PPI + ARB Advisory

[Nice1Nicky]

Hello All....

I would welcome some clarification / advice regarding the following:

1, I (stupidly) went along with ARB to handle my PPI claim in late October 2013. I paid them £400 for legal fees...which of course would be refunded should the claim be rejected...I just had to pay the minimum repayment each month to Lloyds Bank.
They advised me I had a claim.....so I waited until last week and was advised by Lloyds that my total PPI payout was £98.52....

2. I received a letter from ARB today asking for their 30% (£35.47) of the £98.52.

My question is:

Have I also lost the £400 legal fee I had to pay upfront in light of the 'successful claim' above?

To say that I feel foolish is an understatement....

It has cost me over £450 to receive a PPI payout worth approx. £63 to me....

Is there any recourse for me at this time?
I sense not.....


Many thanks.....Nicky.

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

What were the circumstances in which you paid the £400 legal fee and do you have any paperwork for it?

Did you pay it by credit card?

[Dare2Dream]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

I wish I'd read Nicky's post before agreeing to go with ARB Advisory. I usually research anything that costs me money (I'm a Disabled War Veteran, so money's tight) but ARB 'phoned me on a bad day (good for them, tho).
Nicky, you'll be shocked to know that ARB's up-front fees have now increased from the £400 you paid, to £450, plus VAT (£495).
I had a 'case handler', but ARB has withdrawn this 'service' due to indivual case handlers being hassled by unhappy clients.
I'm not sure how my PPI claims are being handled by them. They've, apparently, been following up 11 claims since 9th September 2014 and are now going to follow them up with a complaint.... I'm worried that I'll end up in the same situation as Nicky.
Also, they're intending to take 36% (30% plus VAT) from any PPI money refunded, and I still can't tell from their Ts&Cs if my up-front 'deposit' comes out of this, or if I have to assume it's all be 'spent' by ARB Advisory on their hourly 'support' rate of £75 per hour.
I paid the £495 by Credit Card back in September. If it all goes wrong, can I get this money back?
Thanks,
Dee

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

I wish I'd read Nicky's post before agreeing to go with ARB Advisory. I usually research anything that costs me money (I'm a Disabled War Veteran, so money's tight) but ARB 'phoned me on a bad day (good for them, tho).
Nicky, you'll be shocked to know that ARB's up-front fees have now increased from the £400 you paid, to £450, plus VAT (£495).
I had a 'case handler', but ARB has withdrawn this 'service' due to indivual case handlers being hassled by unhappy clients.
I'm not sure how my PPI claims are being handled by them. They've, apparently, been following up 11 claims since 9th September 2014 and are now going to follow them up with a complaint.... I'm worried that I'll end up in the same situation as Nicky.
Also, they're intending to take 36% (30% plus VAT) from any PPI money refunded, and I still can't tell from their Ts&Cs if my up-front 'deposit' comes out of this, or if I have to assume it's all be 'spent' by ARB Advisory on their hourly 'support' rate of £75 per hour.
I paid the £495 by Credit Card back in September. If it all goes wrong, can I get this money back?
Thanks,
Dee

Was it September this year you paid the fee and did you sign a contract with them before you paid the fee?

[Dare2Dream]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Was it September this year you paid the fee and did you sign a contract with them before you paid the fee?

I can confirm that it was September 2014. I agreed to pay the up-front fee over the 'phone at the end of the first call. It was a bit of a shock to hear I'd have to pay such a large amount, so I could only afford to proceed if I paid by card. The man on the 'phone made it sound as if there was no way I could possibly lose this money, but that's not what it's beginning to sound like.
I signed the e-agreement a few days later. I think the money was taken off my credit card before I agreed to and/or signed anything. However, I'm on strong painkillers and suffer from exhaustion and memory loss, so I'd have to go back and check dates if these are important.
Please could you let me know the relevance of this information, and the fact I used a credit card to pay the £495?
I look forward to hearing from you.... and HUGE thanks for doing this!
Warm regards,
Dee

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

I can confirm that it was September 2014. I agreed to pay the up-front fee over the 'phone at the end of the first call. It was a bit of a shock to hear I'd have to pay such a large amount, so I could only afford to proceed if I paid by card. The man on the 'phone made it sound as if there was no way I could possibly lose this money, but that's not what it's beginning to sound like.
I signed the e-agreement a few days later. I think the money was taken off my credit card before I agreed to and/or signed anything. However, I'm on strong painkillers and suffer from exhaustion and memory loss, so I'd have to go back and check dates if these are important.
Please could you let me know the relevance of this information, and the fact I used a credit card to pay the £495?
I look forward to hearing from you.... and HUGE thanks for doing this!
Warm regards,
Dee

Yes you need to check the dates of when you signed the agreement and when the money was taken from your credit card. It's important because the regulations specifically forbid claims management companies from taking up-front fees before you have signed a contract:

A contract between a business and a client must be signed by the client and the business may
not take any payment from the client until the contract is signed.

See page 6 section 11 attached. Although these regulations state that they are effective from 1 October 2014 the specific rule quoted above came into effect in April 2013 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22064779) and so will cover you.

ARB Advisory operate from the same business address as a matrix of other claims management companies who have used the same questionable business practices and in our experience the up-front fee is not refunded in any event and/or the company goes into administration.

In my view you should seek to get your payment back and cancel the contract with them.

If the money was indeed taken from your account before you signed the contract you should, in the first instance, send ARB a formal letter of complaint that they have breached the regulations, that you want a refund of the fee payment, that you wish to cancel the contract and that you are not prepared to pay them for any work done to date as the contract was never valid.

If at the end of the complaints process (they have 8 weeks in which to give you a full & final response) you can then make a claim for a refund to your credit card company under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Failing that from the 28 January the Legal Ombudsman will be taking over complaints to claims management companies and will have the power to award redress should it uphold your complaint.

[Dare2Dream]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Wow! Thank you. This gives me some really useful information to act on. I'll let you know what happens next.
Kind regards, Dee

[Dare2Dream]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Oh dear! I've done my 'following up' and it looks as if I sent my e-signature back to Rock-Law/ARB Advisory on the same day I received it (9/9/14). According to my Credit Card statement, the 'fee' was taken out on 10/09/14.... So, that was all 'legal', then.
Is there anything else you can think of that I can do to get, at least some of, that money back? According to Gladstone Brookes - whom a friend is using and to whom I spoke yesterday - I can only 'switch supplier' PPI reclaims if the Banks and Building Societies have NOT YET acknowledged receipt of a claim.
As Gladstone Brookes charge 'only' 25% (30% inc VAT) rather than the 30% (36% inc VAT) that ARB charge, I've calculated that I need to 'win' a refund of at least £7,000 to 'clear' the £495, plus 6% of everything, I'm going to lose by staying with ARB..... In your experience, is this a HUGE gamble, or should I just grin and bear the fact that I'm a 'victim' of my own impatience?
Meanwhile, how can I get the word out there NOT to use ARB?
Ho hum......
dee

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

When you say that you ''sent back'' the e-signature do you mean that you signed it online? If you did that the day before the fee was taken then it would have been 'legal'.

If you can post up the terms & conditions I can have a look to see under what circumstances the fee is refundable if any. Or you can e-mail it to me if that's easier.

[Dare2Dream]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Forwarding the email they sent me to e-sign is the only option at the moment. Would this be OK?

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Didn't they send you anything in hard copy? If that's all you have, yes.

I've sent you a private message, just refresh your browser and the notification will appear.

[Superdude]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Have you contacted the MOJ Claims Management Unit about this? consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk it may be handy for them to know in case they're considering enforcement action against the business?

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Have you contacted the MOJ Claims Management Unit about this? consumer@claimsregulation.gov.uk it may be handy for them to know in case they're considering enforcement action against the business?

Sadly they're not under investigation even though they know of their practices http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...calls-mis-sold

[Superdude]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Perhaps the MoJ work in mysterious ways :santa_wink:

[EXC]

Re: PPI + ARB Advisory

Forwarding the email they sent me to e-sign is the only option at the moment. Would this be OK?

I've had a good look at the contract and the terms for the payment you made are that it is only refundable in the event of 'total claim failure' ie if you don't get anything from you PPI claims.

On the letter of authority you signed there are no details whatsoever other than your signature. In your first post you said they were looking at 11 claims for you. How did you give them the information for the claims?