Consumer Advisory Service.

cardomon

Anybody heard of these people ?
They have written to me regarding a
"recent High court decision that ruled in favour of completed IVA holders"
"it is now likely that monies may be owed to you in respect may now be owed to you in respect to the return of charges previously paid by you"

Any ideas ? Based in Horton House, Liverpool.
I do despise Grant Thornton for their treatment of me during my IVA, but is this real of bogus ?
I have used the search function on this forum but can find no mention of them.

Lincsdebt

I think this might be what they are referring to:
http://blogs.lexisnexis.co.uk/randi/setting-a-precedent-for-ivas-and-ppi-refunds/
It relates to PPI refunds made after the end of an IVA that were distributed by the supervisor, which the court ruled should have gone direct to the individual. Note that the judgement is being appealed.
I've never heard of the Consumer Advisory Service, but I have been contacted by similar companies assuring me they can get a refund on any bank charges, PPI etc - for a fee of course!
If I were you, I'd leave them alone, the PPI company appointed by my IVA management company took 40% of any claim agreed.

cardomon

Hmm, yes they do have a nasty looking website where you can't get information without logging in.
When I was with Grant Thornton they said all my PPI refund would either go to them in fee's with the rest servicing the debt. So I didn't see any point in claiming, I certainly wasn't going to line their pockets any more than I already had. So I signed a form to say I wouldn't claim. Worth keeping an eye on though.

National_Debtline

Hi cardomon


No doubt this company will have found your details on the IVA register, alongside thousands of others, and sent you their standard mailshot on the off-chance that it might pique your curiosity. You are right to be dubious, and personally I would ignore any further unsolicited mailings like this.


Dennis
@natdebtline

fermi

Their website is illegal in several ways:

No company trading address shown.
No authorisation from FCA or MoJ, one of which would be required at least for this sort of thing.
No data protection registration
Website registered to an individual in a terraced house in Manchester.

Probably more things I could list.

Classic dodgy claims co on IVAs. Have been many in the past, all to be avoided like the plague itself.

missladyannie

I got one of these letters today too, should I ignore it? sounds like I should from your other comments!

armistice

I've received one of these letters concerning a closed IVA!

The iva started in 2006 and successfully completed in 2008.
The details of this IVA have long since been removed from the IVA register.

How have they obtained my details? My address has also changed but they have my current address. Surely this is a data protection breach?

National_Debtline

Hi armistice

armistice wrote: »

I've received one of these letters concerning a closed IVA!

The iva started in 2006 and successfully completed in 2008.
The details of this IVA have long since been removed from the IVA register.

How have they obtained my details? My address has also changed but they have my current address. Surely this is a data protection breach?

It is certainly odd that CAS have been able to make contact with you, as no one should have good reason for still holding that old IVA register info after all this time - unless they have simply sent out blanket mailshots and in your case have by mere coincidence contacted someone who happened to have an IVA once upon a time. Without knowing how they obtained your details or from whom, it's impossible to say who any complaint about your data security could be aimed at. All the same, you could consider reporting the matter to your local Trading Standards team to see if they have any suggestions for you. If they receive enough similar complaints they may be able to look into things more closely.


Dennis
@natdebtline

armistice

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi armistice





It is certainly odd that CAS have been able to make contact with you, as no one should have good reason for still holding that old IVA register info after all this time - unless they have simply sent out blanket mailshots and in your case have by mere coincidence contacted someone who happened to have an IVA once upon a time. Without knowing how they obtained your details or from whom, it's impossible to say who any complaint about your data security could be aimed at. All the same, you could consider reporting the matter to your local Trading Standards team to see if they have any suggestions for you. If they receive enough similar complaints they may be able to look into things more closely.


Dennis
@natdebtline

The letter shows the commencement date, date closed, and court so this definitely isn't just a coincidence.
I'll try contacting trading standards

DragonDancer

I received a letter from them at the start of May, also containing the correct data regarding the start and completion of my IVA. I ended my IVA early in 2009 with a full & final settlement (start date March 2006) so I was very surprised to see that they had somehow found my details. I did a quick web search (finding this thread amongst others on IVA websites) and so I have done nothing about it. However, at the weekend I received another letter from them, but this time with incorrect IVA start date and no completion date. I am so tempted to give them a call just to see what their game is, but I probably won't.

DD