Penguin Finance PPI CMC

MostlyConfused_2

Hello

I have today had a cold call from a company saying that they might be able to reclaim some money on my behalf.

I know that from a claim amount point of view it would be better to do it myself but for one reason or another I don't want to do it that way,

The company identified themselves as Penguin Finance and I have been able to find that they are registered with the CMR so they are at least a little bit legit.

They have done a basic check and say that I am due some money back. They take 25% once the money comes to me (by invoicing me), but they want a £499 payment before they will progress. They have sent me an agreement to sign by email but I have yet to do that. I am told that once I receive my money and pay their invoice the £499 will be returned to me.

It seems like if its all true it could be good but the £499 payment rings alarm bells.

Does anyone have any dealings with this company that can provide me with a bit more information about them?

Hope you can help

M.Confused

magpiecottage

If you want to give away money with no promise of getting anything in return, I will be quite happy to do it for £249!

Seriously, being registered with the Claims Regulator means nothing. There are many such businesses which are yet have lots of dissatisfied customers.

(A disproportionate number have postcodes beginning with SA).

However, the reality is that you can complain to any business about PPI it sold you by filling in this form and sending it to them. Make sure you keep a copy. If successful, you will get 100% of what you are owned.


If you complain to via a CMC, you will need to provide the information in this form and submit it to them. Then, if successful you will pay the CMC anything up to 50 per cent of the money, with VAT at 20% on top.

That could mean anything up to one and a half times as much by doing it yourself for no extra effort or inconvenience.

So, as I say, if you want to give money away, I could find a use for it.

Nasqueron

Don't pay an upfront fee for a service that is free to use and isn't guaranteed success.

You say you don't want to claim it back yourself but you still need to do all the work - they just post off the form for you with information you have to provide them - do you really need to pay £499 + a significant chunk of any refund for someone to do 20 mins admin work and posting?

MostlyConfused_2

Ok thanks for the help guys

They are due to call me back on monday but I will tell them that I have changed my mind

Thanks
M.Confused

magpiecottage

They will try not to take no for an answer - just hang up.

Also, consider registering with the Telephone Preference Service.

MostlyConfused_2

oh now I am worried that they will want to charge me for the initial check that they did.

I called them just now and said I wasn't wanting to progress it any further and asked if there was a charge. they "think" that they have a 14 day cooling off period.

Nasqueron

MostlyConfused wrote: »

oh now I am worried that they will want to charge me for the initial check that they did.

I called them just now and said I wasn't wanting to progress it any further and asked if there was a charge. they "think" that they have a 14 day cooling off period.

They can't charge in a cooling off period and if it's anything like my car finance, the rule is 30 days - but yeah they haven't done anything for you so tough luck on them.

All I'd suggest on here is posting your situation, reasons for complaint and people will help you go through them for free

MostlyConfused_2

All of the reasons would be that I had no idea that there was PPI applied. But i understand that that isn't really a good enough reason for me to have a legitimate claim.

The company have said no problem case closed which is good. One thing that did come from it is that there was protection on a mortgage I had a while ago. No idea what the account numbers were though so will have to do a bit of work to find them

I might create a new thread with specific questions and see if I can progress a claim.

Thanks again for your help

M.Confused

-taff

Also as k yourself how they can have checked your personal finances which only you and the financial institution you had credit with knew about.

They are lying.

dunstonh

They have done a basic check and say that I am due some money back. They take 25% once the money comes to me (by invoicing me), but they want a £499 payment before they will progress. They have sent me an agreement to sign by email but I have yet to do that. I am told that once I receive my money and pay their invoice the £499 will be returned to me.

General rule of thumb is to never pay any thing upfront. We know nothing about this company but there are a number of examples of companies that took up front money and then ceased to trade with no assets taking all those up front payments with them. In other areas, such as SERPS contracting out where the FSA found a failure rate of just 1.5%, companies used to take £495 up front because there was little chance of success. The £495 was where they made their money.

The company have said no problem case closed which is good. One thing that did come from it is that there was protection on a mortgage I had a while ago. No idea what the account numbers were though so will have to do a bit of work to find them

Most people have protection on a mortgage. Its normal and a good idea for most. Hence why most mortgage insurance complaints fail.

magpiecottage

MostlyConfused wrote: »

They "think" that they have a 14 day cooling off period.

They should KNOW that it is 14 days - and they cannot take anything from you unless and until you sign (either in reality or online).