lifestyle claims ppi

[nick71]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

I unfortunately signed up with Lifestyle Claims in October/November 2010. I received 2x PPI refunds from Natwest and Egg in early 2011 and I paid the 30% charge invoice to Synergy shortly afterwards. At the time I thought it was a bit strange that I was being billed by Synergy but as I had received PPI refunds I was not too concerned.

In August 2011 I received a further PPI refund from LloydsTSB. Strangely at the time I did not receive an invoice from Synergy regarding this payment. Shortly after this I started hearing negative info about Lifestyle. I am still owed £1762.45 (5 payments of £352.49 - 4 on a debit card and 1 on a credit card) for advance payments which I have virtually no chance of getting back. By the end of 2012 I pretty much decided to forget about the whole episode as I hadn't actually lost out too much financially. Saw it more as a lesson learned.

Then in January this year I received another invoice for £374.42 from Synergy for the LloydsTSB refund from way back in August 2011 which I chose to ignore. Since then I received 2 further requests for payment. I have also received paperwork from Synergy asking me to sign their Terms of Business to confirm that I have a contract to continue. Obviously I haven't signed this.

The other day I received a final payment invoice from Synergy threatening me with legal action, bailiffs and a CCJ if I do not make the payment £374.42 within 7 days. Unfortunately I don't have the original paperwork that I signed with Lifestyle Claims in late 2010. All I have is the recent correspondence including the new contract that Synergy want me to sign over to them.

What would be the best course of action? I am now concerned by this final demand especially as I no longer live at the address that Synergy have on their records - I moved to Australia in 2012 although all my UK post is forwarded to me. I'm just a bit concerned that the current residents at my old address my get a knock on the door.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Nick

[EXC]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

I think it is probable that Synergy will not pursue you for the 'debt' beyond sending letters, given that they don't appear to have a signed contract with you to enforce.

But if you are concerned I would e-mail them with a 'formal complaint' explaining that you now live abroad and that any further communication should be by e-mail, with the following points:

a) That they provide you with the contractual agreement that supports their claim for payment.

b) In not having last heard from them since 2010 (over two and a half years) that they have breached the Conduct of Authorised Persons Client Specific rule 18 in not keeping you informed of the progress of your claim.

c) That now coming out the woodwork and demanding a payment some 20 months after a claim they had failed to previously inform you about is a breech of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Client Specific rule 1 (a) in not acting fairly and reasonably in their dealings with you.

[nick71]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Many thanks for your reply EXC.

I'll email them with all of the excellent info you gave me. The last time I heard from them was mid 2011 (2 years approx) when I paid the last payment 30% on a PPI refund. Am I correct in presuming this period (22 months approx) is still a breach of rule 18?

Also regarding the upfront fees I paid to Lifestyle - is it still worth emailing my Credit Card and bank to try and claim back the payments I made in late 2010? One was on a Mastercard and 4 were payments made on a Debit Card. As all the cases are not closed are they still technically within the 120 days for a Debit Card claim? A bit of a long shot but maybe worth trying although not sure what's the best way to go about it.

Thanks again for your help. Nick

[EXC]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

I think 22 months is not capable of being acceptable but from the information you gave in your first post, they never kept you informed on the progress of your claim. See MOJ rules here http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/...-rules2007.pdf

If you paid the upfront fees by debit card you could try making a chargeback claim, which the UK Cards Association say that if the company you paid went out of business before supplying you with the service would apply - see under 'Chargeback' here http://www.theukcardsassociation.org...r_guide(1).pdf

Which? state that you have 120 days from the point you become aware of the problem, see here http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...se-chargeback/ As you moved to Australia it would be reasonable to argue that although Lifestyle went out of business in October last year, you have only now become aware by visiting this forum.

However some debit card providers have recently begun putting a limit (something like 540 days) from the point that you paid, see here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22315496

But in my view its worth a shot as you've nothing to lose.

[EXC]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Also could you tell me if your name appears in the long list of creditors further down on this document? Look carefully as the names are not in alphabetical order within their letter groups.

[nick71]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Thanks again for all your help. I've gone through the list of creditors and I don't appear to be on the list. I wasn't expecting to be on it as my money owed was for upfront fees which they probably never planned to give back to me.

I'll give it a shot with the Debit Card - like you say I've got nothing to lose. Hopefully they'll be somewhere on the Lloydstsb website where I can email them. Otherwise I'll post them a letter via mail. Just need to state that I wish to claim back refund on payments for goods/services not received. Is there anything I need to be careful not to miss out? And I presume it will be the same process with the Mastercard I used?

[EXC]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Is there anything I need to be careful not to miss out? And I presume it will be the same process with the Mastercard I used?

I don't think so but let us know what the response is.

The process with credit cards is similar but you will not be applying for a chargeback but a refund under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

See the Which? guide here
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-righ...er-credit-act/

[TUTTSI]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

You just need to phone them to start a chargeback.

Good Luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks again for all your help. I've gone through the list of creditors and I don't appear to be on the list. I wasn't expecting to be on it as my money owed was for upfront fees which they probably never planned to give back to me.

I'll give it a shot with the Debit Card - like you say I've got nothing to lose. Hopefully they'll be somewhere on the Lloydstsb website where I can email them. Otherwise I'll post them a letter via mail. Just need to state that I wish to claim back refund on payments for goods/services not received. Is there anything I need to be careful not to miss out? And I presume it will be the same process with the Mastercard I used?

[nick71]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Thanks EXC and Tuttsi. I'll let you know how I get on.

[nick71]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Hi EXC,

Just updating you on my situation with Synergy. I sent them a formal complaint with the points that you raised in post #122 and finally got the following reply :-

"As you are already aware from previous correspondence, we worked as an agent (sub-contractor) for Lifestyle Claims. This arrangement ended in 2012 and we gave clients the opportunity to move their outstanding claims over to ourselves by signing our own terms of business. All clients that did not wish to do so were removed from our system.


On checking your file, I note that you have not returned our Terms of Business and you should have also been included in the group of clients that was deleted. You should not have received any further service or correspondence from ourselves.
Please accept my apologies for this error. Your file has now been closed on our system and you will not receive any further correspondence from us. If you have any ongoing issues relating to the fees that you paid to Lifestyle Claims, please contact the company that is now administering their cases - Redhawk Legal on 0844 669 0300.


With regard to your statement that we are a dissolved MOJ entity, please note that Gravity was simply an old unused trading name that was removed from our authorisation. We remain authorised under number 19138 which you can see at https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/...y=-1&status=-1


Regards,

Tony Gioserano (Director)"

So hopefully I won't receive any more demands for payment. I did actually get one a few days ago threatening court action but this was sent before the above email - as I'm in Australia in took 7 days to get to me via post. I find it strange that they state that I was on their system by error. As stated in a previous post they sent me the first demand for payment in January 2013 and then a few weeks later sent the documentation asking me to sign over to their T&Cs.

Thanks again for your help. I hadn't been on here I may have incorrectly paid their fee demand just to get them off my back - especially when they threatened court action.

I'll let you know how I get on with the Credit Card/Debit Card payments.

[enaid]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Well looks to me like they know they have slipped up big time and are trying to wriggle out of it.
Please keep all your correspondence for now as Exc and Tuts may need it if any follow up is to be made on this matter .
Pleased you are at least free from this lot and hope you are successful in your chargeback.

[EXC]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Hi EXC,

Just updating you on my situation with Synergy. I sent them a formal complaint with the points that you raised in post #122 and finally got the following reply :-

"As you are already aware from previous correspondence, we worked as an agent (sub-contractor) for Lifestyle Claims. This arrangement ended in 2012 and we gave clients the opportunity to move their outstanding claims over to ourselves by signing our own terms of business. All clients that did not wish to do so were removed from our system.


On checking your file, I note that you have not returned our Terms of Business and you should have also been included in the group of clients that was deleted. You should not have received any further service or correspondence from ourselves.
Please accept my apologies for this error. Your file has now been closed on our system and you will not receive any further correspondence from us. If you have any ongoing issues relating to the fees that you paid to Lifestyle Claims, please contact the company that is now administering their cases - Redhawk Legal on 0844 669 0300.


With regard to your statement that we are a dissolved MOJ entity, please note that Gravity was simply an old unused trading name that was removed from our authorisation. We remain authorised under number 19138 which you can see at https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/...y=-1&status=-1


Regards,

Tony Gioserano (Director)"

So hopefully I won't receive any more demands for payment. I did actually get one a few days ago threatening court action but this was sent before the above email - as I'm in Australia in took 7 days to get to me via post. I find it strange that they state that I was on their system by error. As stated in a previous post they sent me the first demand for payment in January 2013 and then a few weeks later sent the documentation asking me to sign over to their T&Cs.

Thanks again for your help. I hadn't been on here I may have incorrectly paid their fee demand just to get them off my back - especially when they threatened court action.

I'll let you know how I get on with the Credit Card/Debit Card payments.

.

Nice one.

If you could it would be helpful to report this to the Regulator so that it may assist others.

If you can, write a brief summary of your story as in your first post highlighting the fact although your complaint has been resolved you should never have been threatened with legal action, bailiffs and CCJs and include the final demand, your complaint and the last e-mail you had and send it to consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk

[TUTTSI]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Well done Nick, a fabulous result and as Exc has suggested please do write to the regulators and advise them that they have dropped the case against you and the reasons why they have dropped it and also write a brief summary of your story because this will help others who find themselves in the same boat as you.

[gdd40456]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

hi exe just had another letter from redhawk for a final notice saying they will pass our information over to a debt collection company I will send the letter by email

[TUTTSI]

Re: lifestyle claims ppi

Can you also send the MOJ/TS a copy please consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk and advise them that you are a Legal Beagle member. I believe that Redhawk and the MOJ have been in communication with each other.

hi exe just had another letter from redhawk for a final notice saying they will pass our information over to a debt collection company I will send the letter by email