Can I refuse to pay a claims company their fee??

[Deleted User]

ladeeda wrote: »

I presume that the claim money is cash you would not have had if the claims company had not contacted you

Nowhere in the opening post does it say whether the poster concerned was cold called by the Claims Company or chose to engage them himself. It matters little, the Claims Company didn't get him any money he couldn't have received himself by complaining alone.

As for the original question, I think that has now been answered over and over and over on this thread from post #2 onwards!

The answer is that Laney77 cannot refuse to pay the claim company unless he is prepared to suffer the consequences.

Laney77

Insider101 wrote: »

This is about the size of it unfortunately.

I would take anything the CAB say with a big pinch of salt. They are mostly staffed by volunteers who mean well but do not have any formal training either in law or other matters they are giving advice on.

A couple of years ago CMCs were meant to be being taken into the jurisdiction of the legal ombudsman, which would give an outlet to customers wanting to vent frustration against them. However, it seems to have gone quiet on that front. The result is they operate in an unregulated (MOJ are a joke) wild west where they are not obliged to deal with customer grievances effectively. But like Roonaldo said they will go to court producing your signed contract. And if you want to dispute it then you need a lawful basis to do so and advocacy from someone more clued up than Citizens Advice.

Wonderful, Thank you so much for your comments.
I posted my original enquiry to see if anyone had taken these companies on & won but it seems like that's impossible.

The regulators don't seem to have a lot of power at all so everything you have said makes perfect sense.

I went back to them yesterday & asked them to reconsider their fee and have managed to negotiate a better rate that I have now, agreed to settle.

I'm not happy about it BUT like someone else said - Is this amount worth ruining my credit rate and the answer is most certainly NO!! ;-)

I truly appreciate your guidance in this matter.

Laney77

ladeeda wrote: »

Much as I dislike seeing the claims companies being paid, I'm afraid you have no option but to pay them if you want to keep your clean credit rating. Pay it and then continue the dispute if you feel you have grounds. I presume that the claim money is cash you would not have had if the claims company had not contacted you, so you are losing money that you wouldn't of otherwise had anyway?

Many Thanks for your comments.

I have now asked them to reconsider their fee and they have come back with an amount that I am happier to settle so this matter is now considered 'closed'

It was definately not worth ruining my credit history so as much as I had wanted to 'win' these comments have proved that I never would have and would have jeopardised my lifetime of being careful!!

Appreciate your help!!

Laney77

As for the original question, I think that has now been answered over and over and over on this thread from post #2 onwards!

The answer is that Laney77 cannot refuse to pay the claim company unless he is prepared to suffer the consequences.[/QUOTE]

Post #2 meaning YOUR post??!!
I came on here to get a general concensus - Meaning a response from more than 1 person ;-)
If I ever have the need to post on this forum again, I might just cut out the middle man and come straight to you as you seem to be the fountain of ALL knowledge!!

FYI - It is now ALL settled. They have reduced their fee further to an amount I was willing to settle, Which I have done & the matter is considered 'closed'

Insider101

Laney77 wrote: »

Wonderful, Thank you so much for your comments.
I posted my original enquiry to see if anyone had taken these companies on & won but it seems like that's impossible.

The regulators don't seem to have a lot of power at all so everything you have said makes perfect sense.

I went back to them yesterday & asked them to reconsider their fee and have managed to negotiate a better rate that I have now, agreed to settle.

I'm not happy about it BUT like someone else said - Is this amount worth ruining my credit rate and the answer is most certainly NO!! ;-)

I truly appreciate your guidance in this matter.

As regards the regulators, whether it is the MOJ, the FCA or anyone else they do not intervene in individual arguments between forms and their customers, especially ones like this which are legitimate commercial disputes (they feel they've done what they agreed to, you feel they have not). If they choose to undertake a thematic review of a firm which highlights systematic weaknesses or if they get persistent feedback about a particular firm then they may take action. But they will never tell a firm they must take a particular course of action on an individual case. That is not within their remit.

No worries about the guidance.

Thrugelmir

Laney77 wrote: »

The regulators don't seem to have a lot of power at all so everything you have said makes perfect sense.

You are looking at the micro level of your own position. Whereas the Company has to operate at a macro level. If two parties enter into a contract on a commercial basis then it's outside of the remit of the regulators. As a business model, claims companies have to work on the basis that those claims which are successful pay for those which are not.

meer53

Laney77 wrote: »

As for the original question, I think that has now been answered over and over and over on this thread from post #2 onwards!

The answer is that Laney77 cannot refuse to pay the claim company unless he is prepared to suffer the consequences.

Post #2 meaning YOUR post??!!
I came on here to get a general concensus - Meaning a response from more than 1 person ;-)
If I ever have the need to post on this forum again, I might just cut out the middle man and come straight to you as you seem to be the fountain of ALL knowledge!!

FYI - It is now ALL settled. They have reduced their fee further to an amount I was willing to settle, Which I have done & the matter is considered 'closed'[/QUOTE]

Everyone on this thread has given you the same advice.

Your personal attacks on one particular poster and your thanks for all the others make you look like a petulant child.

If you don't like the way a poster replies, just put them on ignore, insulting people isn't acceptable when there is this option.

saver861

Laney77 wrote: »

Thank you so much for your comments, They really are appreciated.
Having spoken to family last night, they are of the same opinion I may however ask them to reduce the fee further today but not sure how far that will get me.
I have definately learnt a valuable lesson in doing things this way.

Rather suspect from the info gleaned on the OP etc, there is little chance of success.

I was once told that if I had a similar objection with a company, the route was to pay the fees as requested and follow it up later, legally etc. Your credit rating is subsequently intact. Non-payment will provide many more problems than the very small potential of gaining 30% of the CMC's fees. I think that would be what the call a 'no brainer'

However, if you accept the 5% reduction, then I don't think you would have much chance of a follow up should you wish to go down that route, as it would be seen as an agreed acceptance between both parties.

Ah - edited to say missed the second page of this thread so my post is way late LOL.

Laney77

saver861 wrote: »

Rather suspect from the info gleaned on the OP etc, there is little chance of success.

I was once told that if I had a similar objection with a company, the route was to pay the fees as requested and follow it up later, legally etc. Your credit rating is subsequently intact. Non-payment will provide many more problems than the very small potential of gaining 30% of the CMC's fees. I think that would be what the call a 'no brainer'

However, if you accept the 5% reduction, then I don't think you would have much chance of a follow up should you wish to go down that route, as it would be seen as an agreed acceptance between both parties.

Ah - edited to say missed the second page of this thread so my post is way late LOL.

At the risk of sounding like 'A PETULANT CHILD' - Thank you for taking the time to respond to me (This is just etiquette one would assume...... Me being a 'Newbie' I just couldn't possibly understand what is socially acceptabe on these sites ;-))))

Laney77

meer53 wrote: »

Post #2 meaning YOUR post??!!
I came on here to get a general concensus - Meaning a response from more than 1 person ;-)
If I ever have the need to post on this forum again, I might just cut out the middle man and come straight to you as you seem to be the fountain of ALL knowledge!!

FYI - It is now ALL settled. They have reduced their fee further to an amount I was willing to settle, Which I have done & the matter is considered 'closed'

Everyone on this thread has given you the same advice.

Your personal attacks on one particular poster and your thanks for all the others make you look like a petulant child.

If you don't like the way a poster replies, just put them on ignore, insulting people isn't acceptable when there is this option.[/QUOTE]

You are correct - Everyone on this thread has indeed given me the same advice and if you read it properly, you will see that I have followed the advice given by negotiating a better rate and settling the amount owing.

However, forgive me if I object to being referred to as a petulant child for not ticking 'Thanks' or commenting 'Thanks' to someone who said and I (quote) that I was trying 'to worm my way out of paying' Telling me that I would only 'be happy if someone told me what I wanted to hear' and questioning why I felt that it was an insult that they only offered me -5%.
No-one else was aggresive in their manner - Maybe it is just their writing style but it isn't/wasn't mine. As you can see, This is my first time on this site so forgive me if I don't conform to your forum etiquette. I just felt (And I am assuming it is OK for me to have my own opinion??!!!) that they were being very argumentative for NO REASON and that there is why they haven't rec'd my 'Thanks'
All of the post's were read and their advice was taken on board. Just to re-cap, I have negotiated a better rate and the fee has now been settled (This, I might remind you was probably not what I wanted to hear but the right thing to do and I am greatful for the advice given)
I have not insulted anyone - This is my question remember and this 'poster' chose to comment, I just didn't appreciate the tone.