Fasttrack Reclaim HMRC scam

Nasqueron

IainJB said:

I have also just received an invoice from them and called to complain and ask for it to be cancelled. They said I had appointed them as my Tax representative when they did PPI work for me (Which has never been cancelled) and hence any rebate I get from HMRC entitles them to a percentage of it. I have said they are not getting paid for work they have not done. I also asked them to cancel the agreement and that I regarded it as ending when they completed the work on PPI and only relating to the work they did on that basis.

Is there anything preemptive I need to do before they start sending me further demands for money and threatening court action, which they said they would do if not paid by some date in December).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Iain

They have got you tax back by applying for it using an agreement you signed (hidden in the small print) - at the very least you need to ask where your refund is (assuming you haven't had it). Hence they have "done" work for you even if it's basically nothing

IainJB

Nasqueron said:

IainJB said:

I have also just received an invoice from them and called to complain and ask for it to be cancelled. They said I had appointed them as my Tax representative when they did PPI work for me (Which has never been cancelled) and hence any rebate I get from HMRC entitles them to a percentage of it. I have said they are not getting paid for work they have not done. I also asked them to cancel the agreement and that I regarded it as ending when they completed the work on PPI and only relating to the work they did on that basis.

Is there anything preemptive I need to do before they start sending me further demands for money and threatening court action, which they said they would do if not paid by some date in December).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Iain

They have got you tax back by applying for it using an agreement you signed (hidden in the small print) - at the very least you need to ask where your refund is (assuming you haven't had it). Hence they have "done" work for you even if it's basically nothing

I have a cheque direct from HMRC - no input from FastTrack at all, they only know about it because they are eroniously listed as my Tax representative and would have been informed by HMRC. So they have an egreement that I signed for the PPI work they did and are using that to claim I owe them money from any refund I get because the instruction has not been cancelled.

My point is that this is not reasonable behaviour as the instruction should only apply to the PPI work they did on my behalf and should have expired at the end of that work, but they have retained it and are using it to claim money they have done no work for. But reasonable may not be the same as legally entitled under contract.

Can I argue that the contract was not intended to be in perpetuity and is unreasonable to enforce or would the court take their side?

Nasqueron

IainJB said:

Nasqueron said:

IainJB said:

I have also just received an invoice from them and called to complain and ask for it to be cancelled. They said I had appointed them as my Tax representative when they did PPI work for me (Which has never been cancelled) and hence any rebate I get from HMRC entitles them to a percentage of it. I have said they are not getting paid for work they have not done. I also asked them to cancel the agreement and that I regarded it as ending when they completed the work on PPI and only relating to the work they did on that basis.

Is there anything preemptive I need to do before they start sending me further demands for money and threatening court action, which they said they would do if not paid by some date in December).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Iain

They have got you tax back by applying for it using an agreement you signed (hidden in the small print) - at the very least you need to ask where your refund is (assuming you haven't had it). Hence they have "done" work for you even if it's basically nothing

I have a cheque direct from HMRC - no input from FastTrack at all, they only know about it because they are eroniously listed as my Tax representative and would have been informed by HMRC. So they have an egreement that I signed for the PPI work they did and are using that to claim I owe them money from any refund I get because the instruction has not been cancelled.

My point is that this is not reasonable behaviour as the instruction should only apply to the PPI work they did on my behalf and should have expired at the end of that work, but they have retained it and are using it to claim money they have done no work for. But reasonable may not be the same as legally entitled under contract.

Can I argue that the contract was not intended to be in perpetuity and is unreasonable to enforce or would the court take their side?

Did YOU apply for the tax refund? 

Unfortunately with the PPI issue, using a CMC instead of using the same free process yourself, you may well have signed up to give them the right to claim tax and other things, married couples allowance is another they like. Do you have a copy of their terms and how long back did you get the PPI payout?

dunstonh

Can I argue that the contract was not intended to be in perpetuity and is unreasonable to enforce or would the court take their side?

I don't know about Fasttrack but there have been court cases regarding this and they have sided with the consumer.

IainJB

Nasqueron said:

IainJB said:

Nasqueron said:

IainJB said:

I have also just received an invoice from them and called to complain and ask for it to be cancelled. They said I had appointed them as my Tax representative when they did PPI work for me (Which has never been cancelled) and hence any rebate I get from HMRC entitles them to a percentage of it. I have said they are not getting paid for work they have not done. I also asked them to cancel the agreement and that I regarded it as ending when they completed the work on PPI and only relating to the work they did on that basis.

Is there anything preemptive I need to do before they start sending me further demands for money and threatening court action, which they said they would do if not paid by some date in December).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Iain

They have got you tax back by applying for it using an agreement you signed (hidden in the small print) - at the very least you need to ask where your refund is (assuming you haven't had it). Hence they have "done" work for you even if it's basically nothing

I have a cheque direct from HMRC - no input from FastTrack at all, they only know about it because they are eroniously listed as my Tax representative and would have been informed by HMRC. So they have an egreement that I signed for the PPI work they did and are using that to claim I owe them money from any refund I get because the instruction has not been cancelled.

My point is that this is not reasonable behaviour as the instruction should only apply to the PPI work they did on my behalf and should have expired at the end of that work, but they have retained it and are using it to claim money they have done no work for. But reasonable may not be the same as legally entitled under contract.

Can I argue that the contract was not intended to be in perpetuity and is unreasonable to enforce or would the court take their side?

Did YOU apply for the tax refund? 

Unfortunately with the PPI issue, using a CMC instead of using the same free process yourself, you may well have signed up to give them the right to claim tax and other things, married couples allowance is another they like. Do you have a copy of their terms and how long back did you get the PPI payout?

I did apply for the tax refund directly with HMRC

FastTrack have sent me a copy of the agreement I signed and I need to spend time going through it in detail, but on a quick scan it refers specifically to the need for them to have my permission to represent me with HMRC for the purposes of my PPI claim and it says the agreement would be cancelled either by myslef or by succesful conclusion of my claim (which was successfully concluded and their commision paid by me).

I will read in detail and send in a complaint saying they should have cancelled it several years ago when the PPI work completed. Could even ask for some damages for the hassle they are causing me just now.:)

Thanks for your comments...

Iain..

Nasqueron

Have a read through this forum for comments by Alpine Star, not sure if they are still active but they have given some good advice on fighting these firms - good luck

ChotanAlbie

Hi all, I too have had the same issue with Fast Track (FTR) who have now passed my £400 owed debt to Sandstone Legal if others have heard of the same?

Reading other posts, thank you all, I appear to FTR to still be tied to them but I actioned my last tax refund via the HMRC app in spring 2024 not them. They were sadly sent a copy of this refund hence the claim for commission. 

My worry is that despite the following headlines and terrible behaviour, not to mention holes in their case that I get slapped with more legals fees?

headlines

1) FTR did get me a working from home claim in 2022 which they took their commission and should have “concluded their contract” with me.
2) I’ve engaged with their complaints people on email and all you get back is threats of court, incorrectly dated complaint summaries.
3) They cannot present me with T&Cs for anything later than 2022 and when they do quote them to me they don’t even match the documents they are issuing.
4) I’ve revoked the supposed rights of FTR in writing guided by them.
5) Phoned HMRC twice who do support that they are acting illegally and without authority. So much so that FTR should have a live authority form for each and every tax year so no “rolling “ rights over multiple years.
6) I engage with them (last few days) still to say I am able to pay the bill if they can present  me with a signed contract and facts… BUT then they just go quiet again for weeks at a time.

should I just pay it to get them off my back?

penners324

Who's the underlying company? Is it registered with the FCA or SRA? If so lodge a complaint about them.

Also write to HMRC advising they no longer represent you.

penners324

ChotanAlbie said:

Hi all, I too have had the same issue with Fast Track (FTR) who have now passed my £400 owed debt to Sandstone Legal if others have heard of the same?

Reading other posts, thank you all, I appear to FTR to still be tied to them but I actioned my last tax refund via the HMRC app in spring 2024 not them. They were sadly sent a copy of this refund hence the claim for commission. 

My worry is that despite the following headlines and terrible behaviour, not to mention holes in their case that I get slapped with more legals fees?

headlines

1) FTR did get me a working from home claim in 2022 which they took their commission and should have “concluded their contract” with me.
2) I’ve engaged with their complaints people on email and all you get back is threats of court, incorrectly dated complaint summaries.
3) They cannot present me with T&Cs for anything later than 2022 and when they do quote them to me they don’t even match the documents they are issuing.
4) I’ve revoked the supposed rights of FTR in writing guided by them.
5) Phoned HMRC twice who do support that they are acting illegally and without authority. So much so that FTR should have a live authority form for each and every tax year so no “rolling “ rights over multiple years.
6) I engage with them (last few days) still to say I am able to pay the bill if they can present  me with a signed contract and facts… BUT then they just go quiet again for weeks at a time.

should I just pay it to get them off my back?

No. Issue a complaint.

You have got to get them unlinked from your hmrc account.

If they do go legal you defend the claim in court

paulb22

Murf65 said:

I received a P800 letter from HMRC early July 2023. They said I had paid to much tax and was owed a refund which I could claim by signing up to their official Gov website, this I did and made and received my refund about 5 days later. Move forward to last week (mid Sept) I received a letter from Fasttrack Reclaim saying "congratulations on your rebate from HMRC" and quoted the exact amount of money I had received, but now, it was time for me to pay them a percentage which I owed them as I used their company to make the claim, I did not use this company, as I have already said, I made the claim myself. I have had no contact with this company regarding my tax refund. This morning they called me, I told them this was a hoax call and put the phone down. I have now received an email saying "we tried to contact you today", gave me a reference number and told me to contact them. The email was in my junk if that's any help.

I'm going through this with FTR at the moment. I asked them to do some PPI work in November 2023 and that did involve my appointing them as my tax agent with HMRC. They never got back to me and I forgot all about it until they sent me a bill for £400 for a tax rebate I received in January this year (nothing to do with them) Having reviewed the agreement they state they will "endeavour" to inform me if my claim was unsuccessful as it apparently was, since I've had no communication with them between the initial claim and the demand for payment I'm going to tell them that I consider them to be in breach of our agreement. A couple of tips, if you contact FTS you can ask them to send you copies of all correspondence relating to your relationship with them and if you contact HMRC you can ask for them to be removed as your agents