Allay ppi forged my signature

[Chrisbug]

A few months ago I did a free no obligation check on a Facebook pop up, i then decided not to go ahead. At no stage did I sign anything. Allay sent me some papers to sign, I shredded these and threw them away. Allay sent me lots of emails telling me they need the signed forms to proceed. I ignored these emails and didn't bother opening anymore of these emails and I forgot all about it. Yesterday I got a letter in the post from them telling me I have won £2900 and they want £700. I knew nothing about this and choked with my bank who confirmed they had agreed to pay out and had my signed confirmation there. I asked them to check the signature as I know I have lot signed anything at all! They checked and then confirmed that the signature isn't the same as mine. I don't believe this company should be rewarded with £700 for acting this way. They have denied that they forged my signature and told me they would email me all the paperwork and they haven't done this. I am angry with my bank also for not checking. I have complained to both Hsbc and allay. But where do I stand on this £700? I don't believe I am legally obliged to pay them? I also want them punished for this, it's disgusting!

[R0b]

Hello,

I agree it is disgusting for companies like this to forge signatures and they should be punished. Have the bank paid you the full £2,900 in your bank account or has that gone to Allay?

You should look to make a subject access request to Allay for all information they hold about you including a copy of the agreement you supposedly signed. You can then verify if it is your signature.

Amethyst might be able to confirm, but I think that PPI claims companies fall within the Financial Conduct Authority's remit and if so, then your next step is to make a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. You could also report Allay to the FCA's Enforcement Team, I'm sure they would be willing to hear about Allay allegedly forging your signature and could potentially lose their permissions if not a fine of sorts.

I guess Allay can deny it all they want, but they will have to prove that it was signed by you and if the bank is also saying that the signature they hold differs from the one received by Allay, I don't think they have much of a leg to stand on.

[Chrisbug]

Thanks for the reply. Hsbc are posting all the correspondence to me and Allay we're supposed to send me this via email yesterday, their litigation department have emailed today and say they are going to send it once they have it all. They are claiming that it is an electronic signature, I am 100 percent sure that I did not sign anything and I would definitely not sign anything online ever. They claim they are going to send me the IP address where this was supposedly signed. I'm a bit annoyed with the bank also to not even check, the signature must be very different as Hsbc told me I should take allay to court, but I wouldn't even know where to start with that. I'm so shocked that a company would behave in this way. The bank informed me that allay are well known for this sort of thing, but I would think that they would check the signatures if they know this company have done this before. I have lodged a complaint with the Obudsman. I am concerned about allay ruining my credit score over this if I don't pay up.

[Chrisbug]

And yes the bank have paid me £2600 after taxes. I knew nothing of this until yesterday.

[Amethyst]

Once you have all the correspondence from HSBC and the copy documents from Allay you will want to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman about both Allay and HSBC ( HSBC should have checked you HAD given authority for Allay to act) - and potentially the Information Commissioners office and the FCA. Firstly you will have to make formal complaints to HSBC and Allay. The bill from Allay should be put on hold while your complaints are looked at, it wouldn't affect your credit file unless they take it to court and obtain a CCJ ( if they tried it you would defend the case ).

There are a few other threads with this same situation if you search the forum on Allay.

When you get the documents can you check if the signature bears any resemblance to your actual signature ( does it look like a PDA / Touchscreen type signature - is it same format as yours ( ie. initial and surname, full first name/surname etc ) )

Hsbc told me I should take allay to court,

Cheek. How about they do their jobs properly and actually check before sending your personal financial data out to all and sundry.

The bank informed me that allay are well known for this sort of thing, but I would think that they would check the signatures if they know this company have done this before.

SERIOUSLY !

Definitely a formal complaint to HSBC about this to take to the ICO.

[Chrisbug]

I have complained to both and am waiting for their responses. The litigation department at allay are stalling on sending me a copy of the signed contract, they say they are waiting to get a copy from the relevant department.

[Chrisbug]

Thanks for all your help! Well the signature is literally a squiggle. Nothing like mine. They have apologised and closed the case because the electronic signature was submitted by one of their agents, but the do clearly state several times that they are not admitting to the forgery! If anyone else has similar problems with this company then stick to your guns and don't let them bully you!

[Amethyst]

Report them to the FCA still, please, and make that formal complaint to HSBC - it is incredibly worrying how easily your bank sent your data to a third party.

Does their letter actually say the signature was done by one of their agents? ( not sure how its not a forgery if something intended to be treated as your authorisation signature for release of financial and personal information is applied to a document by anyone but you - what if it had been a pension transfer document, a change of ownership on your property, a lasting power of attorney …. and so on )

I'd also get a full subject access request off to Allay and to HSBC to see exactly what was shared and what data Allay now have that they shouldn't.

Like I say, it's not a one off case, there's 5/6 others on here.. others across other forums and review sites … and goodness knows how many where the person has just paid up thinking they 'must have signed something'.

[Chrisbug]

I will do all of these complaints and I am trying to attach a copy of the letter for you to see, they are saying that after they received my signed document that the agent automatically sent it off, which makes no sense as if I had signed this there would have been no problem.

[Chrisbug]