EMCAS and ISA claims

[Simon72]

Hello Beagles, I recently received a cold call from a company called EMCAS. They have told me I can claim compensation for an ISA I have had for some years, that has not performed too well. The main issues were that we needed to save for a wedding fund, and were not told about the first year admin charges which meant we lost money, we were also told it was a low to no risk investment when it clearly isn't. EMCAS are not mentioned on here much, and I don't know whether that is good news or bad news. I was not aware that this type of claim was possible, if it is I'd rather do it myself but could do with some pointers on FSA guidelines for this type of claim.

thanks in advance.

Simon

[TUTTSI]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

I have to be very honest they have not come up on our radar as yet but I was reading this forum on EMCAS http://www.slagthemoff.co.uk/2012/09...with-emcas/and looks like a few people are not happy with them. I have a feeling that as this was insurance and this would be dealt with under either the FSA or the FOS if it was a plan that did not perform as it may have been mis=sold to you. Did you pay upfront fees to this company and if you did was this by credit card and how long ago? Have they not been able to claim the upfront fees back as you have not exactly explained the situation?

Hello Beagles, I recently received a cold call from a company called EMCAS. They have told me I can claim compensation for an ISA I have had for some years, that has not performed too well. The main issues were that we needed to save for a wedding fund, and were not told about the first year admin charges which meant we lost money, we were also told it was a low to no risk investment when it clearly isn't. EMCAS are not mentioned on here much, and I don't know whether that is good news or bad news. I was not aware that this type of claim was possible, if it is I'd rather do it myself but could do with some pointers on FSA guidelines for this type of claim.

thanks in advance.

Simon

[Simon72]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The ISA is with Co-op, but EMCAS called and told me there was a chance to make a claim on a no win no fee basis (35% of settlement). My question was really whether this type of claim is doable on my own or if I were to use EMCAS would they be reliable? I haven't signed anything yet, but they call every couple of days chasing, which makes me nervous.

[TUTTSI]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

Anything these CMC's can do for 35% is normally something you can do yourself if at all possible and I would not suggest that you pay anyone an upfront fee because the likelihood is that you will struggle to either get your money back. Will there be an upfront fee and how much? What was the broker fee charges on this ISA which you feel heavily made this expensive? I personally would call the FOS and see if this is their views of them taking up this type claim to mediation. As I said I have not come across this type of claim before so cannot say for sure but anything that has been mis-sold you do have a recourse. Also, I have to ask, have they been cold calling you and how did they know about this ISA that may have been mis-sold or did you originally call them?

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The ISA is with Co-op, but EMCAS called and told me there was a chance to make a claim on a no win no fee basis (35% of settlement). My question was really whether this type of claim is doable on my own or if I were to use EMCAS would they be reliable? I haven't signed anything yet, but they call every couple of days chasing, which makes me nervous.

[steadman]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

One piece of advice I would like to share regarding EMCAS is DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR THEM!!!

Long story cut short, received an unsolicited call from EMCAS regarding PPI. I had been thinking about claiming against PPI I had been strong-armed into when taking a bank loan out at a particularly low part of my professional life about 6 years earlier and thought 'these people speacalise in this industry so why not'!

Well, forms filled and sent off and bank declined stating PPI was never put on loan! More forms filled in and sent to financial ombudsman, again declined for same reason, EMCAS wash their hands and disappear.

As I knew I'd been charged PPI, I was then on a mission to find evidence and after ripping house,attic,garage apart resorted to speaking to a friend who worked for said bank. Without divulging too much (for obvious reasons) I managed to get a copy of the original agreement -including PPI. Sent it to said bank with letter thanking them for their honesty!!! Claim accepted and money refunded. JUSTICE SERVED-HAPPY CAMPER!

A few months later letters started arriving from EMCAS stating that their records show that my bank had refunded me my PPI claim and demanding their share!!! After several calls and numerous letters/emails stating that it was my work/effort/perseverance that had succeeded after they washed their hands of me.

My last correspondence was a few months ago so assumed they had stopped chasing me for money they had nothing to do with...until today when a solicitor's letter arrives threatening legal proceeding!!! I am now that furious that this is my first ever forum 'post' (rant) but I needed to warn as many potential victims as possible to stay clear of EMCAS's rip-off business practices.

I am prepared to go to court over this, as I feel this is outrageous and will update out come!

[Amethyst]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

Their charges are pretty meaty aren';t they !

Here's their terms ... current ones - do you still have copies of your original agreement with them ? This will need to have a clause in about refunds of PPI that they didn't get for you.

Terms & Conditions

1 ABOUT YOUR AGREEMENT WITH US

1.1 In these Terms of Engagement we refer to EMC Advisory Services Limited as "us", "we" or "our" and we refer to you as "you" and "your". If you are entering into this Agreement with your spouse or partner, such references are to you jointly.


1.2 The following terms have the following meanings:

"Agreement" means the following documents: the Terms of Engagement; your completed and signed Letter of Authority; and our Privacy Policy;

"Business" means the organisation responsible for the sale and/or provision of the product(s) and/or services in respect of which you have a Claim. This could be a lender, bank, building society, insurance company or independent financial advisor;

"Claim" means any claim or claims that you may have against a Business for Compensation in respect of: (a) the mis-selling of any of the following products and/or services by a Business: endowment mortgages; payment protection insurance ("PPI"); savings and investments; whole of life insurance policies; pension mortgages; pensions; free-standing additional voluntary contributions schemes ("FSAVCs"); Pension Transfers; Packaged Current Accounts; (b) irresponsible lending; (c) misapplied penalty charges;

"Client Account" means the account with our bank into which your Compensation will be paid for payment to you after the deduction of our Fee;

"Compensation" means any award or refund of monies including gestures of goodwill, interest and/or monies paid into an account or investment fund which comes about as a result of the Service provided by us to you in respect of your Claim. Where such award or refund is revised on appeal, then the revised amount shall be used to calculate the Fees (provided that you have not terminated this Agreement). This is whether it is (a) paid directly to you, (b) used to reduce any arrears/ debt you owe to the Business or (c) paid as an enhancement on a fund, policy or plan;

"Cooling-off Period" has the meaning set out in Condition 4.1;

"Fee" means the fee payable by you which is calculated as a sum equal to the percentage of the amount of Compensation that we win for you plus VAT. The amount payable is dependent upon the type of Claim that you have asked us to manage and a table of Fees is set out below;
Type of Claim Fee Payable Before VAT VAT Payable** Total Fee Payable**
Mis-sold Endowment Mortgage 37.5% 20% 45%
Mis-sold PPI 33% 20% 39.6%
Mis-sold Savings & Investments 35% 20% 42%
Mis-applied Penalty Charges 33% 20% 39.6%
Mis-sold Annuity 35% 20% 42%
Mis-sold Whole of Life 37.5% 20% 45%
Mis-sold Pension Mortgage 37.5% 20% 45%
Mis-sold FSAVC 35% 20% 42%*
Mis-sold Packaged Current Account 33% 20% 39.6%
Mis-sold Pension Transfers 35% 20% 42%*
*For settlements that are paid direct into your existing pension fund, the Fee is capped at £2000.00 including VAT. Where the settlement is a combination of cash and pension fund enhancement, the Fee will be calculated at 35% plus VAT on the enhancement up to the cap of £2000.00. The Fee of 35% plus VAT is also then calculated on the cash element which will not be subject to a cap. The two figures are then added together to total the Fee.
**this is based on the current rate of VAT – the actual rate of VAT will be that determined by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs at the date payment becomes due.



"Final Decision Letter" means a letter from the Business confirming the outcome of their investigation into your Claim and advising us of your right to refer your Claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service;

"Financial Ombudsman Service" means the free, independent arbitrary service set up under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to resolve disputes between financial businesses and their customers;

"Introducer" means an individual or business who introduces you to us;

"Letter of Authority" means the form that is sent to you for your signature which authorises us to act on your behalf on the terms of this Agreement;

"Privacy Policy" means our latest policy stating how we collect and use your personal information. You can find our Privacy Policy on our website at www.emcas.co.uk;

"Service" means the Claims management service as further described in Condition 6 for any one or more Claims that you may have against a Business;

"Terms of Engagement" means this document;

"VAT" means Value Added Tax which is payable by you on the Service(s) provided by us at the rate determined from time to time by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs; and

"Working Day" means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in the United Kingdom.
2 HOW TO CONTACT US

If you need to contact us, you can call us on 01803 697530. Our office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday. Calls from a landline will be charged at national rates. Calls from a mobile may vary and will be charged at your provider's rates. Please be aware that your calls may be recorded for quality and training purposes. You can also email us at claims@emcas.co.uk or write to us at EMC House, 38-40 Palace Avenue, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3HE.
3 WHEN THIS AGREEMENT STARTS



3.1 The Agreement between you and us will start on the date we receive the signed and completed Letter of Authority. Where the Letter of Authority is sent by 1st class post, email or fax, it will be deemed to have been received the next Working Day after sending. In any other event it will be deemed to have been received on the 2nd Working Day after sending.

3.2 This Agreement will continue until the earlier of: (a) completion of the Service; (b) you ending the agreement under Condition 4; or (c) us ending the Agreement under Conditions 10 or 11.


4 WHAT IF I CHANGE MY MIND AFTER THIS AGREEMENT STARTS AND I WANT TO CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT?



4.1 You can cancel this Agreement by giving us written notice to the address set out in Condition 2 stating that you wish to cancel your Agreement at any time during the "cooling-off period" which ends 14 days later, starting on the day after we receive the Letter of Authority ("Cooling-off Period"). If you cancel the Agreement during the Cooling-off Period you will not be charged for any work that we carry out on your behalf during this time.

4.2 You may also cancel this Agreement at any time after the Cooling-off Period by giving us written notice only to the address set out in Condition 2 stating that you wish to cancel your Agreement. Please note that if you decide to cancel this Agreement in this way a fee will be payable to cover any costs that we have incurred in providing the Service to you (please see Condition 12 for more information on the amount payable).

4.3 You may (but are not obliged to) cancel this Agreement immediately by giving us written notice (including full details of the reasons for termination) only to the address set out in Condition 2, without any fee becoming payable, if:

(a) we materially breach a term of this Agreement under Condition 6 (What we will do for you) and in the case of a remediable breach, fail to remedy it within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt of notice from you specifying the breach and requiring it to be remedied;

(b) we become insolvent or unable to pay our debts (as defined in Section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986); propose a voluntary arrangement; have a receiver, administrator or manager appointed over the whole or any part of our business or assets; become bankrupt or dissolved; or if we cease to carry on business.

4.4 We recommend that any written notices of termination be sent via the Royal Mail's recorded delivery service and, if you are entering into this agreement jointly with another person, the notice must be signed by both of you.


5 WHAT DO I HAVE TO PAY?



5.1 You shall pay us the Fee as described in the relevant table in Condition 1.2 but only if your Claim is successful and you receive Compensation.

5.2 The Fee will not be payable if, despite our reasonable endeavours in providing the Services, your Claim has been unsuccessful apart from the instances listed below in Condition 5.3. We will write to you to notify you of the unsuccessful Claims.

5.3 A cancellation fee will be payable if; (a) you cancel this Agreement under Condition 4.2; or (b) we cancel this Agreement under Condition 11. Further details of cancellation fees payable can be found at Condition 12 of this Agreement.

5.4 In the event that Compensation is paid to our Client Account, we will send you the Compensation less our Fees within 7 Working Days of receipt.

5.5 If you fail to pay a fee within 28 days of receiving (a) the Compensation or (b) our termination invoice we will charge interest on the amount unpaid at the annual rate of 4 per cent above the base rate of National Westminster Bank plc from the due date until the full amount is paid.

5.6 If the Business uses the Compensation to repay another debt that you owe them, we will contact you to discuss alternative methods of payment. For the avoidance of doubt, you will still be required to pay our Fees and any interest due in accordance with this Agreement.

5.7 If any Fee or cancellation fee remains outstanding after 28 days of the date of you receiving Compensation or, if in respect of cancellation fees, 28 days after you receive our invoice, we reserve the right to refer your debt to third parties to pursue you for payment on our behalf.

5.8 Where interest is included as part of the Compensation, this may be taxable depending on your tax status. If tax is payable, we encourage you to contact your local tax office and make payment. The Fee will be calculated on the full amount paid to you by the Business but if you provide us with proof that tax has been paid, we will reduce the Fee by deducting the amount you paid in tax from the Compensation and calculating the Fee based upon this figure.

5.9 Your Claim may have been introduced to us by an Introducer with whom we have a contractual obligation to pay a fee equal to a percentage of any offer of Compensation we secure on your behalf plus VAT. This fee is deducted from our Fee and does not affect the balance of Compensation payable to you after deduction of our Fees.


6 WHAT WE WILL DO FOR YOU



6.1 After this Agreement starts and we have received the signed Letter of Authority, we will contact the Business as necessary so that we can provide the Service to you.

6.2 We will manage and respond to any correspondence which you or we receive from the Business.

6.3 We will give advice and guidance concerning your Claim wherever we are required to under this Agreement, under regulatory requirements or wherever you request us to do so.

6.4 We will review any decision letter that we receive from the Business to ensure that (a) if it is a rejection, it is fair based upon the evidence available to us; or (b) if it is an offer of settlement, it contains all of the relevant elements which should be awarded to you.

6.5 If we believe that the decision mentioned above is fair, we will write to you to let you know (but you do have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the decision made by the Business). If we believe that the decision is unfair, we will ask for your permission to forward your Claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service for independent adjudication at no extra cost to you.

6.6 If your Claim is referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service we will continue to manage and respond to any correspondence which we or you receive from the Financial Ombudsman Service.

6.7 We will only keep you updated on significant changes in your Claim unless you request otherwise.


7 WHAT WE WILL NOT DO FOR YOU



7.1 We will not pursue a Claim where in our professional opinion there is no reasonable chance of success. We will notify you in writing within 7 Working Days if we reach this conclusion.

7.2 We will not offer you any advice concerning your investment, pension, mortgage or protection arrangements. You should seek professional advice from a reputable individual or business which is authorised by the Financial Services Authority.

7.3 We will not offer you any regulated legal advice. You should seek professional advice from a reputable individual or business which is authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.


8 WHAT YOU WILL DO



8.1 You will ensure that you have supplied us with all documentation in your possession which gives evidence of a fact in the Claim including, but not limited to, the fact that the product or service which your Claim is about was sold to you.

8.2 You will promptly supply us with any information or authority that we reasonably request relating to your Claim. This could include, but is not limited to, basic details of any previous mortgages, investments, protection policies or credit agreements, details of your dependents, income and product literature and agreements relating to the original sale, in each case in relation to the relevant product or service that is the subject of your Claim.

8.3 We recommend that you send any important documentation in support of your Claim to us via the Royal Mail's Special Delivery Service and retain copies at your own expense. We shall not be responsible for any loss of documentation in the course of delivery or for making any further copies for you.

8.4 You will ensure that all information that you provide us with is, to the best of your knowledge, accurate and not misleading.

8.5 You will inform us as soon as possible of any matters affecting your Claim.

8.6 You will notify us immediately of any offer of Compensation which is made to you by the Business and supply us with a copy of any offer letter or a letter of authority allowing us to obtain a copy of the letter directly from the Business.

8.7 You will pay the Fee to us in accordance with Condition 5 of this Agreement.


9 AUTHORISATION


By signing the Letter of Authority, you: (a) authorise us to act on your behalf in relation to dealings with the Business and Financial Ombudsman Service; and (b) authorise us to liaise and exchange your personal information with the Business, the Financial Ombudsman Service or their authorised agents on your behalf.
10 EVENTS BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL

We are not responsible for events beyond our reasonable control. Such events might include network failures, war, terrorist activity, riots, malicious damage, fire, flood, storm, nuclear accident or compliance with any new law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction. We may suspend or cancel the Agreement if, despite trying to provide the Services, we are not able to provide them to you as a result of events beyond our reasonable control. Condition 12 will apply in the event of any such cancellation.
11 OUR RIGHTS TO CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT



11.1 We will cancel this Agreement immediately by written notice to you if:

(a) you materially breach a term of this Agreement being any of Condition 8 (What you will do) and in the case of a remediable breach, fail to remedy it within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt of notice from us specifying the breach and requiring it to be remedied;

(b) we find you have given us false information or acted fraudulently;

(c) you or, if this Agreement has been entered into jointly by two persons, one of you: (i) enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement; (ii) have a petition of bankruptcy issued against you; (iii) are adjudicated bankrupt; or (iv) dies.


12 WHAT HAPPENS IF THE AGREEMENT IS CANCELLED?



12.1 If this Agreement is cancelled in accordance with either Conditions 4.2 or 11 of this Agreement before we or you have received a Final Decision Letter from the Business or a decision from the Financial Ombudsman Service if your Claim is referred to them then you will be charged for our time spent on your Claim at the rate of £66.00 per hour. In any event the cancellation fee will be capped at £500.00 per Claim. A full breakdown and invoice will be provided to you upon receipt of your written notice of termination.

12.2 If this Agreement is cancelled once an offer of Compensation has been made to you, which has been calculated in accordance with the Financial Ombudsman Service's and/or the Financial Services Authority's guidelines, we will charge the Fee as described in Condition 1.2 of this Agreement.

12.3 You will not be charged the Fees or a cancellation fee if this Agreement is cancelled because (a) you have a petition of bankruptcy issued against you; (b) you are adjudicated bankrupt during the term of this Agreement; (c) because of the circumstances set out in Condition 4.3 of this Agreement; or (d) because of the circumstances set out in Condition 10 of this Agreement.


13 WHAT RIGHTS AND REMEDIES WILL YOU HAVE AGAINST US?



13.1 We do not exclude or limit our liability for fraud or for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence.

13.2 Your statutory rights (which include, for example, that we will provide the Service to a reasonable standard and within a reasonable time) are not affected by anything in this Agreement. For more information about your statutory rights, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.

13.3 Save for the types of liability which we will not limit or exclude as set out in Conditions 13.1 and13.2 and unless otherwise agreed in writing, we limit our total aggregate liability to you under this Agreement in any year to a maximum of £500,000, and we exclude our liability to you under this Agreement for any damage or loss that could not have been reasonably expected by you and us at the time of entering into this Agreement, any financial loss (including any loss of income, business or profits) or for any damage or loss suffered or incurred by you as a result of any use of the Service in breach of this Agreement.


14 YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY



14.1 We are registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. The storage and use of personal details that we hold about you is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998. We take your privacy very seriously and the personal information which you provide to us will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and our Privacy Policy.

14.2 Information we hold about you will not be disclosed to anyone other than: (a) where we are legally required to disclose; (b) where we consider it reasonably necessary to disclose the information to our carefully chosen suppliers, advisers and sub-contractors to use your personal details in order to provide the Services to you, to exercise our rights under this Agreement and also to monitor, develop and improve our Services including the computer and software systems used to provide those Services; (c) to pass on your personal information to the Business, their respective professional advisors or the Financial Ombudsman Service as is required for the purposes of performing our obligations under this Agreement.


15 CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT

We may change the Service, the Fee and/or this Agreement at any time. We will write to you to advise you of any such changes. If you will be caused significant disadvantage by any change (for example, we increase the fee except for in the case of a VAT change) we will notify you of that change at least 40 days before it takes effect. We will give you written notice by post or by email. If we cannot advise you of the change at least 40 days before it takes effect (for example because of regulatory change at short notice), we will advise you of the change as soon as we reasonably can. If you are caused significant disadvantage by any change, you may cancel the Agreement under Condition 4. A cancellation fee will not be payable in these circumstances.
16 COMPLAINTS

If at any time you are not happy with the Service that we have given you, please contact us using the details at Condition 2 so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you. We have a written complaints procedure which is available either by visiting our website at www.emcasclaims.co.uk or by requesting it directly from us using the contact details at Condition 2.



If we are unable to resolve your concerns then you can refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints up to six years from the date of the problem happening or within three years of when you found out about the problem. If you wish to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman this must be done within six months of our final response to your complaint. If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman you can contact them in writing to: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6804, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WG. You can also contact the Legal Ombudsman by telephone 0300 555 0333 between 8.30am to 5.30pm and via email at cmc@legalombudsman.org.uk.
17 OTHER MATTERS



17.1 We may wish to transfer our rights or obligations under this Agreement to someone else. You agree that we may do so provided that the transfer does not affect your rights under this Agreement or otherwise significantly disadvantages you and after we notify you of the date of the transfer, your only rights under or in connection with this Agreement will be against that other person and not us.

17.2 If any court or other competent authority finds any of the terms of this Agreement to be invalid or unenforceable, the other terms of this Agreement will not be affected.

17.3 This Agreement is governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales (or the laws of Scotland if you live there). Any dispute in connection with this Agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales unless you choose the courts of your home in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

[Amethyst]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

Also, do you have communication from them after the FOS said no to your claim through them ? I wonder if you can argue that was the end of the agreement with them.

These companies don't ever seem to have any terms on when the contract ends, and seem to keep the rights to a % of any compensation for ever more... which I believe would be an unfair term.


hmm

12.1 If this Agreement is cancelled in accordance with either Conditions 4.2 or 11 of this Agreement before we or you have received a Final Decision Letter from the Business or a decision from the Financial Ombudsman Service if your Claim is referred to them then you will be charged for our time spent on your Claim at the rate of £66.00 per hour. In any event the cancellation fee will be capped at £500.00 per Claim. A full breakdown and invoice will be provided to you upon receipt of your written notice of termination.

Did you receive a Final Decision letter from the ombudsman ?- I think you might be able to argue that a final decision letter ended the agreement....

[steadman]

Re: EMCAS and ISA claims

Thank you for such a quick response. Quite shocked as first time of posting on a forum(if this is the correct term)!

I think I have all previous documentation (time to ransack garage again).