Rock Law - Con or not??

Jo_reidy

My dad has unfortunately signed up with Rock Law for a PPI claim. He paid £495 as a 'deposit' on 13th February and has since signed the relevant paperwork and sent it back.


The guy my dad spoke to was less than informative as to when and if this deposit was refundable.


Can anyone give a bit more info on these as I am sure my poor old dad has been conned.


Thanks

Alpine_Star

The Claims Management Regulator's rules expressly forbid CMCs from taking payments until the contract has been signed.


See the section 11 on page 9 on the PDF here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/claims-management-regulation-conduct-of-authorised-person-rules-2014


Rock Law are associated with ARB Advisory and usually the customer contracts are with both, separately.


So you need to make a formal complaint to each on the basis that the deposit was taken in breach of the regulations and that if the deposit is not returned within 8 weeks, you'll take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Jo_reidy

Thanks for the reply
Unfortunately they got him to sign electronically on the 13th when they took the money.
My dad is 71 years old and I feel so mad that these firms pray on the vulnerable, if he had spoke to me beforehand I would have told him to tell them where to go. He can not remember what the guy on the phone actually said about this so called deposit. I know we are not the first and definitely won't be the last but I will do everything I can to get my dad his money back.

magpiecottage

They are based in Swansea, which seems to have dodgy claims companies as its main industry.

If you are unhappy about the manner in which the services were sold, you can write and complain to the CMC.

If they do not give a response to that complaint within eight weeks that you find satisfactory, you can take the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. There is no charge to you for this.

However, before making the complaint read carefully the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2014. There are General Rules and Client Specific Rules.

Try to identify which (if any) have been broken.

There is also a guidance note. This does not cover everything but will help.

Yvonne_Doughty

I gave RL £495.00 back in May 2015, they insisted I give them it from a credit card, I don't know why, they made me sign an electronic form but said a number of times that this was a fully refundable deposit and that they were only taking it in case I did not pay once I was successful with my claims as they had been finding that people had not been paying them, I wonder why ? I have had two successful claims through ARB, and I told ARB that I was not paying them until I got my deposit refunded fully, I have not heard back from them, except to ask if I already had a claim processed from once of my PPI miss-sellers, which I had and I told them I had when I first signed on with them, they don't listed either !

Lucy_J_2

I'm in the same situation. Paid them around March 2015 - have had barely any communication from them. I did tell them that I would complain - but I hadn't officially, and then this morning I received a letter from ARB telling me that they had received a letter from the legal ombudsman advising them that I would like to complain....in this letter they told me that RL ceased trading as of 16th Oct 2015.

Yvonne_Doughty

Yes I heard that they had ceased trading, but as a creditor surely we are entitled to make a claim to their liquidators for our money back ?

Alpine_Star

Yvonne_Doughty wrote: »

Yes I heard that they had ceased trading, but as a creditor surely we are entitled to make a claim to their liquidators for our money back ?

Yes, see here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=69552264&postcount=30

magpiecottage

I believe the Legal Ombudsman is now taking complaints against Rock Law without you needing to complain to Rock Law itself first.