Bank-smart

[claire2day]

Help i feel sick I've read all the stuff about bank smart and I have recently agreed for them to look into ppi, I have no idea where they got my details from originally but stupidly thought fill in the paperwork where is the harm, I understand I cant cancel because this attracts a fee but my online account shows a total 32 claims they have set up.

Is there anything I can do to put this right.

[Matty B]

Why are you worried about the numbers of claims? They are probably chasing every account with every provider they can find, most won't have PPI. What was the deal, did you agree to pay a proportion of any PPI received?

[claire2day]

Because I've explored ppi before and I've now read paperwork properly and it says you have to declare if you've ever searched before but also I've read horror stories where they have been sent invoices even though no ppi found.

[claire2day]

I havent hot an issue paying a fee if ppi found as that's what I knew I was signing up to

[Amethyst]

32 ? blimey. All PPI ? or have they split them into default charges / PPI etc? Did the form include giving them permission to obtain your credit files ?

Did you keep a copy of the form your completed or any of the paperwork they sent you originally ?

When did you return the documents to them?

Your main issue with banksmart will be that you will receive floods of documents to sign and requests for further information… If you fail to sign any or return the information sheets, even if you write on them you don't have any information you must return them, they will try to invoice you for breach of contract.

Do you actually I think you had PPI on all of the accounts or any of the accounts. Have you previously been paid out for PPI on any of the accounts? Or have you had a final resolution refusing PPI or any of the accounts?

When you say you'd previously looked into PPI was that directly yourself with the lenders or was it through another CMC?

Did you give them a list of 32 lenders or have they picked that up from your credit files?

[claire2day]

The 32 us split between ppi and default charges, I think original letters were earlier but claims created 28/5, I really dont think they will find anything as it was another cmc that looked ..which is why I filled in paperwork just assumed it was same thing, I'm assuming they will only know about the previous company if there was a payout, I doubt even know who they searched with.

They have the info from my credit file I think, as I have not provided any companies.. I didnt keep copies but have emailed them yesterday asking them not to pursue any further claims and copies of documents I signed... I know ive bern silly but I dudnt complete 32 documents, everything prev came back no ppi apart from barclays that paid me out and I settled with the company

[Amethyst]

Okay. You need to send a Subject Access Request to Bank Smart and get a copy of what you signed. Have you heard anything from them since returning your signed document at the end of May ? Cancellation wise you would be better now, as there's only very limited amounts of work they can have put in... but they WILL try to charge you for cancellation. Worst case scenario £400 a claim ( but obviously that would be completely insane - they do lists of what work has been done and charges accumulate - if they've just sent a first letter out could be around £20 a claim - still adds up to a fair whack though) You have told them you wish to cancel ( have you a copy of exactly what you said?) so that should be the line drawn, but sending a SAR should get details of any work they have done/letters sent etc.

When they contact your lenders with your letter of authority it is likely the lenders will respond to the effect that this has already been investigated by whoever the previous CMC was and either paid out or not.

Also, have you checked your credit file ? Do all the companies on the list of claims with banksmart actually show on your credit file?
Does the list contain click through bits to check the status of each claim?

[claire2day]

If they charged me 400 per claim that would be x 32 though that would be over 12,000 I havent got money like that... I havent told them that I want to cancel. I've had nothing since end of may apart from envelopes to send some paperwork from barclays was hoping that if no ppi they at least wouldn't find out it's been searched before.. so am I stuffed with them?

[Amethyst]

Yes that would be insane - don't worry though it's only a month since you signed up so they're unlikely to have ramped up much in the way of costs. £400 is just the maximum they could charge for cancellation.

I havent told them that I want to cancel.

I didnt keep copies but have emailed them yesterday asking them not to pursue any further claims and copies of documents I signed.

Asking them not to pursue any further claims... did you mean in addition to the 32 they've already set up?

[claire2day]

Yes I just put please do not pursue any further claims they have added 10 today though when I've just logged on, that say awaiting authorisation

[Amethyst]

But they haven't yet sent you any third party authorisation forms to complete? They could just be setting up the claims and not actually done much work on anything yet. Really need to get a copy of the form that you did complete and return - and the terms you agreed to - so do a SAR asap to them.

[claire2day]

The extra 10 say waiting for letter of authority, 25 have only had first letter, 7 must have had things returned because they say statements returned, can I cancel the new ones?

[Amethyst]

Have you signed letters of authority for those 25 and 7 cases? ( probably one LOA per lender rather than one for ppi and one for default charges so possibly less )

from their terms...

17)

After engaging our services (by signing these Terms and Conditions and each individual LOA) you agree to

cooperate with the claims process in its entirety. Failure to complete & return documents required for your claim

may result in a breach of this agreement and we may seek to recover our reasonable costs subject to a

maximum of £400 plus VAT* per claim if we are unable to complete our services as a result.

18)

Every claim submitted will be subject to cancellation and breach terms as described above, and there is no

limit to the number of claims that you can submit. If you submit 10 claims and cancel 5 after the 14 day period

then 5 invoices will be applicable and each subject to a maximum £400 plus VAT*. Our reasonable costs will

vary depending on how much work has been completed up to the point of cancellation; for example

cancellation within the first 4 months of a simple claim could incur a fee of £100 plus VAT*, whereas if the

matter is complex and takes longer than one year the fee for each claim could be £400 plus VAT* (the

maximum per claim).

[claire2day]

Ok.. following on from previous posts I withdrew consent writng to all companies.
bank smart then contacted me telling me of the cancellation fees so I decided to leave it run and hope goes the best... I've never renewed consent is it too late to to give consent as ppi deadline has passed but claims submitted before deadline by claims management company

[Amethyst]

You withdrew consent directly with the lenders for banksmart to act on your behalf ? Then banksmart invoiced you for cancellation or breach of contract ? If cancellation and you then told them you didn't want to cancel, did they not then send you further letters of third party authority ? And if they did, did you complete and return them?

Have you heard anything at all since then ?

Have you checked with any of the lenders if they have live claims from you either directly or via bank smart ? or anyone else for that matter ?