unsolicited calls 19 August 2013 at 12:43PM in Reclaiming Mortgage Fees, Council Tax, etc 8 replies 1.3K views

copperpot

Hello MSE, new to forum and not savvy when it comes to finances as wife deals with this. She has today received an unsolicited call from CCS, Claim Credit Services. She has been instructed that they are the only company authorised by Govt to handle claims. They have had a lengthy conversation with her today and she has now gone out.
They have sent e-mails as a result of the phone call and this is part of the first

" Claim Credit Services (CCS) offers you a full forensic audit assessment of your mortgage and mortgage sale process and, where the audit identifies a claim, CCS can proceed with the claim on your behalf securing the compensation you are entitled to.

In 2004 the Financial Services Authority implemented the Mortgage Conduct of Business rules (MCOB), strict guidelines regarding the sale and recommendation of mortgage products. Many brokers, financial advisers and other intermediaries have been found to have breached these rules and other regulations leading to widespread mis-selling of mortgages."


The staff member may have been given figures from my wife as they have responded with another e-mail, part of which is "

The Process:
1. CCS conducts an internal preliminary assessment of the information you provide to determine if you have grounds for a potential claim. The average claim is circa £7000.

2. Where the preliminary assessment establishes grounds for a potential claim CCS charges £495 + 10% of the estimated value of your claim + VAT to complete a full forensic a udit of your mortgage agreement and the mortgage sale process; for your case the fee would be £1415.38

3. Following completion of your comprehensive audit any litigation undertaken is completed on a No Win-No Fee basis at a rate of 15% + VAT of the compensation sum recovered.

4. If CCS are unable to establish any significant breaches, or the solicitor does not accept your case, you will receive a full refund.""


My questions are,
1, is this company legitimate, we have their reg number dated 2008.


2, are there other authorised companies.



3, are the fees quoted "industry norm" or are these excessive or minimal. Which are as above £495 + 10% + vat if average claim is £7000 that makes £1434 if my head is right plus 15% and VAT which then adds £1260 equaling £2694.00. (appx 1/3 of potential compensation).Forgive me if i have the above figures wrong


4, Are CCS just fishing.


Can this type of claim be conducted by the average "joe" on the street??


Thanks in adavnce.


copperpot

dunstonh

She has been instructed that they are the only company authorised by Govt to handle claims.

Which is clearly a fraudulent statement to make.

In 2004 the Financial Services Authority implemented the Mortgage Conduct of Business rules (MCOB), strict guidelines regarding the sale and recommendation of mortgage products. Many brokers, financial advisers and other intermediaries have been found to have breached these rules and other regulations leading to widespread mis-selling of mortgages."

Mortgage regulation started in October 2004. That is correct. However, there has been very little evidence to suggest such wrongdoing and the FOS themselves have found little evidence too and most complaints as such are rejected. The FOS published stats show only 26% of mortgage complaints are upheld. A figure that is trending lower each year (possibly as more dodgy companies like this put in fake complaints). That is out of 11,920 complaints made in the year.

The FOS state: The majority of these cases continued to relate to problems caused by administrative errors. Because of the way mortgage accounts work – and the fact that consumers often receive information about their mortgage only once a year in their annual statement – we have seen many cases where it took some time for a mistake to come to light.


Indeed, when you read the summary of the most common complaint issues, not once is the initial advice given as a reason. So, if this is widespread as they claim, how come the FOS are not seeing it in the complaint figures?


What you describe looks like advance fee fraud. ie. play to your greed by getting you infatuated with some potential pay off for some hypothetical scenario that may sound plausible but is complete BS. Then, once they have done that, tell you that there is a fee to pay up front. if you ever watched Hustle, you would know the process. Lets see if what you have been told fits that:

She has today received an unsolicited call from CCS, Claim Credit Services. She has been instructed that they are the only company authorised by Govt to handle claims. They have had a lengthy conversation with her today and she has now gone out.
<snip>
Many brokers, financial advisers and other intermediaries have been found to have breached these rules and other regulations leading to widespread mis-selling of mortgages

There is your scenario which is complete BS and lies.

1. CCS conducts an internal preliminary assessment of the information you provide to determine if you have grounds for a potential claim. The average claim is circa £7000.

A big made up figure of £7000. That would certainly interest many people and play to their greed.

Where the preliminary assessment establishes grounds for a potential claim CCS charges £495 + 10% of the estimated value of your claim + VAT to complete a full forensic a udit of your mortgage agreement and the mortgage sale process; for your case the fee would be £1415.38

There is the advance fee you need to pay.

3. Following completion of your comprehensive audit any litigation undertaken is completed on a No Win-No Fee basis at a rate of 15% + VAT of the compensation sum recovered.

Another lie as its not no-win-no-fee as you have paid £495 plus VAT plus 10% of their estimate which they do not refund.

If CCS are unable to establish any significant breaches, or the solicitor does not accept your case, you will receive a full refund.""

And that is where most people find they dont get their money back or the company goes under (as many of those that used the same scam have done before - Cartel took over £20 million pounds in advance fees before collapsing as it couldnt pay people back. The directors took over £8 million out of the company first though.

So, does this look like advance fee fraud?

1, is this company legitimate, we have their reg number dated 2008.

They are legitimate in that they are registered. However, it is clear they are not ethical and are telling lies and making fraudulent statements based on what you (and others) have said.

2, are there other authorised companies.

Yes. Thousands of them. However, the vast majority will not take on such business as they know it is fraudulent or dodgy to do so.

3, are the fees quoted "industry norm" or are these excessive or minimal. Which are as above £495 + 10% + vat if average claim is £7000 that makes £1434 if my head is right plus 15% and VAT which then adds £1260 equaling £2694.00. (appx 1/3 of potential compensation).Forgive me if i have the above figures wrong

As far as other scams go, the £495 figure is fairly consistent.

4, Are CCS just fishing.

Mostly yes. They may get the odd success but they make their money on the up front fees.

Can this type of claim be conducted by the average "joe" on the street??

You mean can you put in a fraudulent complaint with made up reasons to your mortgage broker? yes you can. Do you have any reasons for doing so?

copperpot

Dunstonh,

thanks for your speedy and concise reply. Re the last line that was in reference to undertaking a "forensic check" of the mortgage and not to make any fraudulent claim.;)

The terminology "don't touch with bargepole" springs to mind.

Best regards

copperpot

nana-h

i am so happy i didnt give my card details this morning to joel miller from ccs, i nearly did but something stopped me.,thank goodness for MSE.
cold call from michelle said i was entitled to 5,508 for missold mortgage, passed to joel , senior advisor who said it was now 8,100, in 2 minutes it had increased,subject to me paying 1,566 on my credit card for the search to provide evidence.
He was very keen for me to read the e-mail he sent, probably so it would look legit and then give him my details to secure the money for the forensic search,he wasnt rude but his manner did change when i wouldnt commit there and then.
He eventually agreed to call back at 4pm,as i told him would need to speak to my husband, somehow i dont think he will!

dunstonh

cold call from michelle said i was entitled to 5,508 for missold mortgage, passed to joel , senior advisor who said it was now 8,100, in 2 minutes it had increased,subject to me paying 1,566 on my credit card for the search to provide evidence.

Classic advice fee fraud scam. Made up figure to play to your greed. Just need to pay an amount to get it.

nana-h

ccs did call back prompt at 4pm, i told him after researching i didnt like the way they conducted their business, wasnt sure about their credentials and wasnt going any further with the claim, he wasnt happy and challenged my perception of the company, saying i was making a big mistake , i told him not to call back and that he shouldnt have called in the first place as i am registered with TPS, .

magpiecottage

copperpot wrote: »

If CCS are unable to establish any significant breaches, or the solicitor does not accept your case, you will receive a full refund.

They are not allowed to cold call to get referrals to solicitors.

dunstonh

There are no solicitors. That is just made up to make them sound more official.

magpiecottage

dunstonh wrote: »

There are no solicitors. That is just made up to make them sound more official.

I know.

What do you expect from fraudsters.

It would be helpful if copperpot could report the matter to [email protected]