PPI reclaim company payment

Mrssjo

Good morning, a few months ago my 81 year old mother received a PPI mail shot. She filled out the forms, returned them and eventually got two PPI refunds. The PPI company sent her an invoice which she paid. A few weeks passed and she received another invoice, in her mind she got her PPI and paid an invoice, she’s 81 and didn’t understand she had to pay a fee on each PPI cheque she received.

Since she had spent her payout on making her house more comfortable...new windows, carpet etc. She did not have £2100 left to pay the fee.

She spoke to the company and explained she didn’t realise she would have to pay twice and she didn’t have the money left. She offered to pay them £100 a month which they refused and came in really heavy threatening her with court.

I spoke to her a couple of days ago and she told me she’s sent the PPI company most of this months pensions, £700. Basically they terrified her into agreeing to clear the debt over 3 months.

Is there anything we can do about this, she completely accepts she has to pay, but to have scared an 81 year old into parting with most of their income over three months seems a little heavy handed.

SonOf

she’s 81 and didn’t understand she had to pay a fee on each PPI cheque she received.

The common CMC model is to charge a percentage of any refunds received. So, she would be expected to pay a cut of every cheque received.

She spoke to the company and explained she didn’t realise she would have to pay twice and she didn’t have the money left. She offered to pay them £100 a month which they refused and came in really heavy threatening her with court.

CMCs are well known for making sure they get their money.

Is there anything we can do about this, she completely accepts she has to pay, but to have scared an 81 year old into parting with most of their income over three months seems a little heavy handed.

CMCs are now regulated by the FCA and you have access to the FOS. So, she can complain to the firm that she doenst have the money to pay them and that they are being aggressive towards her in respect of collection and that she needs a longer payment period. If they reject the complaint then she can refer it to the FOS.

The FOS will likely be sympathetic to a degree. It really depends on how long the gap was before receiving the money and receiving the bill and when she spent the money. The CMC has every right to be paid and relatively quickly. However, companies regulated by the FCA have to follow the TCF rules and vulnerable client rules. So, they should be understanding of the mistake and come to some arrangement. CMCs only became regulated in April this year and its early days and light touch. So, most of them dont understand the FCA and the culture it wants. That is despite them putting in complaints against FCA regulated firms for the last 20 years. So, the FOS may be required.

However, being firm about paying a debt is not the same as being unreasonable. It is quite reasonable to mention that they will use the courts to recover the fee if it goes unpaid. That is not scaring. Tone of language can be interpreted in different ways.

Mrssjo

I want to tell her to cancel the standing order and go back and offer them something more affordable. She is mentally quite frail now and it can be really difficult for her to understand things. I was at her house during one of her phone calls with them when she offered to pay £100 a month and they told her it was unacceptable and they would take her to court. She was visibly shocked and extremely worried, she was extremely confused on the phone so they would have known she wasn’t right. Unfortunately she wouldn’t let me talk to them.

[Deleted User]

Mrssjo wrote: »

I want to tell her to cancel the standing order and go back and offer them something more affordable.

Under no circumstances should she cancel any standing payment order without the agreement of the company.

If she owes £2,100 then she will have received a payout far in excess of this amount. In addition, the Claims Company will have billed her very shortly after the payout.

If she has indeed spent all the money and has none to spare then she'll have to negotiate an affordable repayment plan with the company. Since all CMCs are now regulated FOS can be called upon to adjudicate in the event of an impasse. You first need to follow the regulated complaints procedure..

Mrssjo wrote: »

She is mentally quite frail now and it can be really difficult for her to understand things.

She'll need to have a diagnosis of dementia to be considered a vulnerable adult, so you cannot be involved without her permission.