Share your stories on PPI Reclaiming claims handlers

dunstonh

Hedgehog135 wrote: »

I used a claim company U claim 4 me and feel a complete idiot they took my money over £11000 for doing nothing. That was two years ago.

Now they are trying to take more which I am fighting. First plus didn't lower my loan amount two years ago so for that time I have been over paying for about £200 a month. They are now repaying me these over payments. The company think that I owe them over £1000 of my over payments. I don't think they have a claim over any of it. What do you think?

Just wish I had never signed up I could have easily done it myself and don't really know why I didn't

You need to read the contract you signed with them. Typically claims companies base their percentage on anything refunded.

Brains64

Hedgehog135 wrote: »

I used a claim company U claim 4 me and feel a complete idiot they took my money over £11000 for doing nothing. That was two years ago.

Now they are trying to take more which I am fighting. First plus didn't lower my loan amount two years ago so for that time I have been over paying for about £200 a month. They are now repaying me these over payments. The company think that I owe them over £1000 of my over payments. I don't think they have a claim over any of it. What do you think?

Just wish I had never signed up I could have easily done it myself and don't really know why I didn't

It's not your fault, I'm sure you're no idiot, they can look very convincing on their websites, especially to someone that's not every confident with dealing with this kind of thing and claims management companies might have had a real reason for being some years ago when claiming seemed a lot more daunting for many people but they're now at best pointless and at worst a rip off, was it made clear to you by this claims company the amount they would charge you for the service?.

The thing is, most will work on a 'no win no fee' basis and if you do win and get a refund they would then take a certain percentage of that total fee which is bad enough, from what you say though that sounds way in excess of the average charge, there are a small number that will charge a fee regardless of whether you win or not which is even more of 'p' take to be honest but even so, either way or even both, that sounds far too much.

P.S

I had a quick look at their site, I couldn't see an FAQ section, just a standard T&C's which explains nothing about their fee's, how they charge etc, not good!

milly1973

I paid a reclaim company a fee on my credit card ( which I only owed under a thousand. Now I now owe nearly 3 thousand due to the interest that I been added on every month. The company kept telling me they are sorting my claim out this is now over 2 years ago. Now I've found out they have gone into liquidation. Please can anyone tell me what to do next. Don't trust all these companies that say we can get back thousands for you. This company says I had unforceable credit agreement with this credit card. I just wish I had never answered the phone feel stupid that I was sucked in my this company.

scrufts

I apologise profusely if this has already been mentioned but if it saves someone money then all well and good.

I decided to reclaim my PPI against Barclaycard and was under the impression it would be a lot of hassle to get it back. Having searched the web I knew that Barclaycard were not exactly the fastest in terms of payout, so like an idiot I thought using a PPI reclaim company would give things more "clout".
I used a company called Astute Finance who sent me some simple forms to fill in with the promise that "we will make your claim simple and hassle free" yeah right.
Barclaycard eventually sent back to me via astute the standard "ombudsman complaint form" to fill in which I sent to Astute who forwarded it on to Barclaycard. After a number of weeks I contacted Astute who assured me that according to barclaycard my cheque was ready to go out the door. When I spoke to Barclaycard myself I was told it was still being processed. After six phone calls I eventually got just over £4k from Barclaycard with no contact from Astute apart from a promise "to put a note in the diary to contact barclaycard after two weeks".
Essentially I did all the ground work -filling in the forms and chasing Barclaycard to which I have paid Astute nearly £800 to what essentially is a couple of letters and phone calls. I feel a right plonker for basically giving away my money when I could have done it myself. Have a look on most credit card websites and they will tell you that a there is no difference between a claim from a ppi reclaim company or an individual.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY
I've since done another PPI reclaim by myself and it really wasn't that difficult -especially with the guidance on this site.
I've even seen some PPi companies claim that MSE makes out a claim to be too easy or say that they are the experts in "difficult" cases.
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOOSE BY TRYING TO CLAIM BY YOURSELF.
Please, don't do what I did and throw your money away.:(:(:(:(

Hedgehog135

They rang this afternoon and said they would not charge in this instance. Thanks for your help!

[Deleted User]

Hedgehog135 wrote: »

They rang this afternoon and said they would not charge in this instance. Thanks for your help!

How very magnanimous of them, especially after already taking 11K in fees!
Daylight robbery.

Ched21

I thought I should share my experience this afternoon.

I have been contemplating making a PPI claim for a while and by coincidence this afternoon I got one of those sales calls from a claims handling company called Rapid Legal Services. As this was on my mind anyway I thought I would listen to what they had to say rather than immediately reject the call. Their approach is highly developed and carefully scripted for maximum customer capture and I hope that this will help others beware of this approach.

The salesman starts by asking if you have ever had store cards, credit cards or loans and if so with which banks/lenders. They will then say that the institutions you have named are some of the biggest offenders of PPI miss selling and/or that some of their largest successful claims have been against these institutions - this is all designed to start wetting your appetite.

Then they will ask you for some brief details of your current and historic loans/cards stating that they can give a rough estimate of what you are likely to receive. If their carefully scripted call is going to plan you will be eager to find out how much you might get and will offer up further information (approximate values, duration of loans etc)

It is during this part of the call that a very important piece of information is gathered:- they will ask you about a specific credit card (if you have one) and what the credit limit is and current balance. Then they will ask you for an obscure detail on the card, something that it is highly unlikely that you could answer from memory (in my case they asked for the customer services telephone number on the back and stated that depending on the number they may or may not be able to handle a claim on this card). I gave the number and the salesman reiterated he thought I had a strong claim and said he would transfer me to a Senior Claims Handler to progress this further.

Enter the Senior Claims Handler. He starts by repeating the customer services number I just gave to the salesman but deliberately misquotes it and asks me to verify. I corrected him and he then asked for the expiry date on the card, again which I gave to him. In doing this I have inadvertently confirmed to him that I have a "live" credit card in front of me so when he then goes on to request a payment from me of £299 as a set up fee for the claim he knows I can pay it.

I ended the call at that point. Even though you can still back out of dealing with them, they are relying on the fact that you have paid the up front fee and either don't know you can back out or that you feel it is too much hassle. If the carefully scripted call has been successful they will have "hooked" you.

Please be vigilant of this. It seems that in putting an end to one unscrupulous industry another has emerged as a result - that of the claims handler.

gray1952_2

After suffering life threatening illness at the start of this year I began getting all my financial affairs in order. I paid off an MBNA credit card and a couple of other debts that left me debt free. I also began carefully examining all my outgoings and on my Santander current account I noticed one monthly payment for 5.76 ref o d prot. and another for 5.95 to Genworh Financial. I went to my local branch and queried this. A staff member identified the overdraft protection which she said started September 1996!! but could not identify the 5.95. I contacted Genworth who sent me a copy of the policy which was personal accident and began in December 1993!!! Santander made me an offer on the od protection but said they could only trace back to 2005. I rang the call centre and a man there confirmed the September 1996 start date. Then I got a letter restating the 2005 date. I have since sent them another letter threatening them that I would get the F O S view of such duplicity. I await their reply. The personal accident one has now been referred by Genworth to Santander. Also I have filled in a questionnaire from MBNA and await a reply. Happy Days!!! Any similar stories?

THe point being, you can do it yourself. Just hang on in there and don't let go!!

-taff

Another point is check your finances regularly for outgoings you can't identitfy.

helpneededasap_2

Hi, i am looking for some help and advice. My aunt has just told me that she has paid an upfront fee (approx £600) to a claim company who "guarenteed" her £13k back. She even told the guy that she had already tried to make a claim herself and she didn't have PPI. The claim company sent random letters to banks that she didn't even have accounts with. I am very angry as my aunt is vulnerable and the claims company have completed mis led her. Is there anything I can do? Thanks