LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

[Amethyst]

Robertson bl**dy Holbrook! - Page 3 - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

Robertson Holbrook

Basic summary

Claimant put RH in charge of their claim against Capital One for unfair credit card charges

RH received an offer and accepted it (August 2009) from Capital One for the full amount claimed.

RH neglected to pass this amount on to the Claimant. She has confirmed with Capital One that a cheque was sent to RH in August, the amount and the cheque number. This information has been given to RH and as far as we are aware the cheque was banked.

21st Dec - After Budgie intervened RH promised to send the money via BACS transfer to the claimant

Monday - RH promised to send the money, plus additional interest to date, via a CHAPS transfer to the claimant

Still no money has been received by her.

So if nothing still by Friday we're going to send a 7 day LBA then put in a County Court Claim for the money from RH
Does that sound like the right course of action ?


RH are currently under first gazette for strike out at companies house (second time they have been in this position)

[TUTTSI]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

In addition to this a complaint to the MOJ, Trading Standards and the Police.

It is of great concern to me that CMC's when I hear about these cases that they are not returning recovered monies to their client's - this tantamounts to theft, especially when they have received the funds many months earlier.

Sadly, I feel we are going to hear of many more cases like this with the growing amount of CMC's growing in numbers and from the threads that we are already aware of - so far sadly there has not been any positive reports of sucessful claims.

I have just done a company search Roberston Holbrook Ltd Company number 05913945. This company was struck off and disolved 6/8/2008 and then restored a year latter 5/8/09. Paul Thomas is currently a Director and a full company search should reveal his home adress. There is currently a proposal to strike this company off because the Annual return is 15 months late. I believe that this is a shell company and that sueing them may not yield any result unfortunately.

If they took this money between 6th Aug 08 and 5th Aug09 then there was no company trading and Paul Thomas should be held personally responsible. In this case just issue a stat demand if it is more than £750.

Tuttsi

[Amethyst]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Dear Tim Russell,

Formal Letter before Action
NAME REFERENCE

In XXXXX 2007 I employed your services by form of agreement to act on my behalf in reclaiming unfair credit card charges from my credit card provider Capital One. Following negotiations Capital One made an offer in August 2009 of £XXXXX to be repaid to myself via your company.

Capital One issued the cheque (reference number XXXXXXX) to Robertson Holbrook on XXXDATEXXXX.

The agreement with your company was that you would take your fee of XXXXXX from the payment and forward the balance to myself within XX days (or whatever the contract said or put ' a reasonable timeframe' ). This has not been received.

CONTACT IN BETWEEN AUGUST AND WHEN PSOTING ON MSE

I have given you a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue and pass on the payment made to you in respect of my claim against Capital One. You have failed to do so despite assurances that you had made a BACS transfer on 22 December and a CHAPS payment on 04 January which have not materialised.

I have now been left with no alternative but to seek legal redress through the courts.

Unless this matter is satisfactorily resolved within the next 7 days I will instigate legal proceedings without further notice. The cost of this action will be added to my claim.



Yours sincerely


XXXXXXXXX

[TUTTSI]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Interesting Roberton Holbrook give reference to Legal Beagles on their web site as an alternative to them

Interest
If you want to additionally recover any interest applied to your charges then our service is not for you. There are other companies who operate on a different basis to us but they will charge a fee of some sort. Always be wary of any company who demands an up front payment, always ensure the company is a practicing solicitor or registered with The Ministry of Justice and as a Data Controller with The Information Commissioners Office. Self help sites we recommend are Money Saving Expert (Martin Lewis), Consumer Action Group and Legal Beagles.


AS EASY

AS

DATA CONTROLLER
REGISTERED

1..2..3..


MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
REGISTERED

CRM5003

Z9681248

BANK & CREDIT/STORE CARD CHARGE REFUNDS
AND PAYMENT PROTECTION INSURANCE ( PPI)

HOUSE OF LORDS RULING:


WHAT DOES THE SUPREME COURT'S JUDGMENT MEAN TO CLIENTS OF ROBERTSON HOLBROOK ?
Nov 26 2009 Click here for more
SUPREME COURT RULE AGAINST OFT
Nov. 25 2009 Click here for more

WELCOME TO
ROBERTSON HOLBROOK

Robertson Holbrook Ltd No. 5913945



01446747238

[Amethyst]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Yep I know, partly why I am so damn disappointed in Tim for what he's done in this case.

[Budgie]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Am making a bit of a nuisance of myself with Robertson Holbrook and Capital One.

Hopefully we can get this matter sorted without having to follow through with Court action.

See last few posts on Robertson bl**dy Holbrook! - Page 5 - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

[Budgie]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Some notes for later use

There are now two claimants who have experienced basically the same problem with RH. I wonder how many more there might be?

Robertson Holbrook contract link
http://robertson-holbrook.co.uk/PDF-CHARGES-FORMS.pdf


Robertson Holbrook, by not settling with Customer within 7 days of receiving the payment from Capital One, are in breach of contract. A claim may therefore be made through the County Courts on that basis. Am pretty sure the Court would look favourably on a claim for the full amount of the settlement made by Capital One to RH ( in each case the total settlement made by Cpaital One to RH is approx double the amount of charges being claimed back )

Alternatively, any settlement from Capital One to RH would have been made purely as a gesture of goodwill. There is nothing to stop the Claimants from terminating their agreement with RH owing to the breach and or failure to fulfil obligations. Claimants could then recommence their claims with Capital One, progress through to the same conclusion and legitimately retain 100% of the settlement for themselves. Capital One would be left with the problem of taking legal action against RH for recovery of the earlier settlement made to RH.

I am currently waiting to hear back from Capital One regarding these two claims and any others that they may have previously dealt with or are currently dealing with via RH. Capital One are extremely unhappy that RH appear not to be passing settlements on to Capital One Customers and will be having an internal meeting on this matter tomorrow morning. My contact at Capital One has agreed to keep me advised as to the outcome of this meeting.

Tim is not currently returning my calls, I left various messages on his mobile today, he texted back to first one to say he was in Court and would call me later in the day, which he hasnt. He did however telephone both of the Claimants advising them that he would investigate and sort out their settlements tomorrow !!!

[Amethyst]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Robertson Holbrook, by not settling with Customer within 7 days of receiving the payment from Capital One, are in breach of contract. A claim may therefore be made through the County Courts on that basis.

'''Robertson Holbrook will endeavour to recover all such bank charges and undertake to forward any payment from my bank to me within seven days from the date received, subject to the retention of such interest deemed applicable to this action.'''


Is this the only agreement thats signed do you know ? We can quote that in the POC.

Yan seems to expect to get exact figures from RH before sending her LBA - think she needs a nudge to put an approximate figure on the high side.

See if Tim keeps his word today - which would be a first so not holding my breath.

[Amethyst]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

have drafted this. I'm not sure if the claimants want to go for breach of contract and refuse to pay rh their 'fee' so i havent put that in. thoughts welcome.





1. The Claimant made an agreement with the Defendant on or around XX/XX/XXXX for the Defendant to undertake work in order obtain a refund of charges on the claimants behalf from a third party 'Capital One' in their capacity as a claims management company.

2. The agreement contained the following term ''Robertson Holbrook will endeavour to recover all such bank charges and undertake to forward any payment from my bank to me within seven days from the date received, subject to the retention of such interest deemed applicable to this action. ''

3. The Defendant received payment of £XXXXX from the third party 'Capital One' in August 2009.

4. The Claimant understands the Defendant, under the agreement, was entitled to retain approximately £XXX by way of their fee.

5. The Defendant has failed to pass the remaining sum of approximately £XXX on to the Claimant.

6. The Claimant has asked the Defendant to pay this sum to them as agreed in writing and by telephone on xxxxDatesxxxxxx and they have failed to do so.

7. Accordingly the Claimant claims:

a) Payment in the sum of £xxx.xxx(charges total);

b) Any Court costs incurred by the claimant;

c) The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum, from the date of each charge as detailed on the attached schedule of charges to (the date you are issuing the claim) of £xxx.xx and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or settlement at a daily rate of £xx.xx per day

8. I believe that the facts stated in this Particulars of Claim are true

[Budgie]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Hi All,

Sorry, I haven't been around much recently, work is totally manic at the moment.

I think the POC is far to kind to RH.

In addition to breaching their own terms and conditions RH have failed to communicate properly with the MSE Claimants and failed to honour any subsequant promises made with regards to settlement of the claims. None of the Claimants has been informed as to what their individual settlements might be. However all of the individual Claimants know what amounts were paid to Robertson Holbrook and when those payments were made. Capital One will provide written confirmation of those facts upon request.

Personally I feel that each Claimant should submit a claim based on the full amount paid to RH by Capital One. Plus stat 8%. IE The POC should be modifed so as only to make reference to the breach of the terms and conditions by RH in not making settlement to the Claimants within 7 days of receipt of the money from Capital One. Don't refer to RH's fees at all. Greater emphasis should be made to the fact that Capital One settled the claims on a certain date by sending a cheque in the amount of £xxxx etc. Each Claimant should also ask for a written statement from Capital One confirming the fact that payment was made to RH.

Let RH argue the amount of the settlement in Court, it's no less than they deserve. Remember that if RH fail to defend they will most likely get summary judgment against them for the full amount of the claim. Plus it would be embarassing for RH to have to try and justify their ridiculous fee charging structure.

As far as I am concerned any interest amounts REFUNDED by Capital One should actually be regarded as "charges" anyway and should be fully refunded to the Claimants in question.

Will try and get back on later this evening and see how the individual Claimants feel about this !

[Gills1970]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Hi Amethyst/Budgie - thank you very much for the information below. I've registered on the website to complete the claim online. I've also had a look at the N1 form so that I know what I should be putting in it!

I feel happy not making reference to RH fees because I don't really understand them anyway!

Do I make reference to the cost of sending the LBA (£4.95) and also the money it will cost to raise the claim online (£70)? if so, how do I word this?

I will get the form completed and let you both see the text I'm putting in to ensure it's right!

Once again, thanks for taking the time to help with this.

Gills

[yan79]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Hi.

Thanks all so much.
I still have no Idea what I'm doing :S
I have registered with Money Claim online and started filling out the forms, I have also printed 3 copies of the N1 form. Am I waiting for a different set of POC's or shall I use the ones Amethyst has kindley drafted?

Sorry, I'm terrible at things like this.

Yan

[Amethyst]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Okay :~) My version is very simple and just aimed at getting the money which is owed to you with a bit of compensatory interest at 8% PA.

Now you EITHER want moneyclaim online OR the N1 forms. Moneyclaim is simply a way of putting a claim in court wihtout needing the forms, you are very limited on space (I think its something like 1024 characters) so I prefer N1 but appreciate onine is better for some.

IF you do use the N1 then you need to have three copies of the form completed the same, then the court sends one back to you with a notice of issue, one to the defendants and keeps one on file. If you are unsure pop in the court with it and check with the counter clerk they are usually quite lovely and helpful.

Use the companys registered address for service and address it to Robertson Holbrook Ltd - NOT Paul Thompson (or whatever his name is).

And then its just putting your own info where the XXXX's are.


Once the claims with the court they usually take 3-5 days to serve it on the defendant, then you will get a notice of issue.

RH then have 14 days to acknowledge the claim and state their intent to defend. If they acknowledge the claim they MUST enter a defence within 28 days of receipt of the form else you win by default and can enforce the judgment.

Any questions just ask, I'll try check with Bud now if theres anything he wants to change before you submit.


NO human rights issues (it asks on the form so just tick No)


Ummmm just ask any questions, is a fair while since I filled one in

[Budgie]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

Thanks Ame.

I will post up a modifed version of POC based on claiming 100% of the money paid to RH by Capital One during the day tomorrow.

Will endavour to keep POC under 1024 characters so that it can be filed via moneyclaim online. SHould be easy enough to do.

Rgds Budgie

[Gills1970]

Re: LBA & POC to claim a settlement from a CMC

You are both fab! Will wait and see if Budgie manages to keep it under the required number of characters fir the online form, if not I will just do the paper one :-) thanks again