Does using a claims company make it easier to get a payday loan refund? Is this worth paying their expensive fees for?
The answer turns out to be using a claims company may be slower, give you poorer advice and may get a lower refund than making a complaint yourself. And they are certainly very expensive!
“But I don’t know if I have got a good complaint”
Many of their websites say things like:
- our online validation system will determine if you have been mis-sold loans;
- get a free review of your complaint;
- our team will find out if you are due a big refund.
When you tell them the names of your lenders, they usually say Yes you should complain. Even if you put in the name of a lender you didn’t use!
There is no way they can tell if you have a good complaint without asking you for loads of details and then someone thinking about them. But that would mean work for them, so they don’t bother and just say you have a good claim. Basically lying to you.
And if you can’t remember who you borrowed from, they can’t help you.
“I don’t know what to put in a complaint”
Most people want some help with what to say – an affordability complaint sounds complicated and you don’t want to get it wrong and miss out on a refund.
That’s why I give templates letters for the different types of refunds. And a list of payday lender email addresses to send the complaints to – easy and quick for you.
My templates ask you to say a bit about your finances and what happened with your borrowing.
A typical claims company’s template doesn’t. It amounts to Mr X wants a refund of the interest he paid because the loans from you were unaffordable. It says nothing useful about your complaint!
Some claims firms ask you to send them bank statements, credit records and loan statements. But they don’t use this information in the complaint email to the lender.
The regulator said:
Failing to conduct a thorough assessment of a client’s financial situation during the period of lending being complained about may mean CMCs are unable to represent their clients effectively…
It may help resolve complaints more quickly if CMCs are able to provide this at the point of submitting a complaint.
Sending these identical complaints may make your complaint much slower if the lender rejects it and it has to go to the Ombudsman.
“I think I need help to do this, not just with the first email”
Some common questions include;
- should you carry on making payments if you still owe some money to a lender?
- can you win a complaint if you always paid the loans on time?
- is it OK to claim if you were in debt management or an IVA?
- does it matter if your loan application wasn’t accurate or you had a gambling problem?
- should you tell a debt collector about your complaint?
If you have one of these questions – or any of a dozen more – you would hope to get some support and advice from a claims company. But look at their websites, they don’t mention these sort of very common situations at all.
In contrast, if you leave a comment here on Debt Camel, you may get told what specific article to read that covers your situation, you can hear what other people have done and how well that worked for them.
For example, someone yesterday asked a question and was told: “My partner had a similar response and like you, we were reluctant to…”
It’s reassuring to hear that you aren’t the only one facing an issue, that other people have managed to get bank statements from closed bank accounts etc. Getting this sort of feedback helps you feel in control of your complaint.
“How do I know whether to send a case to the Ombudsman”
This is one of the hardest decisions you may have to make – one where you would really like good advice from an expert. But you aren’t likely to get it from a claims company!
Some claims firms seem to follow a blanket policy of sending every case to the Ombudsman that a lender has rejected:
We are receiving reports and evidence that suggest that some CMCs are routinely or automatically referring complaints rejected by the financial business to the Financial Ombudsman Service without first considering the reasons for the rejection. Additionally, it appears that some CMCs are not advising clients of the prospects of the complaint being upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service, before seeking instructions from the client about how to proceed.
But this is pointless, most one and two loan cases are rejected by the Ombudsman, it is unusual for one to be upheld. Your claims firm should tell you this and whether your case is likely to be one of the unusual ones. Too often this isn’t happening.
Sometimes there is the opposite problem. If a lender has made an offer, you may be advised to accept it, even if it’s pretty bad. A claims company may be happy to pocket £35 of a £100 goodwill offer – just for sending an email, that is a pretty good result for them. But for you, it matters if you could have got five or ten times as much by going to the Ombudsman.
One person reported getting a text telling them about an offer when he was on holiday – he told the claims firm he would look at it when he got home. But the claims company didn’t wait and just accepted the offer. He couldn’t challenge this, buried in the small print was a clause allowing the claims company to use its discretion.
“I wouldn’t know what to say to the Ombudsman”
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) doesn’t want a legal argument, they want to know what happened to you. It is easy to send a complaint to FOS – they have a simple online form that asks you for all the details FOS needs. Many of these are easy – like your date of birth and whether you are complaining jointly with someone else.
To win an affordabilty complaint at the Ombudsman and get a refund of the interest you have paid, you will need to provide a copy of your credit report and bank statements. If you use a claims firm, you still have to do this.
The adjudicator at the Ombudsman (who is sometimes called an assessor or an investigator) may come back with questions. Usually these are easy for you to answer, but all a claims company can do is forward you the question… they don’t know that the transfers to X on your bank statement are because X was your partner and they were paying the rent and council tax for example.
So you still have to do all the work! A claims firm doesn’t do anything useful, it just gets in the way.
“But do claims companies get better results?”
No, they don’t!
See Do claims companies get good results at FOS? which looks at statistics from the Ombudsman from 2020-21.
So no, it’s not easier to use a claims firm!
These companies charge incredibly high fees – 25%, 35% or more of your refund. For this it’s likely that they:
- will lie to you about whether you have a good claim, because they don’t check;
- send in a short, poor email complaint that is less likely to get you a refund directly from a lender;
- may tell you to accept a poor offer;
- may send your case to the ombudsman even though they know it is hopeless;
- get in the way, slowing down communications if the lender or (more likely) the Ombudsman needs to ask you a question.
You are the best person to explain your complaint. You know what happened to you.
With some help from the Debt Camel templates you will do a better job than a claim firm ever can! And you will have the support of hundreds of other people also asking for refunds.
No win No fee … but you can end up owing the claims company money
You may think a “No win, no fee” guarantee means you can’t lose.
But you can if the refund doesn’t get paid to you in cash. This can happen if you still owe money on the last loan… here any refund you get will be used to pay off the balance first. If you still owe a lot, that may mean you never get any cash, but you still owe the Claims Company their high fee.
I have seen people taken to court for a CCJ because they can’t afford to pay a Claims Compay’s fees after they have won their case.
Look at the comments below for some readers’ experiences with claims companies.
Is your credit limit too high? Not affordable?
Refunds from large loans & car finance
How to ask for a council tax write-off
Ben says
Hi,
Over the past couple of years I have taken out a bunch of payday loans from multiple different lenders. The main 2 I can remember being 17-18 loans with Sunny and 10 loans from LendingStream. However, I have also had a long standing run of credit with SafetyNetCredit.
I have a question regarding who I should email. Is it worth emailing companies who I have taken, say, one or two loans from over the past while? In a lot of these cases, I took loans from other sites as they were the only ones that would offer me approval as I had multiple outstanding loans at the time of application. Also, how do I go about claiming from SNC as their lending process is a lot different to other lenders?
Thanks,
Ben
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s very hard to win a one lone complaint unless the loan was very large compared to your income. For a two loan complaint you may win if the second loan was a lot larger than the first and very soon after.
But if you still have one of these one/two situations outstanding, it’s still worth complaining as any money off the current loan will help.
For SNC use the normal payday loan template letter and also cancel the CPA so they can’t take any more money. These complaints can be quite easy to win as they can see your bank statements so have no excuse for continuing to lend!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also you need to expect that the Sunny and Lending Stream complaints will have to go to the Ombudsman. Sunny usually make very poor offers on cases with a lot of loans and LS may reject you completely.
So if your finances are still difficult, you have to get in a safe position where you don’t have to borrow any more money from anyone. Otherwise you are still stuck in the payday loan trap. Talk to StepChange about a debt management plan for all your debts, including things like overdrafts and credit cards, where interest is usually frozen and you just make one affordable payment per month. Then any good payday loan refunds can pay off chunks of that.
Emma says
I’ve just had my refund from sunny and lending stream today. Because I went through a stupid refund company before I even knew you could do it for yourself. They’ve done nothing for me shut my claim with quick quid down because they thought it would not be successful without confirming me.ive chased up lending stream do I legally have to pay them I know I probably do. They want 30% plus vat which I think is ridiculous
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you put in a complaint to the company about shutting the QQ claim down?
E says
Yes I am dealing with them separately now they had one with wonga which obviously wont go far either. Other was pay day Express. All others I’m dealing with on my own now. I just need to know whether I need to pay them money back since lending stream have paid me out now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, a couple of weeks ago when you mentioned this I asked you if the claims company was FCA regulated and whether you had put in a formal complaint?
This matters as it could help to get at the very least the claims company to agree to write off the fees on the LS and Sunny…
Emma says
I remember reading this. Yes I think they are fca authorised who would I put a formal complaint in too the company itself? X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can tell from their website if they are FCA authorised. If they are FCA authorised, you put in a complaint by email with COMPLAINT as the subject line and describe how they discontinued your claim without consulting you or informing you. Point out this has wasted many months and so your case has not been resolved before QQ went into administration so their error has ccost you a lot of money.
You can either ask for the to pay you the redress you should have got from QQ or say you will be happy to settle this complaint if they agree to waive the fees you currently owe them for LS and Sunny cases but if they reject this you will be taking the case to FOS and asking for the full amount you have lost. Up to you. If you go for the full refund it is VERY likely they will say no then you have to send the complaint to FOS. (Kind of poetic justice, a claims company having to pay FOS complaint fees…). If you offer to settle, I have no idea what they will decide.
But I see from another comment you left that you think the Claims company may have disappeared? If that is the case, then this isn’t going to work BUT equally they aren’t likely to be able to claim the fees from you for the Sunny and LS wins.
Emma says
So looking into emails spam folder etc. I see an email from refund company stating that another refunds company last minute refund were going to be working alongside them these are fca registered, but it seems the original company have completely disappeared now. I’ve emailed them highlighting I have been mis led, lied too from this company and not informed at all with what has been going on also the fact I was never informed my case had been closed. I will await their response tomorrow
Emma says
Just to let you know claims company have today as a good will gesture have let me not pay their fees that was owed to them and I am no longer dealing with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that seems like an OK result.
Emma says
Yes definitely happy with that. Thank you so much for your advice x
A. says
I sent my complaint about my claims company 13 weeks ago – haven’t had a response. I chased them for a response and the manager said they would look into it about 4 weeks ago and again had nothing back. I’ve sent it to the fos at 8 weeks but again heard nothing from them yet. So infuriating!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone FOS up and ask when there will be some progress.
Lou says
Just thought I would jump on here quickly just to ask has anyone complained to a CMC on how they have dealt with a claim? And taken it to the ombudsmun? Just curious as I’m in this position at the moment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there are a few going through at the ombudsman at the moment.
Lou says
Ok thank you just didnt know weather I was on my own or not, I spoke to the FOS today they said they have only recently started picking up complaints about CMC’s.
A. says
I have sent a complaint in about my claims company in September to the fos. It has not been picked up yet and them email they are sending out says around 4 months for it to be looked at.
Lou says
I sent mine in beginning of jan by the 14th I had an email requesting all the information I had emails, letter etc. I called yesterday as i hadn’t had any confirmation that they had recieved it all. They confirmed that they had and that it is just waiting to be picked up by an adjudicator.
Matt L says
I submitted a claim to LendingStream via a claims firm because I thought “why not?”. They emailed me questionnaires & had me electronically input my signature to verify that I wished them to proceed. I heard nothing from them for months until I received an email from LS stating that they have responded to the adjudication. I now feel very disappointed that I have to pay the claims firm the 20% +VAT that it states on their website:
-I’ve checked emails including spam folder & I can’t see a copy of the contract I’m sure I was supposed to have with the firm.
-firm didn’t send me anything in terms of the convos they were having with LS (in particular that LS had rejected the original claim & it was being taken to the FOS). I had zero update.
-They fabricated comments on the FOS document & made it seem as if I’d completed the form in my own words.
-I was only awarded my refund by FOS when I contacted them myself both by email&phone following contact from LS stating that they responded to the adjudication. FOS told me that wasn’t the case & only then did the FOS rep take a look at my case & told LS that I should be refunded.
Is there anyway I can dispute the amount owed when they send me the invoice, taking into account everything that I’ve stated? I think the fact that they didn’t send me any sort of agreement is a big odd, not to mention the made up false statement they gave to FOS!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you are getting a refund?
Matt L says
Yes, however I am yet to be invoiced by the CMC. Should I have received a copy of an agreement & are they allowed to make false statements and comments on my behalf?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All CMCs make up the stuff they sed to the lenders and FOS – they are supposed to use the questionnaire you completed as the basis for this, but if that they said got you the refund, it’s hard to complain about that? If you had failed to get the refund because they hadn’t put in a good enough complaint you would be on stronger ground.
You don’t seem to be disputing that you did agree to them making a complaint on your behalf. They will no doubt send you a copy of the agreement if you want.
You may have better grounds for complaining that they didn’t handle your complaint well at FOS and that you only got the refund because you stepped in and talked to FOS yourself. I can’t really tell what happened but that may be a more promising line for you.
James Stevens says
Hi, I contacted a claims company called Savvy claims on 22nd January, I haven’t had any contact with them during this time, Piggy bank loans phoned me on 17/03 to ask me if I had an email forwarded from savvy claims asking if I accepted there offer of a refund and account closure. I didn’t know anything about it but Piggybank said that I can only accept the offer through Savvy claims. I can’t get hold of them at all, their landline number rings but an ex employee answers and said the calls shouldn’t be going through to him and their website isn’t working. Don’t know what to do as Piggybank say they can’t accept the answer without going through Savvy claims.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s hard to know what to say.
Perhaps tell PB that you are unable to get hold of the claims company and in the circumstances you want to accept the refund and account closure direct from them and you will resolve any claim from Savvy for their fee.
James says
They said they can’t do that.
Julie McLaren says
Good day,
I have used a claim company to act for me regarding payday loans. Following FOS intervention, i am due a refund form Lending Stream. I do have to pay a massive chunk to the claims company…35% and VAT. I have not had any figures yet from the claim company regarding the cost of such fees. Lending Stream are forwarding a large sum to the Inland Revenue which is expected. When the claims company send me their invoice, can they include their percentage and VAT on that VAT that i am giving to Inland Revenue based on the 8% compensation figure? It feels like i am paying double VAT, or am i just very confused!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, you got caught up in the claims company rip-off. It’s a fortune to pay for sending a couple of standard emails.
You can claim back up to £200 of the tax being deducted from HMRC, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
JM says
Thank you for that. Looking at the claim company invoice, i have also been charged the ATE policy fee (£145) as well. Is this normal? Does this insurance apply to all the lenders being chased by them or does a new one have to be taken out for each lender?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea what this is. The Claims Company’s website or documents you were sent should clarify this.
JM says
It is After The Event insurance. Apparently, it is in place for the no win-no fee claims. My claims were all handled online. I have not had any reference to it noted in any correspondence from them. I shall have to inquire with them direct.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the claims company FCA authorised?
JM says
They are a law firm so under the FCA they are classed as Exempt- Professional firm. Looking at the claim company site, they are SRA regulated. When i first made contact with the company it was through a web page, with them acting as a claims company. When i was contacted y them further, it was under the law firm name, not the original claim company trading name.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a shame you didn’t back out at that point, would have saved yourself a lot of money!
But regardless of that, they should have been clear what you would be charged by way of fees. Have you looked at your documentation?
JM says
…i have no documentation! There is no information about in on their web page either. I have sent them an email asking for reference to this insurance. Live and learn!
JM says
All correspondence is about the stages of each claim. Nothing about terms and conditions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you put in a complaint saying you were not informed about this extra charge and you would like it removed from your invoice.
Ash says
Hi sara, i recently used a claims management company to pursue a claim against amigo loans. I have not been happy with the service that they’ve provided so i decided to exercise my right to cancel and informed them of this yesterday and explained my reasons why.
In my contract it states;
You have the right to cancel your contract before an offer of redress is made by the lender without giving any reason.
I have not yet received an offer of redress.
It doesn’t state in my contract but they have since sent me an email saying “You have the right to cancel your contract before an offer is made by the lender without giving any reason. However, if you cancel after two weeks without providing an acceptable reason we will charge for time spent on your case”
They have now sent me an invoice of £640. Claiming they have spent 4 and a half hours at £120 plus VAT and are telling me to pay them.
This is contradicting information, however i still believe my reason for cancelling my contract to be a valid one. Is there anything you suggest i do? I dont know i can speak/complain to regarding this.
Many thanks, Ash
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what were your reasons? what stage is your Amigo complaint at?
Ash says
Thank you for your reply.
I didnt feel like i had good communication as to where i stood with my claim. They sent me an email asking if i would like to make a claim against amigo, months after i had already asked them to start one. I explained to them i no longer had confidence in them representing me. My claim was made and i havent heard anything regarding it since. I have spoken with amigo and they have said they are yet to make a final response regarding any claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When was the claim made? Would you like to summarise it? Do you still owe Amigo money?
Ash says
I had one loan paid out in october 2016. I borrowed £5000 and repaid a total of £7455.79
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh so if you win your complaint (and a lot of these are bieng won, obviously I dont know anything about case) you would be likely to get £2455 back plus 8% interest would would be likely to be £800 ish.
So depending on what your claims compabies fees are, you will be better off paying this £640 if you win, but obviously not if you loase.
“They sent me an email asking if i would like to make a claim against amigo, months after i had already asked them to start one. I explained to them i no longer had confidence in them representing me. ”
Did you actually tell them No, you did not want them to do it?
Ash says
I told them i should already have had a claim in with them. They then acknowledged this. This is why i was left unconvinced by them and cancelled my contract with them earlier this week.
The problem is i do not believe i should be paying them anything. There has been no contact from amigo yet regarding any outcome. I have just cancelled a contract because i am unconvinced by their services and there is little in my contract about paying any fees unless i receive an offer from amigo by using their services. It also states i can cancel my contract with them at any time before an offer is made without giving any reason
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send them a formal complaint in writing and say you dispute their fees because… You can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you are not happy with their response.
mark austin says
i had 2 loans with sunny i paid them on time and paid them back in full but they are no longer trading can i get a refund of any money i paid in ectra interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can submit a Claim but unless the two loans were very large you would be unlikely to have it upheld. Payday loan refunds typically start from the fourth, fifth or sixth loan.
julie stevens says
I had over 50 loans with Sunny dating back to 2016. Am I still able to make a claim against them now they have gone into administration?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes but the refunds may be little or nothing, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/sunny-now-in-administration/. Still worth making a claim if only to try yo get done loans removed from your credit record?
Do you owe them any money at the moment?
julie stevens says
I had £100 outstanding on one loan but had an email from sunny recently to say this has been written off.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good!
Check back on the Sunny page in a month or so. the administrators will be making an announcement then about claims.
Aiden says
Hey there, I emailed piggy bank about a mid sold loan and they replied saying that their offer is £309 but because of them going into administration the amount I would receive would be nothing near this, plus they wouldn’t know when it would be paid, should I accept their offer? Or should I take it to the ombudsman? Many thanks for your help in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are in administration – you can no longer send your complaint to FOS. Do you still owe them any money?
Nick says
I have had claims of redress upheld by Sunny, QuickQuid, MyJar, and others. I recently filed a claim with the administrators of Uncle Buck (Harrisons) which was declined. The final loan I took out with Uncle Buck is with a debt collection agency.
Since my claim for redress with the administrators of Uncle Buck was declined (yet others were updeld), is it the case that I can’t escalate my complaint to FOS? I asked Harrisons for all the details of all my loans with Uncle Buck a couple weeks ago, but I guess I’ll have to wait he full 8 weeks? I don’t want any compensation, just for the final loan to be ‘cancelled’ as other loans have been after I made unaffordability complaints.
Cheers.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cases involving a lender in administration cannot go to FOS.
Nick says
Thank you, Sara.
Do I have any further recourse if the administrator declines my claim for redress?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there should be some appeal process that you will be informed of if your claim is rejected
Nick says
Thanks again for your reply.
Luke Michael says
I had over 10 loans with Sunny dating back to 2019. Am I still able to make a claim against them now they have gone into administration?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, the deadline for a claim has now passed. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/500000-sunny-customers-tiny-refunds/
But the administrators should be removing any negative marks from your credit record for loans that were unaffordable and may have deleted some loans, so that may help you? See that article for details.
Stephen says
Hi Sara
I had multiple loans with quick quid back in 2012/2013. I had originally made an enquiry with a claims management company. They said they could help so I signed up for there services. Midway through my application I was contacted by the FOS to say they needed a new hand signed consent form so I contacted the claims management company by email and phone (left voicemails) I got not reply from either for over 40 days during which time I had found this site and managed to complete a form myself and get a final resolution from the FOS . I was paid my redress in 2016. My claims management company said then sent me an invoice. I complained at their lack of service and the fact they hadn’t responded to my email or voicemails for over 40 days leaving me in the dark and having to take matters into my own hands . They issued me a response again in 2016 saying they believe they had acted professionally. I never heard much of the matter again and this invoice has now re-emerged. I still believe they did not offer the service o was lead to believe they were going to offer me, feel particularly let down by them not responding for so long when my case was sitting with the FOS . I did ask then if they could amend the invoice to reflect the work rate had to complete myself but they seem to have just ignored this request. I am wondering what I can do next as I don’t feel they should get the full fee for completely ignoring me for so long and leaving me to do the work myself
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you complain formally before? When they replied, did they say you had the right to take your complaint about them to someone else?
Stephen says
Hi Sara
At the he bottom of the response they said if I am dissatisfied with their reply to could raise it with the FOS within six months but that reply was from July 2017
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah, I was hoping they had forgotten to tell you that. I am afraid you have now left this too late to take your complaint to FOS.
it is possible they may accept a lower offer rather than take you to court. If they do take you to court then you may be able to defend the claim on the grounds they failed to provide an adequate service, but I can’t help with that.
Julia says
Just a quick question- if you can answer I would really appreciate it.
Safety Net Credit have confirmed the refund for payday loan claim. Now Clear Legal Marketing is asking me to pay £261.54 of that money. They haven’t been clear about their fees and would I have known this I wouldn’t have agreed for them to go ahead and help me with my claim. In fact, they’ve contacted me first, I didn’t even know they’ve existed. So I guess my question is what happens if I don’t pay them? As there was no signed agreement or anything at all, and like I said they haven’t been clear about the fees and how much would it be etc, not until the day my claim was approved. It is all tricky situation and I am not happy about it but would like to know what can happen. As they say on their email failure to make a payment can lead to recovery action. What does that mean ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
CLM is regulated as a claims company by the FCA. If you don’t think their pricing was clear before you signed up (which may have been electronically, no need for a physical signature) then you should send CLM a complaint and take it to the finacial Ombudsman if CLM rejects this.
Some claims companies can be very aggressive over their debt collection, taking people to court for a CCJ. I have no idea about this particular firm.
arfon says
hi, I disputed a debt from a claims management conpany. The court decided I owe the money issued me with a ccj and must pay back £5 on the 10th of each month.
I have been doing this but the company I owe the money to still emails me asking for full payment and threatens to charge me £12 per email. are they allowed to do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound right! Can you copy out the part of the email here?
Arfon says
Hi Sarah, here is part of the many emails I get (like every three days). The ccj said I could repay 5 pounds monthly as I’m not working at the moment and disabled. 5 pounds monthly is what the court ordered me to pay back last June.
Invoice details;
Total invoice amount to pay: £1360.10
Partial payment received to date (if any): £45
How to make payment;
1. Online – Make a payment by clicking HERE to securely pay.
Quoting your invoice number 5156 as payment reference.
Once you receive your compensation and then fail to fully settle this outstanding invoice within 14 days of receiving your compensation you will incur a late payment reminder of £12.00 for every email and phone call we make to you demanding payment. In such circumstances this reminder is counted towards the late payment fees which you will incur.
As per our terms and conditions you should settle this invoice fully within 14 days of receiving your compensation to avoid incurring any late payment fees.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what is the compensation being referred to?
Do you have any other debts or arrears on priority bills?
Arfon says
I used this company to see if my bank owed me fees for packaged bank account. The company in question made a claim against my bank on my behalf and charged me 42%. I disputed as I didn’t agree, they filed a ccj against me and the court decided I should pay them the money owed. I couldn’t afford the full payment or the £275 a month the court originally stated on judgement. I asked the court to reconsider the repayments and sent them proof of income and a fee exemption sheet as a fee was payable for the payment judgement to be altered. The court decided I should pay off the debt £5 per month. I have kept to this and for the past two months I have been having emails asking for full payment and warnings of £12 being added for each email.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you won the claim?
What happened, did the refund just reduce your overdraft? is any money still owing to you?
is the claims company FCA authorised or a firm of solicitors?
What is the rest of your financial situation – do you have other problem debts? Are you buying or renting, and if renting private or socail?
Arfon says
The company won my fees back but was deducted from my debt with bank. I couldn’t afford to pay the debt management company 42%. I cancelled their services when I found out I could claim off my bank for free so I disputed the 42% debt.
They took me to court for the 42% (1,350 but 1,660 with the added court costs). The court said I do owe them the money and decided I must pay back £5 per month due to my circumstances. My question is….. the court said I only have to pay the company £5 per month. I have been doing this and am up to date with my payments. However, while I’m obeying my court judgement and am paying the payments, the company in question are emailing me for full payment and threatening £12 charge per email. Even though my ccj states I must pay £5 by the 10th of each month, which I have been doing so. I was wondering if I could report the company for causing me stress. They are FCA regulated and are a finance company who claim back packaged fees and ppi
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So when they wtite “Once you receive your compensation and then fail to fully settle this outstanding invoice within 14 days of receiving your compensation you will incur a late payment reminder of £12.00 for every email and phone call we make to you demanding payment. In such circumstances this reminder is counted towards the late payment fees which you will incur.”
they are referring to an event that is not going to happen – there is no further compensation that will arrrive.
I suggest you send the claims company a complaint by email asking them to stop sending you these letters as (a) you are making the court ordered payments and (b) you will not be receiving any compensation in the future as this has already been paid by reducing your overdraft.
If they refuse to stop, send the case to the Financial Ombudsman and ask for compensation for the stress these letters are causing you.