**Won** Bank-Smart Fees

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hello,

Understood and much appreciated.
I managed to find the T&Cs that you can review, but i will also get access to a scanner and get the LOA's and letters over to you too.

The old T&Cs are here (and i have also attached it to this post)
http://www.bank-smart.co.uk/images/T...ditions_X4.jpg

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Thanks. Are these the only terms you had? They only apply to 'unfair charges', there's no mention of PPI.

They may argue that the changed terms on their website now apply (term 15) but that in itself is an unfair term in my view as they can change the terms without notice. Be interested to hear what [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] thinks.

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,

I've managed to get my hands on an old scanner and scanned the letters and TCs as best I can.
They have sent me new terms, but i have never signed it. Just the LOA's as felt that I had to in order to stop them from sending me invoices for breach of contract.
How would you like me to send the scans and should i blank out any person details?

Again. I really appreciate the help.

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hiya

That's helpful. By all means blank out your personal details and post them up or you can e-mail me with them and I'll do it nickspooner@legalbeagles.info

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hello,

I have emailed the scans over and blanked out what i thought was neccessary.
Please let me know if there is anything else that you require.

Again, many thanks

LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Ok thanks I'll take a look later.

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

I've attached the docs in a single PDF for ref.

In their response to the complaint (pages 2&3) they are saying that although your original claim to Lloyds had no PPI they were ''now investigating the lender for default/unfair charges that may have been applied''. The LOA you signed for this is dated June 2011 and the terms & conditions included the service of claiming for default/unfair charges so quite why they are still 'investigating' this 5 years later seems completely unreasonable to me.

They've conceded that you if you don't want to start any new claims you don't have to and no fee will be applied.

They then go on to say that if you don't want to provide the documents that they are asking for (presumably for the original claim) they'll charge you for cancelling. But the fact is that you provided the documents already in 2011.

Do you agree?

If so I'll draft the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman on that basis.

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,

Almost.
I signed the LOA in 2011 but that was it. They sent me a few other forms to fill out which put me off using them so i ignored them.
I then went directly to my lender and they confirmed that there was no PPI miss-sold so i informed Bank Smart over the phone and left it at that.
Bank Smart continued to send the occasional form over the next few years until 2015 when they involved the Debt Collection agency.
I wrote back to the debt collection agency and said this was a mistake and have not heard back from them since.
I also wrote to Bank Smart and said that i had already contacted them to say the lender had been in contact with me and confirmed there was no miss-sold PPI. Bank Smart then took this as a cancellation and tried to charge me with a cancellation fee. I said that this was not the case and they harrassed me to the point where I either had to continue with the claim or pay a cancellation fee.
As they state that there is no fee for unsuccessful claims and i knew that this would be unsuccessful i signed another LOA as i did not want to pay a cancellation fee.
They continued with the claim and confirmed that there was no miss-sold PPI but asked for any further information that may help them with the claim. I said that i had provided them with all the info that i had but they continued to send further forms for the loan and then the other accounts!
I have written to them a number of times and specified that i do not want to pursue the other accounts, but they continue to send the forms to me.
The are now asking me to fill out a form to allow them to get my credit history with Equifax (that they will pay for!) which i certainly do not want to do.

I hope this make things a little clearer?

Thank you
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Ok thanks leave it with me. I removed the PDF.

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Just a couple more questions (sorry).

I then went directly to my lender and they confirmed that there was no PPI miss-sold so i informed Bank Smart over the phone and left it at that.

When was this?

They continued with the claim and confirmed that there was no miss-sold PPI

When did they first confirm this, in their letter of 22 April 2016?

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,

I went to my lender at the start of 2012 and they reponded back to me by March 2012.

Bank Smart first confirmed that the lender informed them that there was no mis-sold ppi in October 2015.

I quote from their letter "The provider contacted for your claim referenence XXXXX against "Lender" has denied that you have any PPI on your account XXXXXXXX Loan. Unless you are abl 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 can scan and email you the letter if you would like?

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,

I went to my lender at the start of 2012 and they reponded back to me by March 2012.

Bank Smart first confirmed that the lender informed them that there was no mis-sold ppi in October 2015.

I quote from their letter "The provider contacted for your claim referenence XXXXX against "Lender" has denied that you have any PPI on your account XXXXXXXX Loan. Unless you are abl 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 can scan and email you the letter if you would like?

Thanks
LC

Yes please that would be helpful.

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

I'm looking at the docs you sent me, can you tell me if the Lloyds loan account on the Loan and Hire Purchase Charges Questionnaire (that is signed 4/1/2016) is the same account as referred to on the LOA (that is signed 6/6/2011)? And also did you send them back the questionnaire?

[LeafyClover]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Hi,

Technically, yes it is. However if you take a look at the LOA signed 6/6/2011, an account/Loan number is actually not specified. Just the name of the lender.
I did send back the questionnairre as it was specific to the loan account that I initially wanted checked.

However, since then (this month) they have sent me another questionnaire for credit card and store card charges related to other accounts that I have never provided to them but what they have managed to find. I haven't sent this back as i have informed them several times that I do not want to.

I have also emailed over the scanned copy of the letter that Bank Smart sent to me in October 2015 as mentioned earlier.

Thanks
LC

[EXC]

Re: Bank-Smart Fees

Thanks, got it.

Before I get in to the meat of the complaint, on the Bank Smart 'Statement of Account' (dated 30/1/2016) it says ''the status of each invoice can be found on the reverse of this document''. Could you send that to me? Sorry for the repeated request for info, I bet I sound like Bank Smart lol.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Complaint Summary

My complaint concerns unjustified and speculative fees being levied against me by Bank Smart and in turn their debt collectors, MIL Collections, for an alledged ''breach of contract''. The contract was originally formed in 2011 for which Bank Smart were to evaluate any potential PPI claim I may have had in respect of loan account I had held with Lloyds.

In the event it was clearly established in 2012 that there was no PPI policy attached to the loan and as such there was no PPI claim to be made. It is my firm belief that the contract concluded at that point, yet in the subsequent years to date I have been inudated with a constant stream of requests for information for the loan account (and other accounts I may have held with Lloyds for which no contract exists) and demands for non payment of charges levied for ''breach of contract''.

I made a formal complaint to Bank Smart in February? for which their response was inadequate, poorly articulated and wholly unsatisfactory. Through Bank Smart's unjustified conduct I have suffered stress and anxiety over a sustained period. Menacing threats of ''door step visits'' from debt collectors demading money I do not owe have caused me a great deal of concern and worry.

I trust that the Legal Ombudsman will uphold this complaint and remedy it by cancelling all the alledged fees owed and awards me compensation at a level which reflects the detriment I have suffered.

Timeline of Events

In 2011 I made an enquiry to Bank Smart about the possibility of extablishing whether I had PPI attached to a loan I had with Lloyds and if so, if it could be claimed.

On 6 June 2011 I signed the relevant Letter of Authority and contract.

During the following months Bank Smart sent me a number of forms to fill for any other unrelated potential claims and requests for information for all my banking history for which I had no interest in providing.

In March 2012, due to no apparent progress being made on Bank Smart's enquiries with Lloyds I decided to contact Lloyds directly who informed me that I did not have a PPI policy attached to my loan. I contacted Bank Smart by telephone informing them of this and assumed that would be the end of the matter.

During the subsequent years to date I received further requests for information and forms to sign and return about the Lloyds loan account and other loans and credit cards I may have had to which I did not respond.

In June 2015 I received a demand for £399.40 from MIL debt collectors on behalf of Bank Smart threatening a ''door step visit''. I wrote to MIL informing them that this must be a mistake. I also wrote to Bank Smart asking them to stop harassing me as I had already informed them in 2012 that in I had confirmation from Lloyds that I did not have a PPI policy attached to the loan and so there was no compensation due. 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.

As I understand it Bank Smart then contacted Lloyds themselves who confirmed that no PPI existed on the loan but that I had PPI on several credit card accounts which Bank Smart wanted to pursue. I informed Bank Smart I did not wish to pursue any other potential claims with them and they confirmed that I am under no obligation to do so.

Despite this in December 2015 I received an invoice from Bank Smart for £480 for ''costs'' incurred for ''Breach of contract''. The invoice provided no indication as to what contractual term was alledged to have been breached or what the costs were and in respect of. On request Bank Smart sent me an itemised list of chargeable items which appear to relate to not only the correspondence issued on the original Lloyds loan account which had no PPI attached but speculative correspondence and actions they claim to have performed in attempting to establish if I had PPI on other accounts and credit cards that I did not ask them for and had in fact explictly informed them I did not wish to pursue.

In January 2016 I received a form from Bank Smart requestion information about any charges I may have incurred on the Lloyds loan account. I filled out the form indicating that I had no charges that I wished to pursue and signed and returned it on 4 January 2016.

In February 2016 I made a formal complaint to Bank Smart which dealt with 2 distinct issues: The original potential PPI claim I had on my Lloyds loan account and the subsequent requests for information that Bank Smart made for other potential PPI claims.

Bank Smart's Response

In April 2016 I received Bank Smart's final response which is confusing, poorly articulated and wholly inadequate.

The response misleadingly makes repeated references to my ''claim'' and ''claims'' but no actual claim has been made.

On the first complaint ground Bank Smart concede that there was no PPI claimable on the Lloyds loan account but that ''we are now investigating the lender for default/unfair charges''. I never wanted or instructed Bank Smart to investigate charges, only PPI.

Moreover, as indicated above, I specifically informed Bank Smart in January that I did not have any charges that I wished to pursue which has been disregarded. For them to argue that they are ''now'' investigating charges 5 years after I first contracted with them and 6 months after I informed them that I had no charges I wished them to pusue is simply ridiculous.

On the second complaint ground about the other potential claims Bank Smart appear to be saying I can cancel the ''claims'' without liability. However there is no contractual agreement in respect of the other potential claims to cancel. But this hasn't prevented Bank Smart from charging me for work they claim to have done on the potential claims as many of the entries listed in the chargeable items which make up the £480 invoice clearly pertain to them. In short they are charging me for ''breaches'' of contacts which don't exist and for work I did not ask them to perform.