Anyone can claim that sort of thing after the event, whether it happened or not. Remember we are not emotionally attached to this as you are. We can look at it cold and hard without bias either way.

Is there any legal advice re these doorstep sales?

If you want legal advice, you need to see a solicitor. However, there are protections in place which give rights to cancel. However, your mum will be long past those now.

If she genuinely felt pressured, then why did she not speak to you? If you want to go down the route you seem to be keen to follow, then you are going to need to build a case and be prepared to go to court with it. And remember, that sales pressure is allowed as long as it is reasonable. You would have to provide evidence that it went too far.

Also, being in your 80s, is not something that makes you automatically senile. So, is she mentally unable to understand what she is doing? e.g. does her GP record show that she is mentally unaware of what she is doing? Does someone have a power of attorney over her? Does she have a carer?

[Deleted User]

Yes - always use the cooling off period and cancel if you're not happy.

lilia_fellini

I have recently received a SARS pack from Barclays. I don't remember paying PPI but so many said they were charged PPI without knowing, that I thought I'd better double check.

I skimmed through my credit card statements and I can see that I sure paid a lot in interest, but don't see anything suspicious in terms of charges. I also looked at my Prequal statement where it lists all my credit cards I ever had with them and under "Account PPI flag" it says eithe "N" or "Y No Premium Paid" - which I assume means that I either opted out or even if I had it I miraculously had not been charged?

I read somewhere that if you paid your balance in full every month, you would not be charged PPI as it is only charged on outstanding balances. I was consistently good at paying off my balance most of the time, but had a dozen statements, where I clearly only paid the minimum payment and accrued interest on the rest of the balance - but even then I cannot straight away see any payment protection charges. I mean, how hard are they to spot?:search:

Could it be that I am one the few people who did not have PPI? :shocked: I mean, I am not normally that good with money, but perhaps I should pat myself on the back for not getting caught? :cool2: (even though of course I was really hoping I did so I could reclaim "thousands!") :rotfl: