PPI Scam??

BucketHat29

I am looking for some advise, At the weekend I received a letter from a company who claimed to be doing some work for me regards a PPI claim they sent me a list of works and said this is "not an invoice" but if I dont send them a signed LOA that they will turn this into an invoice and charge me over £300!!! I emailed them back to ask them for a copy of a signed contract where I had agreed to this, I got a response from the company with a contract evidently signed by myself(The signature looked nothing like mine and was dated 2019) I have replied to this explaining that I have no idea of the company and that I dont recall signing any contract with them and in no uncertain terms that had I agreed to anything I found it appalling that they communicate with me 3 years later threatening me with an invoice.

The advise I am looking to seek is the company has advised that I need to sign an LOA with them so they can finalise their search and they will waive the invoice fees, I am not happy with this as I dont feel like I want to share any personal data with them however I do not want them hounding me for money when I dont ever recall accepting their terms and conditions. 

Do I sign the forms and let them do their work or would I be opening myself up to further pain down the line and potentially more costs? They operate as no win no fee so by agreeing to this if they dont succeed it is over anyway? I dont actually care about retrieving any PPI refunds and have advised the gent that emailed me that all his correspondence says that if I complete the LOA and get any further correspondence asking for charges incurred I will take to the financial ombudsman!!! 

Years ago I got myself into financial mess and have completely sorted myself out, I recall the stress this had upon me at the time and dont want some company I have never heard of chasing me for a debt that they claim I signed up for. 

PPI claims ended in 2019 for a company to suddenly come out of the blue like this I am concerned that this is a scam although I contacted the FCA and the company are authorised to chase PPI claims. 

Anyone who has been through something similar that could offer any type of advise would be really great? 

[Deleted User]

If you don't believe you signed a contract with them, then dispute it.  

[Deleted User]

PPI complaints (not claims) had to be lodged by 2019 but open ones can still be processed if they were done in time

If you signed up for a "free PPI check" on Facebook or similar and put your name in, they use that as your signature (which is acceptable, they do not need a wet signature to proceed). They will have probably sent off 20 letters to every firm going and found someone who bit. They then need your LOA to deal with the firm and submit the complaint for you / get SAR data etc. They are allowed to bill you for time wasting hence the £300 invoice threat so I would suggest you proceed as the chances are you signed up to use them

dunstonh

(The signature looked nothing like mine and was dated 2019)

If an electronic contract was used, then the signature would look nothing like yours.   Many CMCs used electronic signatures. 

penners324

Deleted_User said:

PPI complaints (not claims) had to be lodged by 2019 but open ones can still be processed if they were done in time

If you signed up for a "free PPI check" on Facebook or similar and put your name in, they use that as your signature (which is acceptable, they do not need a wet signature to proceed). They will have probably sent off 20 letters to every firm going and found someone who bit. They then need your LOA to deal with the firm and submit the complaint for you / get SAR data etc. They are allowed to bill you for time wasting hence the £300 invoice threat so I would suggest you proceed as the chances are you signed up to use them

A Facebook form is not a contract. If so then there's a very good chance it goes against the Unfair T&Cs Act.

dunstonh

penners324 said:

Deleted_User said:

PPI complaints (not claims) had to be lodged by 2019 but open ones can still be processed if they were done in time

If you signed up for a "free PPI check" on Facebook or similar and put your name in, they use that as your signature (which is acceptable, they do not need a wet signature to proceed). They will have probably sent off 20 letters to every firm going and found someone who bit. They then need your LOA to deal with the firm and submit the complaint for you / get SAR data etc. They are allowed to bill you for time wasting hence the £300 invoice threat so I would suggest you proceed as the chances are you signed up to use them

A Facebook form is not a contract. If so then there's a very good chance it goes against the Unfair T&Cs Act.

Facebook adverts take you to a different page to complete the details and have full contract terms included.

BucketHat29

Deleted_User said:

If you don't believe you signed a contract with them, then dispute it.  

It doesnt look anything like my signature and I dont ever recall the company but their rep said that it was signed electronically so it wouldnt? How can you dispute it? 

[Deleted User]

penners324 said:

Deleted_User said:

PPI complaints (not claims) had to be lodged by 2019 but open ones can still be processed if they were done in time

If you signed up for a "free PPI check" on Facebook or similar and put your name in, they use that as your signature (which is acceptable, they do not need a wet signature to proceed). They will have probably sent off 20 letters to every firm going and found someone who bit. They then need your LOA to deal with the firm and submit the complaint for you / get SAR data etc. They are allowed to bill you for time wasting hence the £300 invoice threat so I would suggest you proceed as the chances are you signed up to use them

A Facebook form is not a contract. If so then there's a very good chance it goes against the Unfair T&Cs Act.

It's a bit hit and miss, Allay lost a court case in September 2020 on the basis of a digital signature and judge ruled a contract wasn't struck but also that they did not provide a cancellation form (per distance selling rules) so ruled against them. However, if OP did subsequently sign something else, they will be able to use the facebook contract, especially if they had one of those digital signing boxes you do with a finger

dunstonh

BucketHat29 said:

Deleted_User said:

If you don't believe you signed a contract with them, then dispute it.  

It doesnt look anything like my signature and I dont ever recall the company but their rep said that it was signed electronically so it wouldnt? How can you dispute it? 

Electronic signatures are acceptable but the way they work is you are emailed the contract, you sign it electronically (often just by typing your name) and they email the contract back to you.  The date, time and IP address are recorded as further evidence of the computer it was done on.

So, if it has been done correctly, you should know and it should be enforceable.

However, there have been some dodgy activities with some CMCs which suggest that they may have made up the whole thing in an attempt to get money.

we_mean_clean

99% of companies hitting you up with PPI info are full of it, IMO