Direct Debit Claim - JT Crawford

fuzzylittlethings

I was recently contacted by a company regarding a pilot scheme on the 'incorrect setting up of direct debits'. They asked me to provide some information on my paid direct debits over the past 10 years, which I have duly done, and they have confirmed that I am elegible for a refund of £4.5k from Welcome Finance whom I had my hire purchase with some years ago. They have now sent me a claim form to sign and return to them and I should recieve the money back in my account with 72 hours. It all seems too good to be true and wondered if anyone else had come across this / their company? Thanks for reading.

dunstonh

I was recently contacted by a company regarding a pilot scheme on the 'incorrect setting up of direct debits'.

This is a recent scam that has popped up a couple of times.

It all seems too good to be true

It is too good to be true.

It is typically a form of advance fee fraud. They usually hit you for an upfront fee of a few hundred pounds. By the time you realise you have been scammed, they have either shut down and have no assets to pay the liabilities or they drag their heels until they are shut down.

rob.iambob

Hi,

I have just this week been caught out by the same company!

Stop all communication with them, its a scam based upon false accusations on the direct debit mandates. The company seem legit, I even looked them up on companies house, but don't believe a word they say.

If anyone has another dealings with them, please let me know.

Thanks

dunstonh

The company seem legit, I even looked them up on companies house, but don't believe a word they say.

Wont help you now but for future reference, Companies House is a register of companies. You could set up a company to be registered. It is not a badge of authentic trade.

Equally, being regulated by the ministry of justice is not worth a jot either. it is so light touch that again, you could be registered as a CMC within a couple of weeks. All you do is agree to behave. This is why there are so many dodgy claims companies.

Dave_Straughan

Yeah I've been contacted by them and apparently I am eligible for just over £5,101.53. Before eagerly signing the agreement and sending it off, I read the terms and conditions which state the following:


6. [FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma][FONT=Tahoma,Tahoma]Invoice[/FONT][/FONT]: This is a document emailed to you after the refund process requesting our fee for processing the claim. Payment of this invoice is due the next working day after receiving the refunded amount back into your bank account. Late payment will result in a £45 per day charge being added to the monies owed. Non-payment will result in legal action being taken to recover the funds from you, as well as no legal representation being made on your behalf post the initial refund process.


This thread has got the alarm bells going off in my head as it really does sound too good to be true...

dunstonh

This thread has got the alarm bells going off in my head as it really does sound too good to be true...

There have been other threads on this subject and the posters have found themselves facing the bill as the banks retake the direct debits back again once they have been confirmed as authentic.

This is one of the worst scams I have seen from a claims company (and there have been a lot of them). However, the people that fall for it have to take some blame as well. Did they really think they would get this money and keep it?

Dave_Straughan

Many thanks dunstonh!


I have sent them an email questioning the validity of it all. So far I've had no response from them. Usually they were very fast to get back to me...

Yellow27

Ive just had a phone call from Martin at JT Crawford advising that I was also 100% due a refund due to an error in the way the DD's were set up. (He said it was a bit like the PPI business!). Its nice to see that i am not the only one who has been contacted and it does sound too good to be true.

dunstonh

I would suggest that people getting these calls from JT Crawford complain to the ministry of justice. It is also probable that it is a fraud and the police should be involved. However, the police tend to treat these as consumer issues. So, the local trading standards should be contacted.

This is one of the most blatant scams/frauds from any claims company that we have seen.


Reasons for potential fraud are that the direct debit system is a method of transferring money from your bank account to someone you owe money to for either services provided/products bought etc. When you use the direct debit guarantee scheme, the bank has to refund the money. It then writes to the companies in question to provide evidence of a valid mandate and that the amounts are correct. This can take 30-90 days.

If they cannot provide the evidence you keep the refund. However, as the company then has the money taken off them, you are now in debt with that company and they will bill you for the money directly.
If they can provide the evidence (which the vast majority will) then the bank will accept that and take the money back from the account (albeit 30-90 days later).

So, you havent actually had a refund. You have had a temporary advance on the assumption that what you say is correct and even if it is correct, the you still end up owing the company money. Just because you use a claims company does not mean you avoid being party to the fraud.

e.g. Mortgage is £500pm. You have paid it for 5 years which is £30,000 paid. You then try to reclaim that direct debit. Bank has to refund it so it looks like you have been compensated with £30,000. However, the bank asks the mortgage lender to check the direct debit mandate and details. If its right, then the bank take £30,000 back out of your account (but could be a number of months later). If the lender cannot supply the mandate and verify the payment is correct to the bank then the bank will not take the money off you but take it from the mortgage company. However, you are now £30,000 in arrears with your mortgage company. They will come after you for £30,000 (plus fees probably as you are now in arrears) and they could even start repossession on your house.

All this has done is temporarily moved money around. It hasnt given you any money that you will be able to keep. However, the scam is that the claims company take x% of that initial refund leaving you out of pocket when the dust has settled.

Some companies may levy fees on your or even withdraw services from you if they believe you have tried to defraud them.

Ozzgy

fuzzylittlethings wrote: »

I was recently contacted by a company regarding a pilot scheme on the 'incorrect setting up of direct debits'. They asked me to provide some information on my paid direct debits over the past 10 years, which I have duly done, and they have confirmed that I am elegible for a refund of £4.5k from Welcome Finance whom I had my hire purchase with some years ago. They have now sent me a claim form to sign and return to them and I should recieve the money back in my account with 72 hours. It all seems too good to be true and wondered if anyone else had come across this / their company? Thanks for reading.

Just had a similar call and an email sent to me I replied with an email asking Martyn not to contact me again with any of his scams

antrobus

rob.iambob wrote: »

.... The company seem legit, I even looked them up on companies house, but don't believe a word they say. ....

There is a JT Crawford Ltd registered at Companies House, but:-

1. There is a proposal to strike off (the accounts are late)
2. They are a Blackpool based company that appear to runs some restaurants

They may therefore have nothing to with the business known as 'JT Crawford Associates'.

dunstonh wrote: »

...This is one of the most blatant scams/frauds from any claims company that we have seen.....

Well yes, even if it were true that the direct debit had been "set up incorrectly" (which I very much doubt) and were entitled to a refund of the amounts taken from your account, you would still be liable to pay for whatever goods or services were being provided by the originator. Leaving you back at square one.