Allay

[MillersHome]

Hi all, my Wife is in the same boat as a few other’s on this thread, vaguely remembers looking at something on Facebook in the summer, but is adamant she never signed anything. Received the usual letters through the post requiring signature and as much info as she could give to proceed, all binned.

All correspondence dried up at the end of August, the out of the blue in December I received a letter from HSBC saying they were refunding me a sum of money from payments made to HFC years ago, two days later my Wife received the same offer ( joint account). The very next day a invoice from Allay to my wife is delivered. This was a complete surprise as we had not heard anything from Allay for months and had assumed the had give up. Allay also sent another letter that day asking for more forms to be signed as Clydesdale bank could not verify our identity, never returned.

A day after the invoice arrived we sent a SAR asking for copies of the letter of authority, never heard anything back, sent another one recorded delivery, still nothing. Today we have received a letter saying our invoice is overdue please pay immediately.

Should I now complain in writing ? And if so how should I word it and what should I ask for?

My wife is getting really stressed about this.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Forgot to mention we have requested the loa HSBC received from Allay, and Allay are now asking us to verify our identity for Santander.
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[MillersHome]

Thanks Amethyst, never thought to ask the Clydesdale and Santander for signatures, will do that tomorrow.

[Amethyst]

Also, how long ago did you send the SAR to Allay ? You can make a complaint to the ICO if they have gone beyond 30 days without confirming they require more time.

[MillersHome]

First SAR sent on the 5th of December. I'll send a formal complaint to Allay tomorrow and I'll look at sending one to the ICO.

Thanks

[EXC]

First SAR sent on the 5th of December. I'll send a formal complaint to Allay tomorrow and I'll look at sending one to the ICO.

Thanks

I would complain to Allay about not complying with your SAR request but not about the main issue just yet. You need the information from the SAR (and also Clydesdale and Santander) to substantiate your main complaint, so at the end of the SAR complaint I would put something like:

Please note that on receipt of the information requested I fully intend to make a further complaint disputing the basis on which you are attempting to charge me.

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[MillersHome]

Hi EXC, I will do that today, but they are now saying if we dont pay the invoice now, there will be additional charges.

Thanks for your help.

[MillersHome]

Hi all, I have received the paperwork from HSBC for Allay as requested , it’s a complete and utter forgery, absolutely nothing like my wife’s signature. My second SAR to Allay is up on Saturday coming. Still waiting on paperwork from Clydesdale and Santander but I would imagine it will be the same as HSBC.

Should I wait until the second SAR deadline is up and make a formal complaint?, or just complain now about the blatant forgery.

Thanks for all your help.

[Amethyst]

I think gather everything together first - your documents from the three banks, and what info you get from Allay ( you might have to complaint to ICO to get that ) - then make a formal complaint to Allay and then the Financial Ombudsman, as well as to the three banks for disclosing your data to a third party without checking authorisation ( and again potentially take that to the FOS ). You should also put a complaint through to the FCA as they are responsible for Allay's authorisation to undertake CMC work. See where you are this time next week and what information you have then hopefully you'll be able to deal with it all together.

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[MillersHome]

I think gather everything together first - your documents from the three banks, and what info you get from Allay ( you might have to complaint to ICO to get that ) - then make a formal complaint to Allay and then the Financial Ombudsman, as well as to the three banks for disclosing your data to a third party without checking authorisation ( and again potentially take that to the FOS ). You should also put a complaint through to the FCA as they are responsible for Allay's authorisation to undertake CMC work. See where you are this time next week and what information you have then hopefully you'll be able to deal with it all together.

Thanks Ametyhst, I’ll do that.

[MillersHome]

If the SAR from Allay doesn’t come should I formally complain to them and see if that gets them moving? Or complain to the ICO. It’s just that we are getting asked to pay the outstanding invoice every couple of days.*

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[EXC]

If the SAR from Allay doesn’t come should I formally complain to them and see if that gets them moving? Or complain to the ICO. It’s just that we are getting asked to pay the outstanding invoice every couple of days.

If Alley's constant requests are stressing you and your wife out I would consider sending them something along the following lines:

Dear Sirs

I refer to the numerous reminders for outstanding invoices I am receiving.

As you should be aware I am awaiting a response to my Data Subject Access Request made to you on [xxx date] and due to be complied with on [xxx date].

As you also should be aware I made the DSAR request after twice requesting copies of Letters of Authority which, on both occasions, you failed to acknowledge or provide. These constant demands for payment are causing my wife and I a great deal of stress and anxiety.


Until such time that you have complied with the above requests to provide me with the information I need in order to consider my position in regards to my liability or otherwise for the invoices, it would be entirely reasonable for you to cease payment demands.

Please note that this is NOT a formal complaint but should you continue to harass me for payment and/or fail to provide the information requested above I fully intend to make a formal complaint to you without further notice and, if necessary, take my complaints to the Claims Management Ombudsman.

[MillersHome]

If Alley's constant requests are stressing you and your wife out I would consider sending them something along the following lines:

Brilliant, thank you.
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[MillersHome]

Hi all , that’s over a month now since I sent the second SAR request to Allay, phoned the ICO for some advice yesterday and they said to file a complaint online with them but it will probably take up to three months.

We have received the paperwork from Clydesdale who refused Allay and it’s just a copy of what they sent to the HSBC, still waiting on the Santander paperwork.

Will send a copy of what Amethyst suggested today, and see what happens.

Will keep you updated.

[MillersHome]

Amethyst*tThis came in the post today. Sorry not very clear.

[EXC]

It looks like they've upheld your complaint! I'll give Amethyst a shout.

Although they maintain that you signed an LoA and contract digitally, because you didn't return the claim questionnaire (the actual claim) you hadn't actually instructed them to make the claim. At least that how it reads to me.*