Claims Financial Rip off!Anyone used them?

[karozee]

I now know i should have either done the legwork myself or may as well have let the banks keep my money, instead of it all being milked away by Claims Financial!!

I came across this scandalous company via a website or junk email to my inbox and must say completely missed the cleverly hidden 'small print'. Anyway long story short I filled out forms to claim credit card charges through them.

1) They won Natwest/RBS - £138.24
Their Fee - £75.00
VAT - £13.13
TOTAL FEES TO CF - £88.13 (64%!!)
MY Earnings- a measly £50.11

2) Their Win no. 2 was Halifax Card Services - £99.15
Their Fee - £75
VAT - £13.13
TOTAL FEE TO CF - £88.13 (89% !!)
MY Earnings - a 'whooping' £11.02

They sent me these breakdowns today and want their dues paid to them in 7 working days! I was beyond words when i saw this! Surely this cannot be legally allowed to happen, where Claims Financial loots all the claim winnings and throws the crumbs at us customers (who in most cases are in debt such as myself!). I previously have used ABC for bank charges etc and found their 25% or so fair, but 64% and 89% which in my opinion was not clearly and boldly declared by Claims Financial from the onset, is shameless theft and greed!!

A couple weeks ago they sent me forms to sign to allow them to pursue one of my other credit cards with Financial Ombudsman on my behalf and on there they have stated; ..."unfortunately should I not receive this form back from you I must assume that you no longer wish to continue with our service which may result in an invoice being raised based on our cancellation fee." I am sure they advertise themselves as no win no fee and if i am unhappy with their services and willing to terminate their services for any unwon claims i should be able to do so without being penalised for it!!

When i first learnt they charge cancellation of service fees, I wrote to them on 15th March 2010 complaining about the rip off and asking to terminate my services but they have not acknowledged the letter and not much help has come from calling up the company either.

At this stage due to the amount of frustration this scam from Claims Financial has caused me, I seem to think i will just let Claims Financial keep the lot of what they have looted from me plus the crumbs they are throwing at me!as i see no point accepting the crumbs from them all in the name of offering a professional service!!
Luckily we are not talking a life changing amount here - could be worse !

Any suggestions, advise, ideas on best way to tackle this mess i naively got trapped into, will be greatly appreciated.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Claims Financial Rip off!Anyone used them?

Without seeing their t&c's it is difficult to give advice. Are you able to post up a copy of them so that we can advise you further on your cancellation rights. - Just been on their web site -
Terms & Conditions

A) Fees, Your Obligations and Ours
We offer a No Win, No Fee Service and charge No Upfront Fees. This means that if you do not benefit from our services we will not charge you for the services you receive from us.
'Benefit' means all monetary and non-monetary benefits arising from our services. This will often be a cash refund to you but in some cases may also include debt reduction and/or cancellation. For example, if you are in arrears on a loan, some or all of your refund may be used to pay off those arrears. Our overriding objective is to improve your financial situation whether by reclaiming money for you or by reducing your debts. If we do this you will have benefited from our services and our fees will be payable as set out below.
'Fees': If we are successful (see A1 above) in your claim/case and you do benefit our fee is 25% plus VAT of the total benefit to you in each individual claim subject to a minimum fee of £75 plus VAT in each credit card claim, £65 plus VAT in each and every unfair mortgage charge claim and £150 plus VAT in unfair bank charge and mis-sold payment protection insurance claims. Subject to the amount being claimed, where minimum fees apply this could be more than 25% of your total compensation and we make no warrantees as to the amount you are likely to recover, as this will vary from case to case.
Example 1: The company claims back £1000 for you in a claim for unfair bank charges. Our fee would be 25% plus VAT. The total fee charged would be £287.50
Example 2: The company claims a refund of charges on your credit card in the sum of £165. The minimum fee of £75 plus VAT would apply. The total fee charged would be £86.25.
Payment Details: Upon receipt of your initial claim form you agree to us contacting you to verify your personal information and verifying your payment details (debit/credit) with a 1p charge. You authorize us to use those same details to take our fees at a later date in accordance with these conditions. Further you agree to us using your payment details in respect of all claims that we manage on your behalf including those of any joint applicants.
When are fees due? Our fees become due as soon as we receive confirmation from the third party (bank, lender etc), that you have benefited from our services in accordance with A1 above. We will then issue you with a receipted VAT invoice for your records within 14 days. Where a benefit is conferred to you including directly to your account and you fail to reject that offer within a period of 28 days by writing to us, you will be deemed to have accepted that offer.
Engaging us: There are a number of companies offering comparable services to us and it is recommended that you choose the best company for your circumstances and 'shop around' subject to the timescales for the particular claim type.
In the event a refund/benefit is made directly to you in accordance with A1 you must notify us within a reasonable time. We will then take payment in accordance with paragraph 3 above.
Any unrecoverable disbursements arising out of proceedings to include the Data Protection Fee, Court Fees and advocates' fees will be deducted from your total settlement sum before deducting our service fees. Please note that no such fees will be incurred without your prior agreement.
B) Communication Data & Confidentiality
During the term of the Agreement we shall request information about your personal and financial situation including the accounts held at your bank from you and third parties. This may constitute "personal data" or "sensitive personal data" under the Data Protection Act 1998.
C) Debt Collection
If payment of our invoice is not made within 28 days the matter will be referred to debt collection as the non-payment of our fees would constitute a breach of your contract with us. As such you would become liable to pay our reasonable losses and costs arising from your breach of contract. Details of which will be provided to you when such costs have been assessed. You would also become liable to pay such costs and disbursements that the Court would deem to be just.
D) Liability
The company makes no warranty as to the amount you may recover in any particular claim as cases are always assessed on a case by case basis. . The company accepts no liability due to the provision of false, misleading or incomplete information or documentation or due to any acts or omissions of any person other than the company. The company accepts no liability for any steps a financial institution may take in relation to your claim. The company is not a legal or financial advisor, and as such none of its employees may give clients financial or legal advice at any time, whether verbally or in writing.
E) Terminating this Agreement
You shall have the right to terminate the Contract by giving us written notice within 14 days of signing the Contract, (cooling off period). If written notice is received within 14 days any monies paid by you to us will be refunded in full.
You may cancel the contract in writing after 14 days but will be charged for any work undertaken during this period, and for any charges incurred by us from Third Party suppliers for services procured on your behalf. If you cancel the Contract after we have received an offer of Compensation from a Third Party our normal fees will be applied. Details of charges are set out at Part A and E of this agreement.
Any termination by you must be communicated on the telephone to our Customer Services Department and promptly confirmed in writing thereafter. We recommend that written confirmation of termination should be sent by recorded delivery to our registered office.
If you cancel the Contract after 14 days then we will charge you at the Company's standard hourly rate of £25 per hour to cover our actual costs for such preparation, processing and administration costs up to the time that you cancelled the contract in writing. If such termination takes place after a Third Party has made an offer of benefit is made to you we will impose a charge equivalent to our standard fees set out at A above as if the refund had been handled fully for you on the basis that you have received the full benefit of our services.
F) Complaints Procedure
We aim to provide excellent customer service at all times. However, we recognise that occasionally things go wrong. If you feel you wish to complain about the service you have received, please read our Complaints Handling Scheme below.
Complaints may be made in writing, by e-mail, by telephone or in any other form in respect of a claims management service that we have provided and that is regulated under the Compensation Act 2006. In the case of a telephone complaint, we may ask you to put your complaint in writing to clarify the complaint so we can investigate fully.
We reserve the right to decline to consider a complaint that is made more than six months after you became aware of the cause of the complaint. There may be instances where we will waive this requirement at our discretion. We will confirm to you in writing if a complaint has been made outside the time limit that we are prepared to consider.
We will send you a written or electronic acknowledgement of a complaint within five business days of receipt, identifying the person who will be handling the complaint for the business. Wherever possible, that person will not have been directly involved in the matter which is the subject of the complaint, and will have authority to settle the complaint.
Within four weeks of receiving a complaint, we will send you either:
a) a final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or
b) a holding response, which explains why we are not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicates when we will make further contact with you.
With eight weeks of receiving a complaint we will send you either:
a) a final response which adequately addresses the complaint; or
b) a response which:
i explains why we are still not in a position to make a final response, giving reasons for the further delay and indicating when we expect to be able to provide a final response; and ii informs you that you may refer the handling of the complaint to the Claims Management Regulator if you are dissatisfied with the delay.
Where we decide that redress is appropriate, we will provide you with fair compensation for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible and will comply with any offer of redress which you accept. Appropriate redress will not always involve financial redress.
If you are not satisfied with our response, or if a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, you may refer the complaint to:
Claims Management Regulator
PO Box 7824
Burton on Trent
Staffordshire
DE14 9DP
info@claimsregulation.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 4506858.
The Regulator can review the handling of the complaint and can give a direction on further handling of the complaint. However, he cannot determine a complaint or award compensation.
G) Referral fees
We work with a number of partners, introducers and affiliates. If you were referred to us by one of our agents your contract is with us, not with that individual and a referral fee will be paid to that agent which will be up to 6.25% of the total benefit we recover for you. Example: If we were to recover a refund of £1000 for you the agent would be paid a sum of up to £62.60 by us. If you would like further information please address your query to the Compliance Manager at our company address.


Terms & Conditions



Are they authourised by the Ministry of Justice? Yes just checked that

Just a thought as they have charged you VAT are they are actually VAT registered?

I have to tell you some of our members who have just written letters to their credit card companies have bee paid out in as little time as 9 days and they got to keep 100% of the money that was returned.

I will read the T&c's tommorow- too late now.

Tuttsi

[karozee]

Re: Claims Financial Rip off!Anyone used them?

Good morning Tuttsi. Thank you for your help. Would be helpful to know if they are VAt registered.
After some reflection since writing this last night and reading the above terms & conditions you have uncovered, my biggest challenge is how to terminate any further services with this ruthlessly greedy company without incurring their so called termination fee.

They have one other credit card company as i mentioned earlier that they are so keen to pursue to financial ombudsman and I am holding onto the forms they sent me and do not intend to sign them- yet i am threatened with that termination charge!

The terms and conditions I have would be very similar to whats on their website- but will scan in and copy and post here later anyway.

[TUTTSI]

Re: Claims Financial Rip off!Anyone used them?

On the letter they sent you requesting the money did it show a VAT number? as without a VAT number they cannot charge VAT.

If you can post up the T&C's which you signed to as their site ones may be different?

I am just curious did you know how many times you had received charges on these two accounts? as I am wondering if it is correct. What you could do is contact your credit card companies and ask them the total of the payment which they have made to these people and the date that the payments were in fact made?

As I find it strange that you suddenly get this demand on two different cards at the same time.

So you need to get your detective hat on and make some enquiries.

Tuttsi