ppi comp

coco1965

Hi just wanted to ask some advice.
We stupidly signed up to a ppi comp. as we had a few others look into it with out any luck. So this comp. kept sending us letters and phoning the wife said just sign it you never know. We though it will be couple of hundred if we're luck, so to be honest just signed not paying attention to the small print. After 6 months we hadn't heard a thing then we got a letter saying we were to re sign some forms so we thought ok, signed and a few weeks later they phoned the house and asked the wife over the phone to fill in a questionare, so she did. we got a letter through from a comp saying we could get some money back, so I phoned the ppi comp. Yes the guy said your getting £2200. I was just to sign the forms from the loan comp when they come in. Jeez I thought that's ok. but then he told me what we were to pay them £856. I was shocked £856 for sending letters out that we sent back and filling in a few forms for us?? It#s money you wouldn't have had he said. And you signed our form. Saying we were charging 30% plus vat. I told him I wouldn't sign the forms as I felt they were being greedy. He told me I had to. I said I'd rather do without the cash than give them that. But I was told I didn't have a choice they would send us an invoice anyway and we had NO choice even though we haven't signed for the cash they won us our money back.. Sorry this is a long post and I know it's our own fault but I feel so daft for not reading this comp small print before signing up. And I know we should grin and bear it but, I'm bloody angry at my self for being so bloody stupid. has anyone any ideas what we should do..

societys_child

Do you know where this money is supposedly coming from? For them to claim anything, you must have given them the details? If you had the details why didn't you do it yourself? It's free!

If there is any money it would be sent directly to you, not the CMC.

Sounds like "Advanced Fee fraud"

What's the name of this "comp" company?

magpiecottage

I am not sure that this is an advanced fee fraud.

It sounds to me like rather than using the FREE approach of complaining to the lender themselves and, if they did not like the response, taking it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (also free), they decided to pay a claims management company a fee to make a complaint to the lender on their behalf - at no cost to the claims management company - and, if the response was not satisfactory, for the claims management company to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service - again free to the claims management company.

The fee they agreed to pay was thirty per cent of any sum that the lender agreed to pay plus VAT at 20% of 30%. As 20% of 30% is 6% (check this on a calculator if you do not believe me) this means that of every £1 paid by the lender, the OP must pay 36 pence to the CMC and the CMC pays six pence out of that to the tax man.

All for something the OP could have done for nothing.

So I am afraid it looks like, having paid for a product which was not suitable for him, the OP has now paid for a service of the same value.

In future, he would do well to establish the cost and value of anything he signs up to before doing so.

Harsh though this particular recommendation may be, it will at least cost no more than any benefit it may confer upon him.

coco1965

As I said it was my own fault for not reading the small print, we did have a look a while ago but, didn't get very far, both of us work 12-14 hrs. So the wife thought it would be easier. We didn't know we were due so much and were shocked to find out we were to pay over £840 that's almost half what we are due. Suppose this is more of a warning to others to be careful and unlike us bloody read everything... But I don't know if I refuse to sign for the cheques do I still have to pay there fee. It's a comp from Glasgow, didn't hear from them till they wanted us to sign thing or were filling in forms for us on the phone.

magpiecottage

If you are not happy with your CMC you can complain - although unless you live in England or Wales, you cannot then take the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Note that it is where YOU live, not where the CMC is based that decides this.

Also, if the CMC is not registered with the Ministry of Justice then it cannot lawfully charge any resident of England or Wales for its services.

coco1965

I was going to contact the comp that is giving us the cash and tell them I do not want them to contact the cmc again. And to deal with us direct. Or I'm just not going to sign anything and they can keep the money, I'd rather they kept it than give those robbin gits a penny. It's 30% plus vat. don't know how much the vat is.
I do know we were daft not reading everything properly but, I suppose that will teach us not to sign forms were we've rushing out to work.. Just want some advice what not to do or what we can do if anything,

takman

coco1965 wrote: »

I was going to contact the comp that is giving us the cash and tell them I do not want them to contact the cmc again. And to deal with us direct. Or I'm just not going to sign anything and they can keep the money, I'd rather they kept it than give those robbin gits a penny. It's 30% plus vat. don't know how much the vat is.
I do know we were daft not reading everything properly but, I suppose that will teach us not to sign forms were we've rushing out to work.. Just want some advice what not to do or what we can do if anything,

You have entered into a contract with the cmc and they have carried out their end of the contract as agreed. So now you have to pay their fee as you agreed. So they arnt really "robbin gits" when they did everything as agreed.

Even though they are VERY expensive I don't think it's very ethical that your trying to avoid paying what you agreed!

coco1965

Takman your prob right this will teach me to read the small print. And it is blinking small print. I think I'm more angry at my self than anyone else. Thought these comp had been sorted out by the gov. and Just didn't think I'd get robbed twice. But hey ho prob just need to grin and bear it.
Magpie I'm from Scotland and it's a Glasgow comp Mc Ginness Associates. Accountants and business advisors. All the cheques come to me and they send me a bill I have to pay them..

absolutereturn

societys_child wrote: »

Do you know where this money is supposedly coming from? For them to claim anything, you must have given them the details? If you had the details why didn't you do it yourself? It's free!

If there is any money it would be sent directly to you, not the CMC.

Sounds like "Advanced Fee fraud"

What's the name of this "comp" company?

Yes, we all know we can do it ourselves but they've entered into a contract with the CMC so it's a bit late to go back in time now.:(

coco1965 wrote: »

Yes the guy said your getting £2200. I was just to sign the forms from the loan comp when they come in. Jeez I thought that's ok. but then he told me what we were to pay them £856. I was shocked £856 for sending letters out that we sent back and filling in a few forms for us?? It#s money you wouldn't have had he said. And you signed our form. Saying we were charging 30% plus vat. I told him I wouldn't sign the forms as I felt they were being greedy. He told me I had to. I said I'd rather do without the cash than give them that. But I was told I didn't have a choice they would send us an invoice anyway and we had NO choice even though we haven't signed for the cash they won us our money back.. Sorry this is a long post and I know it's our own fault but I feel so daft for not reading this comp small print before signing up. And I know we should grin and bear it but, I'm bloody angry at my self for being so bloody stupid. has anyone any ideas what we should do..

It's not a matter of 'grin and bear it', that's not something I believe in. It's to do with contracts, if you are getting £2,200 and they are charging 30% + VAT then £856 does sound about right. First of all, you'll still have over £1,000 left so it's not a question of being better off forfeiting the money just to make a point.

If it was me I'd also be tempted not to pay and argue about it, however, if you signed some paperwork agreeing to the 30% fee then the could take you to court and it would be hard to defend the claim if they can show you entered into a contract and agreed to its terms. They'd add the court fee and possibly a solicitor's fee to the claim on top of the amount owed. I'm only familiar with civil litigation in England and Wales but the principles would be the same, i.e. you'd have to either pay up or end up with a judgment, the Scottish equivalent of a CCJ.

coco1965

to be honest I didn't know we could do it our selves properly, I thought they wouldn't listen to us and fob us of. plus the last time we signed up for someone to do it we got told we were due nothing. but this lot kept sending letters so we just signed and sent it back. I don't mind paying but £840 odd pound lesson learned, it's ok saying at least you got something but just feels like a double whammy especially now I know it costs them nothing, and we could have done it all our selves for free to. Ah well that's that. I suppose I will have to grudgingly sign and pay them their money when the cheques arrive. thanks all.

Insider101

coco1965 wrote: »

to be honest I didn't know we could do it our selves properly, I thought they wouldn't listen to us and fob us of. plus the last time we signed up for someone to do it we got told we were due nothing. but this lot kept sending letters so we just signed and sent it back. I don't mind paying but £840 odd pound lesson learned, it's ok saying at least you got something but just feels like a double whammy especially now I know it costs them nothing, and we could have done it all our selves for free to. Ah well that's that. I suppose I will have to grudgingly sign and pay them their money when the cheques arrive. thanks all.

1) Did they inform you at the time of asking you to sign the paperwork that you could make a complaint for yourself? If not, it is a breach of their regulator's rules.

2) Did they at any point ask your for your account of the circumstances surrounding the sale of the policy that they complained about? If not then I suggest you ask to see a copy of their complaint letter. If they have made up allegations without asking you then this is not only a breach of their regulator's rules, but fraud and a very serious criminal offence on their part.

3) Are you sure there even is an offer? Normally any offer of redress from a lender would come directly to you. I wouldn't even consider paying anything until you've had sight of the offer on the lender's letterheaded paper.

4) If it turns out they have done things properly then you are going to have to pay them. It is an excessive amount of money for putting a stamp on an envelope, however, if that was the contract you signed up to then it's no good turning round now and complaining that it's too much. Refusing to accept the offer is just cutting off your nose to spite your face, you would still be £1,300 better off. And they are probably correct, generally, CMC contracts stipulate that the money becomes payable at the point at which you receive an offer, whether you accept it or not.