Hidenda PPI fee help

FUrake

hello, 
one of my family members used hidenda for a PPI check thinking there was no chance he was due any money from anyone, it infact turned out he was due a PPI refund which has subsequently been paid to him, hidenda have been chasing him for their "fee" for the last 5 or 6 months, it went quiet for a while but today he received an email from hidenda stating the following below, they are threatening him with sending this debt to a debt collection agency + putting a mark of some kind on his credit file, the part about the credit file just sounds like a bluff to me, does anyone know if this is the case? I didn't think a company like this could do anything to someones credit rating as they haven't loaned them any money in the form of a loan, credit card, overdraft, mortgage etc, any advice is appreciated, cheers

"We are writing to advise we have attempted to contact you regarding your outstanding invoice. Despite numerous reminders you have failed to make payment or contact us to discuss payment options.

You have a legally binding contract with Hidenda who ran your PPI claims(s) and were successful in getting your mis-sold PPI refunded. As such, and as per the terms of the contract you have with Hidenda, a fee was due for payment by you to Hidenda for this service. You have not paid this fee so your invoice is outstanding meaning you have a legal debt owing to Hidenda.

Therefore, you must pay £237.36 immediately.

Despite several attempts to contact you in respect of payment, you have failed to discuss these matters with us. Therefore, unless such payment is received within 14 days, we unfortunately will have to consider how best to recover the money you owe. If you would like to discuss options to repay what you owe, please contact us within 14 days of receiving this letter.

You may wish to seek independent debt advice to help you deal with your debts. Below, we have listed some organisations that provide free and confidential advice on dealing with your debts.

Once the 14 days have elapsed and you have not contacted us to discuss payment, we have the right to pass your debt to an external debt collection agency. Please note that this could incur additional charges as detailed in the contract you have signed, and this can also adversely affect your credit rating and stay on your file for up to 6 years."

dunstonh

one of my family members used hidenda for a PPI check thinking there was no chance he was due any money from anyone, it infact turned out he was due a PPI refund which has subsequently been paid to him, hidenda have been chasing him for their "fee" for the last 5 or 6 months, it went quiet for a while but today he received an email from hidenda stating the following below, they are threatening him with sending this debt to a debt collection agency + putting a mark of some kind on his credit file, the part about the credit file just sounds like a bluff to me, does anyone know if this is the case?

It's not a bluff.  CMCs are quite ruthless when it comes to recovering their bill.   

I didn't think a company like this could do anything to someones credit rating as they haven't loaned them any money in the form of a loan, credit card, overdraft, mortgage etc, any advice is appreciated, cheers

If it goes to court and he loses, then a CCJ is registered and that can destroy credit for many years.

we have the right to pass your debt to an external debt collection agency. 

They are also correct about this incurring extra fees.  We employed a debt collection agency against someone that refused a bill a couple of years back and their fee was added to ours and it ended up costing the person a lot more than had they paid their dues in the first place.

You won't find much sympathy for CMCs here.  However, refusing to pay one that he entered into a contract with is just plain silly.

FUrake

thanks for the reply, I shouldve added, hes not refusing to pay it as such, hes just struggling financially right now after losing his job due to covid

brettcta

Then he should have either paid them as soon as he received his refund or contacted them when the first invoice arrived and discussed a payment plan, explaining he was in extreme financial difficulties. They may very well have agreed to let it be paid in instalments. I can’t imagine 6 months on they will be as understanding and rightly so.

Your friend needs to call Hidenda ASAP to discuss the matter.