Case dropped by ppi company

elefantman

Hi , I put in a claim in August with a ppi recovery company , they investigated but decided not to go ahead with a credit card , out of the blue yesterday I received an email saying the credit card company had investigated themselves and was offering a redress payment of a few thousand pounds . 

The email from the ppi recovery company says they having dropped the case can not now charge for work however if I want the money they’ll forward it if I agree to their original fee deduction. 

Is that common practice , are they eligible to a commission payment for a claim they didn’t pursue ?.

dunstonh

The email from the ppi recovery company says they having dropped the case can not now charge for work however if I want the money they’ll forward it if I agree to their original fee deduction.

There are mixed results on this.  Some have seen claims companies back down when pressured on this point.  There is only one FOS decision known and they ruled in favour of the claims company as it was their initial complaint that caused it to be investigated.  (a different position to guidelines when claims companies were regulated by the ministry of justice who worked on whether the contract was still in force or not)

The guide issued in August 2014 suggests that they cannot bill if the contract has been closed:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/342291/Claims-management-regulation-business-bulletin-Aug-2014.pdf

page 2 - final paragraph.  It is not directly the same but similar could be applied if a CMC says the case is closed.

are they eligible to a commission payment for a claim they didn’t pursue ?.

it is not a commission.  Commission is something that is paid by the provider or manufacturer. Not the consumer.  It may be factored into the cost but is not explicit.   CMCs are fee based.  The percentage is a fee, not a commission.

It may help if you understand what a claims company does.     Basically nothing after submitting the original complaint.   It is little more than 5 minutes work.  Some supplied a daily spreadsheet to the banks with just name and address on it and asked the bank to investigate.  Nothing else beyond that.  So, as long as they did the submission of the complaint, the recent FOS decision appears to support that they did what was expected of them.

elefantman

Thank you for your reply, I think I may have misunderstood the email , this is what it says 

As we have previously advised we could not pursue the matter further and closed your file down, you will not be charged for any work done on this file.

We have attached the correspondence received from MBNA (PPI), you may liaise with them directly with regards to the offer they have made or for any queries you may have with them releasing the redress to you. 

Should you wish for us to pursue this matter further for you, we would be happy to assist and would work under the terms of our original agreement. Once we have resolved this matter for you, we will issue an invoice to settle our fees.

 

Yours sincerely,

Having reread it I assume I can contact the card company direct and not be faced with a bill ? 

dunstonh

Having reread it I assume I can contact the card company direct and not be faced with a bill ?

Yes. that is what it appears to be saying.  

brettcta

As above. They’re saying you can contact MBNA directly and not pay them or if you fancy bunging them a few quid for no reason then you can do that as well.

-taff

elefantman said:

The email from the ppi recovery company says they having dropped the case can not now charge for work however if I want the money they’ll forward it if I agree to their original fee deduction. 

Whoever you complained to will pay you the money directly. They do not send it to CMC's for forwarding to you, they send direct to you.