**Won** Bank-Smart Fees

[LeafyClover]

Hello,
Firstly, thanks for providing this forum for people like myself that do not know where to turn in legally challenging situations. I am glad i found you.

I have read through as many relevant threads regarding Bank-Smart and unfortunately have a similar situation to quite a few others here.

Back in 2011, I inquired Bank-Smart about any miss-sold PPI on a loan that i took out a few year before with my current lender. Bank-Smart sent me a short letter and contract to sign saying that they could chase this on my behalf which i signed and sent. A short while later ( i don't remember exactly how long) Bank-Smart sent me another letter requesting a number of forms to fill in and provide information of all my banking details. This put me off so i decided to not respond and left it. At the same time, I decided that I would pursue the claim with my lender directly.
My lender responded and informed me that I was not miss-sold any PPI and therefore not due any compensation. This all happened over a few months.
I was still receiving forms and requests for further information other than what i had initially provided from Bank-Smart so i decided to call them and informed them that I had already had contact from my lender and than i was not due any compensation. I was given a simple "ok" and left it at that, although I continued to received letters from Bank-Smart asking for more information which i just ignore, believing that they would go-away.

Fast forward to 2015 and I continued to receive requests for more information from Bank-Smart but also from a Debt Collection agency for unpaid fees.
I wrote to the debt collection agency and informed them that there was a mistake as i had not agreed to any fees and to stop any further action. Luckily i have not heard from them since.
I also wrote to Bank-Smart asking them to stop harassing me as I has already informed them that I had confirmation from my lender that i was not due any compensation. I also requested that they do not perform any further action that may incur any fees.
Bank-Smart asked for evidence of no compensation from my lender, which i provided with a photocopy of the letter. They then took this as a cancellation of the contract and charged me a cancellation fee.
I wrote back and said that i did not agree with this to which they responded that my only option was to continue with my claim.
I reluctantly provided them with the details of the loan that i had (acc number, lender name, dates, amounts etc etc) and after a month or so, they said that they had heard back from the lender and that unless i could provide evidence of any miss-sold PPI they would not be able to continue with the claim. They did however claim to find a number of credit card accounts with the same lender which they are adamant was sold with PPI.
I wrote back saying that I have provided them with all the information/evidence i had and ask how this could be resolved asap without being charged anything. I also informed them that i did not want them to pursue any further claims for any other accounts as they had clearly stated that i was under no obligation to do so.
So far I have now received another letter requesting for me to sign an LOA for them to pursue these additional accounts and another invoice for a minor breach of contract (I think for not responding in time for a document they are waiting for).

Do I have any leg to stand on here or have I signed this away with their contract? It feels like they can pretty much do nothing with regards to my claim but send me letter and charge me for the privilege!
Any help/advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

they said that they had heard back from the lender and that unless i could provide evidence of any miss-sold PPI they would not be able to continue with the claim

Do you have this in writing from Bank Smart? If so could you post the text of the letter?

Also did you ever sign any LOA with them?

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi Exc,
Thank you for replying. Much appreciated.

I do have this in writing and the text is as follows:
"The provider contacted for your claim reference <reference number> against <lender name> has denied that you have any PPI on your account Loan <account number> Loan. Unless you are able to provide any evidence of your PPI policy with them, we will be unable to continue with the claim for mis-sold PPI for this account."

Yes, i signed the LOA after they suggested that i should continue with the claim to prevent the fees they were attempting to charge.

Regards
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Ok thanks.

Yes, i signed the LOA after they suggested that i should continue with the claim to prevent the fees they were attempting to charge.

Do you have the above in writing?

I think you've been misled here. Their terms are pretty clear that you are only liable for any fees once you have signed the LOA, see attached.

I would raise a formal complaint on that basis and if it's rejected you can then take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Thank you.
I have an email from them saying that I can either continue with the claim or pay the cancellation fees.
It was at this point, to avoid the fees, i agreed to continue with the claim and signed their form.

I also have a written letter stating "We can assure you that any PPI claims you submit to us will not incur any fees charged by bank-smart if no refund is made, we only charge a fee on PPI claims that are successful" !!

Do you have any complaint templates that you can point me to by any chance?

Much appreciated.

LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Ok good.

"We can assure you that any PPI claims you submit to us will not incur any fees charged by bank-smart if no refund is made, we only charge a fee on PPI claims that are successful" !!

On this it's doubtful if it will assist as they'll possibly be able to ague that they're not charging you fees as such but recouping their 'reasonable costs'.

Just one other thing:

I do have this in writing and the text is as follows:
"The provider contacted for your claim reference <reference number> against <lender name> has denied that you have any PPI on your account Loan <account number> Loan. Unless you are able to provide any evidence of your PPI policy with them, we will be unable to continue with the claim for mis-sold PPI for this account."

I take it you didn't provide them with any evidence of a PPI policy? If that's the case we can also argue that any contractual agreement you had with them expired at that point.

Give me a few hours and I'll draft something up for you.

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Many thanks.

That is correct. I replied and informed them that I had no evidence and that the only information I did have was the account details which they already had.
Appreciate the help
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

There you go.

Check that the facts are correct and insert the dates where stated.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

FORMAL COMPLAINT

Dear Sirs

I wish to make a formal complaint for which I expect to be dealt with in accordance with your complaints procedures and those of the Claims Management Regulator.

By way of background I signed an initial agreement with Bank Smart in 2011 with a view to establishing whether I could claim any PPI on a particular loan I had taken out a number of years previously with my current lender. I was then asked to sign documents relating to other potential claims I may have had on any financial products I had, which I was unwilling to do.

I was subsequently and seperately informed by both my bank and yourselves that no PPI policy was attached to the relevent loan. Despite this in 2015 I began to receive demands for payment of 'unpaid fees' from a debt collector acting on your behalf.

I dispute that I owe any fees to Bank Smart whatsover.

COMPLAINT

My complaint has two grounds which I expect to be addressed individually:

GROUND 1

It is my view that despite what your terms & conditions say, any contractual agreement between ourselves terminated at the point you informed me that no PPI policy existed on the loan. I refer you to your e-mail of [INSERT DATE] in which you informed me of such. My view that CMC contracts expire when it is established that there is no claim to be made and that you are incapable of providing me with the service I required is shared by the Legal Ombudsman.

GROUND 2

As previously stated despite having signed an initial argreement with you in 2011 I had decided not to sign the letters of authorisation permitting you to investigate other potential claims. However on [INSERT DATE] you misleadingly informed me that in order to avoid any fees I must sign a letter of authority. However I now realise that clause 12 of your terms & conditions expressly provides that you are only permitted to levy any charge after both the initail contract and letter of authority had been signed, meaning that your 'advice' actually had the reverse effect.

Please be aware that should you not uphold my complaint I fully intend to take it to the Legal Ombudsman.

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Thank you very much EXC.
I shall let you know how i get on.


LC

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hello,
Its been a while, but i sent a complaint to Bank Smart and got a response literally 6 weeks later!

Would appreciate some further advice but in a nutshell they responded by saying that i signed the LOA and therefore agreed to their terms and conditions and fees!
They acknowledge that there was no PPI policy on the loan but they are investigation for default/unfair charges and hence their constant request for additional information, sign more forms etc.
They also state that it is in my best interest to start claims on two other accounts that "my lender has confirm i did have PPI policies on"
but they need me to sign more forms for them to do this which i have repeated refused.
Finally, they have stated that if do not wish to send them any further documents then they will take this as a cancellation and will have to pay their invoice (which they will discount if i pay within x days)!

They have now sent me another LOA asking for permission to investigate the other two accounts, which i do not want to them to purely for the fact they i do not want to have anything more to do with this company. They have also sent me a form to fill out that is asking to get my credit details from Equifax which they will pay for and help them to pursue any other accounts on "my" behalf.

Appreciate any suggestions/ advice.
Thanks
LC

[Amethyst]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi xxx

You engaged Bank Smart to look at PPI on a Loan.

They investigated the Loan and found there to be no PPI on that loan. Therefore that should be the end of the contract and nothing is owed.

You have already informed them of that, and they have refused to accept that is the case.

I think we need to see the LOA that you signed and the original terms, and any new terms attached to that new LOA.

They have now sent me another LOA asking for permission to investigate the other two accounts, which i do not want to them to purely for the fact they i do not want to have anything more to do with this company. They have also sent me a form to fill out that is asking to get my credit details from Equifax which they will pay for and help them to pursue any other accounts on "my" behalf.

bloody cheek. Actually a copy of that new LOA might help if you don't have the one you returned to them.

Sharon
xxx

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi Sharon,
Thanks for the quick reply and taking a look at my request.

I'm sure i have a copy of the old LOA. I'll fish it out and send it over.
Also, my apologies, but their most recent request was not another LOA but actually a Credit Card and Store Card Charges Questionnaire.
Are they within their rights to continue pestering me to give them permission to chase this when initially it was just for a loan?

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Are they within their rights to continue pestering me to give them permission to chase this when initially it was just for a loan?

Probably not but we'd need to see the LOA. Also can you confirm that the terms & conditions you signed are the same as these? https://www.bank-smart.co.uk/terms_and_conditions.pdf

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. :-)

I remember signing an LOA at the very start of the claim which may have had T&Cs attached to it and they not the same as the the current ones on their site.
I've attached a copy of the T&Cs that was going around in 2011.

Since then they have sent me several other T&Cs that i have not signed or sent back to them and they are the same as what is on their site now.

I have a copy of the original LOA that i signed in 2011 and a recent one that they got me to sign to continue with the claim as they were otherwise trying to charge me a cancellation fee. Would you like me to blank out the personal info and attach it here?

Many thanks

LC

P.S. Apologies for the quality of the picture. Had to take a picture on my phone as i have no scanner!

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hiya.

Unfortunately I can't quite read the the T&Cs. If they're from 2011 they may well be different to the ones currently on their site.

The next step would be to take the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman which I'd be happy to help you with but without the T&Cs and LOAs we're working blind. Is it possible you can get them scanned/copied and either e-mail or post them to me? I'd need:

1) The 2011 T&Cs
2) Both LOAs that you signed
3) The letter(s) you had from the debt collection agency that confirm how much they're demanding
4) The recent response you had from Bank Smart to your complaint