**WON** Received Claim from Quickly Finance T/A Fast Track Reclaim

[SeaEmSee]

*Demonstrably not whining, but kinda furious!

I have now received the claim form- from the CCMCC, which I am defending all the way as it's utter guttertripe, but I can't lie, I'm terrified - I cannot afford a solicitor, let alone find one that will help me. I have all the paperwork prepped and I have my defence statement with all the relevant materials to back up what I'm saying. i've completed form n9b, does anyone know anyone that can cast an eye over this or offer me any assistance without telling me I'm whining!

Can I counterclaim for stress - like literally, this whole thing has put me on meds!

Sorry, forgot to ask, now that I have these forms, does this mean I'm definitely going to have to go to court or is there someone that will look at this beforehand and make a decision and throw it out? Just seems a terrible waste of tax payers money!

[echat11]

Fill in the following, copy and paste back onto this thread without personal details:

Received a claim? Yes/No:
Issue Date:
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?:
Total Amount Claimed : ( approximately please do NOT use EXACT figure given on the claim form, round up to next £100 or £1000)
Claimant’s Name:
Solicitors Firm:
Original Creditor:
Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) :
Particulars of Claim: ( Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers/exact amounts ):
Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?):
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ):
Any Other Information or Background Details:

[SeaEmSee]

Received a claim? Yes/No: yes
Issue Date: Stamped as "Date of Service 08/01/2024" Issued 03/01/24, received today
Have you Acknowledged the Claim?: to whom? I have until 22nd to respond
Total Amount Claimed : ( approximately please do NOT use EXACT figure given on the claim form, round up to next £100 or £1000) £1100
Claimant’s Name: Quickly Finance T/A Fast Track Reclaim
Solicitors Firm: Joseph James Law
Original Creditor: FTR
Original Debt (eg. Credit card/Loan/Overdraft) : - CMC claiming %age of my tax return, not signed up for it - didn't know they were there
Particulars of Claim: ( Please type out in full excluding names/account numbers/exact amounts ):
Defence Statement relating to XXXXXX
September 2017 – successful PPI claim under case XXXXXXX
Aug 2021 – Received marketing communication & apparently I responded to this. Signed the form to "check" & set the ball in motion. This marketing email states specifically an amount of £108.51 from a past successful PPI claim (2017) (I now have copies of this)
I then received further emails about more claims I could do and unsubscribed from their marketing in Oct 2021. I heard nothing more from them.
Fast Track Reclaim state because I unsubscribed from this Marketing - which I have images of in this statement, - that this was why I never heard anything else from them. My argument to that is, if they were apparently acting on my behalf on a claim, which I had apparently signed T’s & C’s for in August 2021, then that’s not marketing is it!?
Please note, I say that I apparently received these emails, as I have no recollection of them, receiving them, responding to them or unsubscribing, as to me, they must have been just spam, and I do not remember the spam emails! All of this information was sent to me by FTR over the course of Q4 2022, when I asked them under what guise they contacted me in the first place and what I had allegedly signed up to.
I would like to draw your attention to the specifics within the Ts & Cs These terms do not state anywhere that this is for my Self-Assessment claims, it was as a response to a marketing email which specifically stated the amount of £108.51 for tax year 2017/18 – which is when the successful PPI claim was received. I cannot see anywhere that I have given informed consent to a blanket assignment.
I was sent these Ts & Cs on email attachment by FTR in September 2023, that I had apparently signed, (as per images 7 and 8 above), FTR Reference CA2252670 is on these terms – prior to this, I had no visibility of any document, no letter of assignment or paperwork to complete, which I had received when they carried out PPI claims for me. I received absolutely no communications from them, no updates & no copy of the signed documentation anywhere in my email & therefore, no clue that they even existed. According to FTR, I unsubscribed from the marketing lists in October 2021, this was the last time they contacted me until they sent me an invoice for work they’d carried out, which was sent, via 2^nd class post, dated 11^th September, received on 20^th September 2023)! I state again, surely, if they’re acting on my behalf for anything, then that is not considered marketing!?
HMRC sent me everything that they had received from FTR since 2021 relating to me. There was the initial letter that included the R40 – where FTR had informed HMRC that:

• The Completed R40 form signed by “our client” and
• A completed 64-8 form providing FTR authorisation for my individual tax affairs.

I repeat, the above points do not constitute my informed consent to any kind of blanket assignment, transposing a signature (which bears no likeness to my actual signature on any official document I have) on to these documents and falsely claiming to HMRC that I had completed & signed them does not constitute my informed consent to any blanket assignment!
October 2023 – Once the information was received from HMRC, a full complaint letter was drafted, sent to FTR & sent separately to Joseph James Law.
November 2023 – FTR responded, didn’t agree with anything, told me I needed to only communicate with their legal representation, who then they immediately sent yet another demand email and followed up with a “Letter of Claim – Legal Proceedings will follow if you ignore this letter” pack, asking for payment, admittance, dispute and if applicable, a full disclosure of my financial status! This was dated 7^th November and sent via second class post, received 9^th November 2023.
It was put in their letter, the background facts relating to this alleged “unpaid debt” & they wrote, verbatim, as follows:
“You entered into an agreement with Quickly Finance Limited (trading as Fast Track Reclaim) (the “Contract”) for the provision of services concerning HMRC tax refunds. You agree to pay a fee to Quickly Finance Limited (Trading as Fast Track Reclaim) in the sum of 30% plus VAT if your claim was successful.
We refer you to section 2.1, 2.1.2 and 2.2 of the Contact [sic] set out below:
2.1 “No fees will be charged to you in respect of an unsuccessful claim. Where a claim is successful, FTR will charge a contingency fee representing no more than the greater value of either 30% plus VAT or £25.00 plus VAT at the prevailing rate (currently 20%) in respect of any redress/compensation/goodwill/rebate payment recovered on your behalf. The contingency fee of 30% plus VAT or £25.00 plus VAT is calculated before any applicable tax pay”……………?
2.1.2 “If you are paid by the HMRC directly as a result of your claim FTR has made on your behalf, you will inform us immediately. If disclosure is not received within a reasonable timescale our fee is calculated upon the PPI amount received/disclosed within the financial year to which the claim is applicable. It will be determined that a refund has been paid directly to you if FTR has been informed by HMRC within nine months of submitting your claim to HMRC and you have not disclosed to us otherwise and our fee in accordance with clause 2.1 will be due”
2.2 “Where fees remain unpaid and FTR are forced to either take court action or appoint a debt collection agency to recover outstanding monies, FTR reserve the right to increase the amount owed by an amount equivalent to the cost of that recovery. A court may also award additional cost and/or statutory interest at the rate of 8% above Bank of England”
Specific to “section 2.1, “2.1.2” and 2.2 as was set out in their letter and copied, verbatim, above, the reasons I fully and wholly dispute this debt are:
2.1 – The terms and conditions were, as a reminder, in relation to the marketing email as per Image 1
The agreement I allegedly entered in to, was in response to this! This marketing email was sent to me by FTR who have clearly & absolutely confirmed to me in emails recently, that this is how contact came about & have confirmed this is what I responded to. It also undoubtedly references the “successful PPI claim” I made with FTR in the past (specifically 2017, more specifically September 2017, case reference 124320272). The amount on this marketing email states a very specific amount of £108.51 & is unquestionably to do with a successful PPI claim in 2017.
In accordance with the clause 2.1, (there appears to be some minor differences between my “signed” version and the version within their “facts” letter of this clause), either way, it certainly appears there was an unsuccessful claim, as HMRC put in their letter to FTR dated 5^th October 2023 stating - & I quote verbatim from this letter that:
“The R40 form that we received on 1 September 2021 for 2017/18 was rejected as Mrs Fowles was in self-assessment and an overpayment relief claim would have been needed. This was never received, as the 2017/18 tax year is now out of date all claims are now invalid.” Which tells me the claim was unsuccessful.
Reference the clause 2.1.2 – this does not exist on the Ts Cs that FTR sent me in Sept or the hard copy received as part of the SARs pack. However, to counter this clause - as it was transcribed in their “Background Facts” within their Letter of Claim, dated 7^th November 2023:
“If you are paid by the HMRC directly as a result of your claim FTR has made on your behalf….” –

• the claim FTR apparently made on my behalf was for the 2017/18 tax year.
• The 1^st letter sent to HMRC in August 2021(dated 25^th August 2021) had two forms enclosed, an R40 and a 64-8 – both of which my “signature” was unknowingly & unwittingly transposed on to & which FTR falsely advised HMRC I had completed & signed.
• FTR then sent the claim for the 2017/18 Tax refund for the PPI claim on 27^th August 2021 (by 2^nd class post received by HMRC on 1^st September 2021).
• A second “chase up letter” dated 11^th May 2022 was sent, regarding the “outstanding case” & further going on to say that “This case falls outside of your currently extended timescales for claims to be resolved and we feel that it is an unacceptable length of time to allow clients to wait for a response to their claim”.
• The third & final letter dated 12^th June 2023, was sent via standard post to HMRC, with the subject “Ongoing Tax Claim for [my full name] – Taxpayer Reference [my full NI number]”.
  • Within this letter, I would like to point out the fact that FTR are clearly chasing up the letter from 13 months earlier, which was a chase up to the initial letter 9 months previous to that, in August 2021, as it clearly points out in the letter “As per our records, the tax claim was submitted to HMRC on 27/08/2021 11:22:28, and we have not received any correspondence regarding its progress or status since then….”

In addition, may I point you to the ASA Ruling on Quickly Finance Limited T/A Fast Track Reclaim in May 2023, where they upheld a ruling of Misleading Advertising from 2022 https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/quick...nance-ltd.html
The ASA challenged whether:
1. ads (a) and (b) misleadingly implied the free online tool would confirm whether consumers were entitled to a refund from HMRC;
2. ads (a) and (b) exaggerated the refund payable to the consumer and did not make clear that the advertiser would deduct a fee of 36% of the refund, with a £30 minimum fee, or that consumers could apply for a refund directly with HMRC free of charge; and
3. the ads made sufficiently clear that consumers were signing an ‘assignment’ that transferred the legal benefit of the claim to the advertiser, which might also relate to other repayments owed to the customer for preceding years (depending on the period set out in the assignment).
Fast Track Reclaim issued this response:
3. Fasttrackreclaim.com said the assignment was detailed in their terms and conditions and allowed them to claim the fee for their service related only to the specific years selected by the client in the online application and was not applied to any other tax refund or to future tax refunds. They said they would also amend the fee explanation to state “an assignment applies”.
If their response is to be believed, then why are they chasing me for a Self-assessment led refund for 2022/23 year which I filed myself in July 2023 via my own Government Gateway login?
HMRC admitted to me in September 2023 that I would not have known that I had an agent listed on my self-assessment account, as agents aren’t listed on my Gov Gateway login – which is how I file my self-assessment tax returns every year. I checked this as soon as this all came to light and didn’t see any agent or agency listed. Additionally, they also said that it was the continuing number of complaints to HMRC about CMC’s that led them to change their processes last year so that a individual can remove any agent or agency from their account without the need for forms, signatures and counter signatures from said agent or agency, being required. They also now double check with individuals when they receive 64-8 forms that the agent is legitimately acting for them. To confirm, FTR were removed immediately by HMRC from my account, without question or hesitation or the need for forms, on 20^th September 2023 - essentially, as soon as I knew of their existence, yet FTR are insistent that this could not be possible as I need to sign a form and return it to them, for them to then countersign and send to HMRC. I have requested FTR to double check the process with HMRC, to my knowledge they still have not done so. I have received, in writing, from HMRC, that I have no agent or agency listed against my account and a copy of this is also included in this pack.
Additionally, and as a reminder, I was not made aware that FTR would transpose my signature on to any HMRC forms and claim to HMRC that I had completed and signed the forms or had indeed, authorised them to deal with my individual tax affairs on a blanket assignment. I was already in Self-Assessment and had been doing this on my own since 2017. It makes no sense as to why I would suddenly agree to someone else doing this and giving away a large percentage of any rebates that I get, especially when I am the one doing the work to submit them!
Please also note, no emails/invoices/messages of congratulations were received at all from FTR for the refund I had in February 2023 (from a self-assessment filing done by me in December 2022 for the 21/22 tax year); if nothing else, I would’ve known this company had apparently existed on my profile since September 2021.
Included in this pack:

1. Complete HMRC paperwork; received by HMRC from FTR
   1. Initial letter to HMRC on 25^th August 2021 with the “signed” R40 & 64-8
   2. Follow up letter to the first letter, dated 11^th May 2022
   3. Follow up letter to the second letter, dated 12^th June 2023
   4. Letter from HMRC to FTR dated 5^th Oct explaining R40 was rejected as I was already in Self-Assessment and an overpayment relief form would’ve been required, never received and now too late. The bare nomination was for 2017/18 only, not for 2022/23.
2. Hard Copy T’s & C’s which were digitally signed on 25/08/21(I have no recollection of doing this, no copies are in my inbox and no Letter of Authority or Assignment paperwork was ever received by me either in email or via post.
   1. In the SAR’s pack received recently, this also doesn’t show any paperwork or copies of the signed Terms or any contract/letter of assignment sent to me, either by post or email, just lots of spam emails which I unsubscribed from in October 2021, then nothing until their invoice in September 2023.
3. Copy of email marketing I responded to for tax reclaim for successful PPI claim in 2017 for £108.51
4. Update email ref backlog at HMRC, received 28^th October 2021
5. Copy of email received on 12^th September from FTR telling me “they had obtained a refund from HMRC….” (for a self-assessment that I completed, submitted & did myself in July 2023 for 22/23 tax year)
6. Copy of their Letter of Claim listing the “Background Facts” received by 2^nd Class Post in November 2023

Is the debt Statute Barred (have you had any contact with the creditor or claimant over the last 6 years?): Only for a PPI claim in 2017 which they were recompensed for. In terms of my own tax affairs, no contact at all until Sept - I didn't even know they existed and were listed as an agent
List any letters you have sent (eg: CCA/ CPR ): SARs request to both FTR and HMRC in relation to them. all included in the above.
Any Other Information or Background Details: All included in the above - I have all of the hard copies to back up everything I'm saying due to the SARs put in, prior to this, as mentioned, I didn't know they existed on my tax account and as they didn't claim for any of my Feb (21/22) self assessment rebate, I was none the wiser until September

[echat11]

You need to Acknowledge of Service, online via MCOL. That will give you 14 + 14 (28) days to lodge your defence with the Court.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ledge-a-claim/

EXC Can you please take a look. A claims company - 'Tax Refund'.

[SeaEmSee]

I spoke to them this morning, I have until 22nd to respond / lodge defense, do i still need to do this online via MCOL? I really don't need to extend it to 28, I just want this over and done with - this is continuing to take a massive toll on my mental health,

[echat11]

I spoke to them this morning, I have until 22nd to respond / lodge defense, do i still need to do this online via MCOL? I really don't need to extend it to 28, I just want this over and done with - this is continuing to take a massive toll on my mental health,

Unfortunately, Courts tend to work slow.

It's always good to acknowledge service, give yourself 28 days to prepare your defence, especially as you seek guidance from this site.

When you start thinking of the claim / case distract yourself, do something you enjoy.

[SeaEmSee]

Thanks. Sadly hit a snag already with acknowledging online as they didn't provide me a password! Just gets better

[echat11]

Thanks. Sadly hit a snag already with acknowledging online as they didn't provide me a password! Just gets better

Give them a call tomorrow, first thing, if possible.

[Huxie]

Two threads currently running for this:

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...st-traxr-again

[SeaEmSee]

Two threads currently running for this:

https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...st-traxr-again

thank-you! I figured as this had now gone to court action and paperwork received, I would start another thread in a relevant section, feel free to ignore and please accept my apologies if this is not acceptable

[echat11]

Hopefully the LB members who advised on your previous thread, will continue to advise on this thread. In the meantime the following is a example defence (remove anything with regards to CCA 1974), so will give you a 'structure'. Your defence needs numbers and headings, in your defence you should be addressing their Particulars of Claim. Your defence reads like an essay. Remove anything with regards to CCA 1974.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-court-claims/

You also need to make a CPR 31.14 request, so they need to send you the documents they are relying on to make the claim against you. You'll know which documents they are using as they'll be stated in the Particulars of Claim.

Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...-of-documents/

[echat11]

EXC Can you approve post, thank you.

[EXC]

Hiya

Firstly, don't panic.

Acknowledge the claim and absolutely take the extra time it grants you to file your defence.

Can you please post up the particulars of claim so we can advise on your defence. Your defence won't need to be very long - just a basic denial of the claim and the reasons outlining why (ie no informed consent provided for the assignment)

The detail, such as you provided as your 'defence statement' in post #3, will form your witness statement which doesn't get filed until later in the process.

Do as echat11 suggested and send Joseph James the CPR request for documents.

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't follow through with taking you to court as it doesn't make economic sense to do so for the sake of a grand. They are just trying to scare you into capitulating and paying up. Don't allow them to.

[echat11]

The Particulars of Claim is on the Claim form you've received from the Court.

[SeaEmSee]

Hi

thanks for your response, firstly, stupid question I know, and just for my understanding - what is CPR - the only CPR I know is the cardiac kind....(there's humour here somewhere I'm sure!)

On the court claim form they have given the following info:

Brief Details of Claim
The Claimant seeks to the recover [sic] sum of £1100.29 in the respect of a debt owed following the provision of services on behalf of the Defendant. The Claimant represented the Defendant in the successful recovery of tax refund from HMRC, The said monies remain unpaid despite an invoice being provided"

Particulars of Claim

1. The Claimant is a limited company whose trading name is Fast Track Reclaim ("FTR"). FTR is a leading Claims Management Company. FTR identify possible PPI/Concealed Commission, Package Bank Account and Tax Refund claims on behalf of clients and pursue compensation that may be payable.

2. The Defendant is a client of the Claimant. Who engaged and authorised the Claimant to deal with a tax refund claim on their behalf in accordance with the Claimant's terms and conditions of service

3. The Claimant duly provided its services to the Defendant in accordance with its terms and conditions of services. The Claimant's services were concluded on 11/09/2023 when, as a result of the benefit of the Claimants services, HRMC [sic] made a settlement offer to the Defendant.

4. As a result of the services provided by the Claimant, and in accordance with the Claimant's terms and conditions, the Claimant rendered an invoice for its services to the Defendant on 11/09/23

5. Notwithstanding demands from the Claimant and letters before action sent; the sum of £960.29 (inclusive of interest) remains unpaid and the Defendant remains in breach of the Claimant's terms and conditions of service.

6. In addition to the invoiced sum due, the Claimant claims interest at a rate of 8% from the date the invoice became due until the date payment is made. For the purposes of this claim interest has been calculated from 11/09/2023 to 05/12/2023 in the sum of £18.11

AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS

1. The sum of £960.29 pursuant to paragraph 5 above

2. Interest in the sum of £18.11, already included in the above paragraph pursuant to paragraph 6 above

3. Further interest upon the outstanding sum at the rate of 8% per annum pursuant to s 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at a daily rate of £0.21 until Judgment or sooner payment

4. Costs and court fees


Taking all the emotion out of my reply (which is hard as there is a massive part of me that is screaming and another part that is laughing so hard at this that I cracked ribs), my response - I guess (/) - is something along the lines of the below:

1. The claimant is seeking to recover £1100.29 from me because it states that it “represented me [the defendant] in the successful recovery of a tax refund from HMRC"

2. The claimant absolutely did NOT represent me in any successful claims with the HMRC, as not only have I been successfully submitting my own self-assessments since 2016/17, but also that there is proof from HMRC that the claimant attempted to claim a tax refund relating to a PPI claim in 2017 and that I was already registered for Self-Assessment when they filed the claim for the 2017/18 tax year in 2021.

3. In their apparent representation, the Claimant sent one letter in 2021 which was the 64-8 form and the R40. They did not have approval for any blanket assignment from me to claim 30% of my annual tax returns and transposed a signature on to a 64-8 and R40 form, sent them to HMRC and claimed that I had completed and signed the documents and authorised them to represent me. This is absolutely not the case.

4. They then sent a follow up / Chase letter dated 11th May 2022 about the original claim for the PPI tax rebate of £108.51 from the successful PPI claim in 2017 (full paperwork available for this)

5. They then sent the last follow up / Chase letter dated 12th June 2023

6. I logged in to my Government Gateway in July 2023 - shortly after I got my P60 - and filed my annual tax return for 2022/23 tax year (as I do every year). The Claimant had absolutely nothing to do with this and did not represent any of this activity (I did not even know that they existed as an agent on my account)

7. The Claimant does not act as an Agent for my annual tax returns, I have proof of this, and as soon as I found out they were listed as an agent on my account in September 2023 (I was previously unaware of this and HMRC admitted that I would not have known as they do not show up on my Government Gateway login) they were removed, immediately.

8. HMRC sent a letter to the Claimant in October 2023, informing them that they filed a Bare Nomination form for the 2017/18 tax year and that there was no deed of assignment in place. They also confirmed to them in this letter that the R40 they filed was rejected as I was already in Self Assessment and an Overpayment Relief Claim would've been required. This was never received and as the 2017/18 tax year claim timeframe has now passed, this claim is invalid,

8. The Claimant does not believe that they have been removed from my account and are insistent that I need to sign a form sent by them, to me, and then they countersign and send to HMRC, only then are they removed from my account.

9. I also filed a tax return in December 2022 for the 2021/22 tax year and received a rebate in Feb 2023. There was no contact from FTR for this.

10. Proof can be provided as to the apparent response to their specific email marketing from August 2021 which specifically mentioned a tax rebate on a successful PPI claim and the exact amount of £108.51 - this is not pursuant to an annual tax return filed in 2023 for the 2022/23 tax year by myself on my own Government Gateway login.

11. Proof can be provided as to the fact that I heard nothing from the business between October 2021 (when I unsubscribed to their marketing) until Sept 2023 when HMRC refunded me for my annual tax return for the 2022/23.