Hi, I think this is new to CAG. I have a trading account with a forex broker. i noticed a few trades on my ledger that I hadn't authorised. On closer examination I discovered my son had been playing with my account. He has a demo account and likes to pretend to trade, but had used my live account a couple times on my iPad/iPhone. My first instinct was to write it off and blame myself for not being diligent enough. Then I came across a potential precedent. SPREADEX LTD V COCHRANE [2012] EWHC 1290 http://www.druces.com/spreadex-vs-cochrane-online-terms-did-not-form-contract/ The case is a victory for the consumer over a forex broker for a few reasons. - Contract was too onside and provided no benefit for the customer - Unreasonable to expect the customer to read the dozens of pages of T&C which are hidden behind a checkbox on a sign up page. Goes against UTTCR according to the judge. It's a long-shot but I have lodged a complaint with the broker asking for the trades to be refunded and quoted the case. If they don't respond favourably I will try the FOS route.

hi guys this is my first post. I appoligise if I accidently break rules. Background I been using a waste disposal broker for my sandwich bar. All was going well until I received an over loading invoice which had 2 dates that i had apparently over loaded. Charge amount 69.05 10/01/2018 overload by 25kg = £5.25+vat was using 660ltre bin allowance 42kg 31/01/2018 overloaded by 249kg = £52.29+vat was using 1100ltre bin allowance 70kg Total = £69.05 between these 2 dates I had actually received a larger bin so when the collection happened on the 10/01/2018 i was using a 660 litre bin which had a 42kg allowance then on the 31/01/2018 I was using a larger bin which is a 1100litre bin which has an allowance of 70kg Grounds for dispute My dispute is if I only went over by 25kg on a 42kg allowance how have i gone over by a Wapping 249kg on a larger bin which has a 70kg allowance. Also that is a lot of weight to put in a 1100 litre bin please my own rubbish there’s clearly a mistake when i raised this issue with the broker all they kept telling me is they have tracking records from the bin collection. However that’s not what I’m disputing (if that not what they had on their records then they wouldn’t be charging me in the first place). I’m disputing the legitimacy of the charge IE did they register the correct bin when they did the lift, I know they collect multiple bins from the same location maybe they lifting another bin by mistake. How do I know they didn’t receive a back hander from someone to throw there bins away and decided to place it in mine Now they have basically refused to credit the charge although I have had one of their own member of staff admit the figures do look off. I feel there just trying to bully this amount out of me. As brokers the waste company they are contracting to collect the waste are the ones provide them with the collection/lift info. I feel they can’t be bothered to investigate with the waste company what’s gone wrong Actions taken I am still using them to collect my waste as I am contracted to them till April 2019 and pay my waste invoice but u haven’t paid the over charge. So I have received a letter stating 1. they now will add a charge of between £40 to £60 to the charge ( haven’t actually stated amount) 2. the next course of action is to commence county court proceeding to recover debt and will result in added interest and fees I know in my gut there just trying to bully me into just shutting up and paying. Can anyone advise what action I should take? Thank you

I posted a while ago that I had written to Paragon about PPI I had taken out in 1989 with my National Home Loans mortgage, to be fobbed off and told I should take it up with the financial broker. "We realise this may be a disappointment to you". The financial adviser happened to be a friend of a friend at the time, and I've found him on Facebook. He seems to be doing very well ("one of the UK’s best-known bankers" ) so I wouldn't feel bad if the PPI was to come out of his pocket, although I doubt that would be the case? Would any of you kind and knowledgeable folk have any advice as to how I should proceed? Thanks

Hello everyone, I took out a vehicle insurance online via one of the van insurance comparison sites beginning of this month and paid the deposit of around £250 upfront with the first instalment of £130 coming out shortly after on the 10th of Feb. Now, I just got home and had a letter (dated 20/02) from the insurance company, or rather the broker as it turns out, telling me that the insurer (they don't mention the name of the insurance company) advised them that my policy must be cancelled within the next 7 days. "This is because of where your vehicle is kept overnight". The vehicle is kept on the road overnight, as I indicated on the comparison site, which based on all the information I have given listed the different insurers and their premiums, from which I had chosen this one. The letter goes on to say that I urgently have to contact them so that they can place me with an alternative insurer. Now I have a few questions: 1. First of all, I think this smells very fishy and I have doubts that this is legal? 2. I provided all the information beforehand, based on which I was given a premium. If this would have been an issue they should have not let me take out the insurance in the first place? 3. The vehicle is kept on the road overnight. I did not lie. It's not like I said it's kept in a garage when in actual fact it isn't. I mean everyone keeps their vehicle on the road, or at least the majority of the population? This would mean they would only have a handful of customers? Again, another reason why I think it doesn't make any sense? 4. Do I have 7 days from date of receipt of this letter, ie from today until the policy would be cancelled? 5. If I don't agree with this and they cancel me completely or I want to leave them as this is not a very honest start with them, can I get my money back? I haven't even been with them for a month. My installment from the 10th should at least take me up to the 10th of March, not to mention my £250 deposit I paid at the outset? 6. The premium is set up to be paid monthly through a financing deal, which I signed. Am I now required to pay the full premium every month to the Finance guys, even if the brokers or I end up cancelling altogether? I would really appreciate if someone could explain the legalities of this all to me before I give them a call as I don't want to end up playing my cards wrong. Should I get legal help/advice to get my money back? Get in touch with watchdog? I am a bit at a loss with this as you can probably tell so any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance!

I am new here so please be patient. I am trying to reclaim PPI, I wrongly thought it would be fairly simple as it was for a car loan with Welcome finance in July 2004. I have received a final response letter from Welcome stating that the PPI was sold by a broker, Pinnacle, who have now ceased trading. I was not aware of this at the time we took out the loan, and have signed nothing stating that the loan was by Pinnacle. It also states the insurance provider is Aviva. I have phoned the financial ombudsman, they cannot help due to Pinnacle no longer trading, I then phoned, as advised, the fscs, they say because it was taken out in 2004 they cannot help either. I am confused by the fact that I thought I had the loan with welcome finance, and had signed nothing and been told nothing about Pinnacle, only to now discover this with the paperwork sent with the final response. Do I have any grounds to go back to Welcome finance? Thanks for any help pulling my hair out as to where to turn next!

Warning to LIP’s and Homeowners: I am not surprised that this country has been taken for a merry go round ride that has lasted for 25 years. It has cost this nation its ‘financial status’ and classified into history as ‘Broken Britain’ by the very Politicians and the legal system put in place by them. The citizens of this country now held to ransom by the same ‘financial criminals ‘who threaten to take their business elsewhere, should suffer the same pain they have inflicted on the masses, be‘charged’ as those petty criminals are charged and hounded. The country fraudulently has been milked and duped, and these Politicians too weak to rein them in, as the horse has bolted and the country have been brought to its financial knees. The banks declared losses to make sure that the tax payer does not benefit from their investment. My story: My recent case 2009-2012 against my mortgage lender was dismissed in Court unfairly two years after I was allowed to escalate my case to include Conflict of Interest by the lender. The lender had instructed their ‘designated company solicitor’ to act on the behalf of themselves and me. The key Facts clearly state that all ‘legal costs’would be paid as an ‘incentive’ with no exceptions or clear indication in plain simple English or in legal jargon that I had to take independent legal advice and these costs would only cover the ‘conveyance’ and not ‘legal advice’. The designated company solicitors went on to inform my previous mortgage lender that they were instructed to act on my behalf. They proceeded to do this without my written or verbal permission and then went on to instruct my broker to act in a legal capacity to conclude the mortgage. All these ‘entities legally’ allowed to trade were aware that I did not benefit from any legal advice and the half filled application forms raises eyebrows as to how this re-mortgage was allowed to be concluded by the designated solicitors with boxes left un-ticked as to how this mortgage would be repaid after the term was over with no savings plan put in place as this was an interest only mortgage, no terms and conditions contracts in place signed by both parties that clearly lays all the terms and conditions and the start and end date of this contract. This mortgage was concluded without legal representation for me and no written or oral disclosure presented to the Court to prove that I was advised to take independent legal advice as they had convinced the Circuit Court Judge that they had done so. In addition there was no legal representative from the lenders on the day of the signing of the deed. The Judge found in favor of the solicitors, and the lenders not forgetting the broker stating that each did not have a duty of care towards me…the borrower of a home re- mortgage. These ‘Designated’ company solicitors are given the duties to sign on the behalf of the lender amongst other legal duties. This had enabled them to sign the deed as an unnamed solicitor had done so in 2005 in proxy. The Mortgage Company had to be aware that the designated duties would also include their solicitor to protect their interest as ‘paramount’. The Mortgage Company was also being aware that their solicitors would go on to employ themselves to act in the conveyance and transfer of funds etc. to my account etc. The same solicitors were also instructed to act on my behalf by the lenders to conclude the mortgage in 2005 and then were instructed to evict me in 2006 or they had instructed themselves… as powers given to them, when I fell behind on the mortgage by a few months. This evicting was the ‘first resort and not the last’ and I was refused all help with no respite. They committed perjury and abused the Administration of Justice Act by stating that… ‘No payments were made since inception’…when they knew that the remortgage was a new one taken in June 2005 and arrears began in after the hit and run accident that saw my car written off in Sept 2005. I paid six installments before falling into arrears in Jan 2006 and all my pleas for help were made to deaf ears and their attempted to evict my family and myself using my car accident as an excuse for the eviction. The Courts breached our liberty by allowing this eviction that did not take into consideration of my circumstances as the Administration of Justice Act states, and proceeded to order the eviction. I cleared all arrears and fell back into a one month arrear pattern as I tried to play catch up until 2009. I was seriously unwell from 2005-2008 until I had seven injections in my spine and it took a year to 2009 to finally to walk again and wean myself off the drugs I was given to stem the pain. In 2009 I realized when I requested an annual statement of accounts that they had added 5,500/- to the principal of the mortgage without advising me. This was one of the purposes of me instigating the case against them as I was stonewalled to the point of distraction in 2009. Their agent advised me over the phone that they had the ‘right to charge any amounts at any time paid to third parties’. I found it hard to digest a copy sent in 2009… the Mortgage Conditions 2004 E& Wales in 2009 that calls itself a ‘booklet’ states. Shockingly there was no Terms and conditions contract drawn up to accompany the deed that has ALL THE TERMS signed by both the lender and the Borrower. This clause was never explained to me legally before I signed the deed or I would never have taken the Mortgage Company to court. This important clause and the consequences of what help would be given at any time of arrears was never included as part of the Key Facts to make the borrower aware of exact charges and legal fees would be added. A power of attorney was also taken from me without my knowledge by my broker who was instructed to act in a legal capacity and went on to verify me and coerced me into signing the deed that day as I attempted to change my mind. I was threatened by him that I would be liable for excessive fees for wasting his time when I was told no lawyers would attend as promised that day, and there was no legal representative of the lenders. MY MIND DID NOT FOLLOW MY SIGNATURE as this is the honest truth. In addition I had come to know the day before that broker was sexually harassing my daughter at the time and I politely told him off that morning shortly before the signing. This broker who allegedly worked as a part time retainer mortgage consultant that ceased to trade in 2009 did not clarify what his role would be and that he could act as a witness to the charging deed and act in a legal capacity to verify me legal etc. It is unbelievable that law allows a ‘booklet’ to have the same weight that a ‘contract’ should have in financial matters that involves a large amount of money and a person’s right of liberty to live in a home who has been suddenly caught up in an ‘after math’ of a car accident to be evicted and allows the lender to callously benefit from the misfortune of the homeowner, run into ‘short term’arrears. The costs of this eviction case was also added to the principle sum and the court later forbade me to demand this back and also forbade me to rely on the Human Rights Act as the liberty of my family life along with my three kids was breached. In 2009 despite me requesting disclosure by the Freedom of Information Act they dragged their feet. This prompted me to apply for an Unless order, again this order was dismissed purely on the biased recommendations of the Defendants legal team the same designated company solicitors who continued to drag their feet that all disclosure was given. In 2010 when I was given permission to escalate the case to include conflict of interest all the charges that they refused to accept as liability was offered back in refund and finally despite not accepting the amount and not forewarning the court my mortgage was reduced by an amount of around 4500/-. I then found out that they had secretively charged me two sets of interest rates during the fixed interest period one on paper via Direct Debit and another was added to the principle sum from the moment of inception of this remortgage. As the case progressed I was horrified by what I had experienced. My paperwork began going missing in court, bundles and applications went missing and I was made a perfect scapegoat for just being a LIP as I was led down the garden path by the Court and the Defense Barrister. The Defense Barrister was greeted by the Circuit Court Judge as, ‘Hi Good morning…miss… it has been a long time…?’ Friendships…between Judges/ solicitors/ Barrister and lenders as I was later warned by two solicitors who are not connected. Applications made to request the transcripts of hearings also dismissed conveniently as the lenders convinced the Court that it was the brokers fault. I was then coerced into getting the Broker on board the case they knew would complicate the case. I applied for the broker and the company solicitor of the lender to be added to the case. This application went missing in the court. I was blamed for not making it at all despite evidence of an email sent and reference made in an appeal two weeks later. This added 15,000/- in Court costs when all my appeals and applications were denied as having no merit. Every single application made that would benefit my case was thrown out as having no‘merit’. I complained to every organization, the Information commissioner’s office, and including the OJC to complain about the Judges behavior was a waste of my time. The Personal support unit also was aware of the loss of bundles and applications in court as they were lodged in their presence. As the due process of the Court went through its motions I was accused of wasting Courts time. I was not given the chance to prove what the Judge termed as ‘nonsense’. After the bundle sent to the Broker was returned I had tracked him via Face book and informed him of the case etc. At the time he did not have legal representation so I had no other choice but to inform him directly. He went on to report me to the Police for harassing him and I was taken aside by two Police Officers on the 23rd Jan 2012 and was warned not to make any contact with the broker. I politely told them I had no other choice. The ‘Harassment’ that warranted the waste of time of the two Officers who took the trouble to attend the court to serve me with a warning when I had made contact and left messages for the concerned Police Officer who could have easily come home to serve me with the notice. Unbelievable! Timely disclosure was not given and my case was deliberately dragged on despite knowing my health conditions and complicated court procedure. The Mortgage lenders and their legal agents perverted the course of Justice condoned by the Judges despite me making the Judges aware. I was ignored mocked, humiliated and my rights to a liberty, fair hearing and audience have been denied. The Judges were rude, aggressive and totally unfair in their verbal treatment towards me I felt verbally attacked by two of the Judges to the point of great distress that brought on serious anxiety attacks on Court premises as I was ridiculed by the Judges who accused me of not knowing the law. My head was placed on the platter for the mortgage company and the legal agents of both the broker and the lender. I believe they were pushing me to lose my temper so they could charge me with disrespecting the Judge. The seriously flawed judgment based on 'personal opinion' took on the biased recommendations of the lenders Barristers who was party to perjury as I was further prevented from applying for my case to be transferred to the High Court. The Judgment found that the ‘joint broker’ who was paid a fee from the lenders and myself, ‘the lenders’ and their ‘company solicitors’ had no duty of care towards me. I am devastated that there was so much ‘collusion’ first by the broker, the lenders and their designated company solicitors, then by the Judges protecting themselves as I took them all on. Every LIP or a Lay person should be treated with dignity and respect and the court should be a neutral ground for litigation with equality of arms. I found myself in a den of hungry lions eager to rip me apart as the Judges who were there to prevent this stood, watched and mocked. I was set up to lose my case. I was told not to expect pity when all I was doing is answering a question and demanding to know why the Court had allowed them to benefit from evicting me and taking advantage of my illness, and I was told that I was not going to be allowed to benefit from this mortgage by a Judge when I informed the court that the mortgage itself was Void. Even more shocking is that the Courts are now looking to allow conflict of interest…and have allowed the Mortgage Conditions 2004 England & Wales to be used as an 'instrument that allows serious conflict of interest' in favor of the lender since it was introduced in 2004. Every single loan and mortgage is borne out of conflict of interest as borrowers were sold dodgy PPI’s that would never protect them from the noose of the credit rating sites that has cost the homes and businesses of millions since the last 25 years after the endowment scandal. Both the Conservatives and Labor each pass the buck to each other, are the two main Political Parties in power since the Second World War, are all implicitly involved as they have allowed the Banks and Mortgage lenders to rip this nation apart by removing all regulations that reigned them in. Home Owners or Mortgagors… DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS AT ALL. This is contradictory to the Property Act of England and Wales 1925 as the Financial institutions hold this nation and Europe at ransom they should be treated as financial criminals and should be prevented from trading elsewhere in the world. The Court costs of 40,000/- has now been added to my mortgage by the lender without a court order and in addition to the 15,000/- that the lenders company solicitors and the broker is demanding. I have lost my faith in the Courts I am badly shaken, still recuperating after undergoing two operations in August last year as my health conditions drag on. I was unable to make an appeal to the High Court in time as I believed it would be a waste of time and would add more costs. How could I make a request for my case to be heard in High Court when the Circuit Judge clearly stated in his judgment that he felt this case was not a High Court matter and my appeal would be thrown out, and further how could I make an appeal with regards to the excessive costs added to my mortgage when the Mortgage Conditions 2004 E & Wales allows this and the courts have not ordered these costs? I was informed by the Courts that they have not ordered the costs and the lenders are depending upon an agreement? There is no physical written financial contract with my signature other than the booklet mentioned on the deed. So as I pick up the pieces to my life again I have no regrets that I did. If this is not 'conflict of interest' the definition should be changed in the dictionary. They attempted to take my home when I was too ill to stand against them, they attempted to benefit from my illness, they set me up by perverting the course of Justice and won, and now they have added a large amount to my mortgage! What can I expect from the very people who have been condoned to trade by those in power? As Political parties come and go…one lives in hope that a once Great Nation will find its feet again! Julie de Souza 1stMarch 2013

I have been working as a self-employed mortgage broker until I resigned in July 2015. I signed a service contract with the company and commission was to be paid at the end of each month on a 50% split basis i.e. I get 50% of the commission for all business I write. Business has been very slow and in August 2014, the company incorporated under an umbrella company who took on most of our compliance. The director told me that the commission split would change to 35% for the first £3,000 of business written and 65% thereafter. This was apparently done to reward hitting higher targets. This was never confirmed in writing, only verbally. I left in July and got a commission statement at the end of July, although no commission was due. The contract says we will continue to receive commission for 3 months after we leave, so I expect a commission statement at the end of August, but nothing! No commission, no statement - I have chased it 4 times and still nothing! It turns out another colleague who left in July is having the same problem, so after making contact with 3 others who left in the last year, it appears this is a common theme! I have asked the umbrella company to provide me with a list of all commissions due for business I have written and dates it was paid to the original company so that I can piece together exactly what is due. I would like advice on several areas here, as I believe I am owed £4k-£6k: 1. Should I send a subject access request to both companies to get the info? 2. Should I report this to the FCA because this is a regulated company and the guy that runs it is supposedly "fit and proper"? 3. As it appears there has been a deliberate attempt to defraud employees over an extended period of time, what other legal options do I have. Many thanks, D

I took out a loan in 2001 from IGROUP loans. I spoke to them last week about reclaiming my PPI. I was (and still am) a Local Authority Officer at the time and would have received 6mths full pay and 6 months half pay if I became ill and could not work. I have just come across the papers for the loan. I made copious notes and there is no evidence of a discussion about what benefit my employer offered if I could not work. They have informed me that they cannot offer a refund because the PPI was sold by a broker - Headland Finance. What is the procedure if the PPI was sold by a broker? All my monthly instalments were paid to IG loans not to the broker? Is there anyone out there who can offer some advice? I do not believe that the PPI was necessary.

Hi, this is my first time posting here. I have already posted on 'moneysaving expert'. This is what I posted - 'In 2013 I took out 3 insurance policies through a broker called Mortgagepro UK Ltd. I signed a client agreement that stated if I cancelled the policies within 4 years I would be liable for any lost commission clawed back by the insurance company. In January 2015 I found I could not afford the premiums and cancelled the policies. I had forgot about the client agreement & heard nothing from Mortgagepro UK Ltd. Last week I received a call from a director of a company called Mortgage & Insurance Professionals. He claimed I owed his company the money and said he was willing to go to court if I didn't pay. I have since received 3 texts. I then got a letter stating the debt had been sold for £1 to another company called Fast Reclaims. I noted the director who contacted me had signed as a director of Mortgage & Insurance Professionals AND Fast Reclaims. I wrote to Mortgage & Insurance Professionals asking to provide proof I owed them the money because they were not the company (Mortgagepro UK Ltd) that I had originally done business with. I received a text from the director saying he will prove I owe the money in court. I don't see how anyone would pay nearly £1,200 on the basis of a telephone conversation & a few texts. This is where the plot thickens and I thank you for sticking with me so far. I searched the Company House website. It showed that Mortgagepro UK Ltd were in liquidation and a new company called Mortgage & Insurance Professionals had been set up at the same address & the director who contacted me was a director for both companies. Also, these companies sound very alike, but are not the same. I am really REALLY worried. I always pay money I owe, but so far I have not received anything in writing requesting this money. I can not afford legal advice & the thought of going to court scares me. I am not going to pay until I receive proof I owe the money, but this director seems very keen to go to court rather than supply the information I am requesting. What am I to do? I am writing this after 1am because I can't sleep because of the worry. I hope someone can help. Thanks in advance.' I have complained to FOS as I recently received a letter from 'Fast Reclaims' stating they were preparing for court action. Mortgagepro UK Ltd were put into liquidation by creditors. How can a company I have never done business with demand money? Please ask if you need more information. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Property Fraud: Shawbrook Bank and Mortgage broker NRG ltd. I would like to contribute my experience to forewarn others of the type of property frauds that exist which snatches your property in an ‘organized way’ or rather what I would describe as ‘organized crime’ which could leave you unexpectedly damaged due to a planned repossession by the organizers. The property industry like any other will have plenty of corruption opportunities in it so the consumer needs a lot more protection than what we have today. It will take up a lot of space to describe my full personal experience I am going to focus on just listing the sort of behaviours people need to look out for. But briefly my situation was that I had some capital to pay for deposits but I was unemployed, however property courses teach us that we can solve this problem by joint venturing or teaming up in a partnership. Quite unexpectedly, I found such a partner but as he trusted his broker due to his own property portfolio achievements, he asked me to trust this broker as well. I offered the partner a free 10% ownership plus no costs to be born for his 10% ownership. Unfortunately the broker was not loyal to this venture ie to me but pretended to be. The broker who carried out the following acts on me is called NRG Ltd, (Mr David Beck) in collusion with his bank contacts at Shawbrook Bank. Mortgage brokers just like any other salesman have plenty of scope to misguide us deliberately into very expensive, complex and unwanted strategies/products which are designed to give them and third parties extra control over you and to steer your acquisition process according to the outcome they desire which can in a many cases be to snatch/grab your property from you because they see profit in it. Brokers can pretend that the options are few when in reality they just don’t want to search for companies with a favourable mortgage product for the client because the broker and his mates wants your property. So they want to direct you only towards the company in which they have their known contacts established because they need their contacts to study your bank balance and arrange for delaying the bank decision for as long as 4/5 months until all your money or financial budgeting is exhausted or out-of date, and you are about to lose your vendor and purchase. 3 Particularly vulnerable are new investors (eg myself) who might not know the loop holes in the process or implications of using a bridge loan, or how a short-term loan contract might be abused to lead to a repossession opportunity for the bank on behalf of those who want the property. But only a disloyal broker will be one who does not explain all these things when offering a complex strategy because they want you to fall into their pit of tricks and traps. 4They will use a false promise or description to lure you /force you into a short-term contract but once you have entered it, all they have to do is come up with a lying excuse not to do their job of executing the tasks which involve delivering their promises or the representations made before the contract. They then pretend they are trying out new applications for you, urge you to spend more money eg on surveys and more for their fees for trying, but at all times they coordinate with their contacts at the bank to refuse the application. These refusals can be identified as false due to the way they rely on a ‘subjectivity’ or arbitrary basis/criterion of judging and not a coherent, evidence based, law based reasoning. 5 What most people will be unaware about is the extent of how far they coordinate with their bank contacts in order to create a repossession situation. In my case this was very simply achieved. They knew I had only so much savings to be able to fund only one set of mortgage, brokerage, legal, survey fees, but they did not want to me to opt for the long-term mortgage ie they had manipulated me into the short-term loan method against my wishes; so this created the on-going process for more application expenses needed to be repeated within the short -term contract, so one become trapped, as one no longer has the money to finish off the strategy. Furthermore, there was a purpose why the bank waited 4 months to issue the short-term loan contract, this is to reach the point when the threat of losing a vendor becomes imminent, which enables them to impose unfavourable loan terms at the 11th hour. After 4 months of waiting, the option to pull out is not the same, it would only happen at the expense of losing the property as the vendor will be too frustrated. This way we are channelled into taking on a risky route that would otherwise never have been taken, had we been told in advance all the missing information and that a bank might take 5 months to decide. This bank is called, ‘Shawbrook’ famously known for their mortgage packages being most expensive. 6 After the first 6 months of ownership, I had received some extra money to finish off the rest of the 3 separate mortgage applications (this strategy was about 3 flats needing to be converted to leases first) the broker started coming up with new excuses not to try. He started saying that the 3 applications were going to be too expensive and that my only hope was to apply for a long term mortgage with the same bank. The question is why has he taken me through a short-term contract to : 1) identify that the 3 residential mortgages would be too expensive compared to a single mortgage when he should have known this from the beginning, and, 2) if the only option is to end up with the same long-term application then why did he not opt for this the first time around and saved me this unnecessary repeat application ? The answer is that they wanted me to be depleted of funds as that is s the surest way of setting the scene for repossession process. This bank then took another 6 weeks to deliver only an indicative offer (meaning it was an uncertain and unconfirmed offer) but after noticing that I had some funds injected to proceed. It struck me as abnormal that a bank who had already received regular mortgage payments from me is now having difficulty doing an internal conversion from one of their own loans into another one of their own loans within reasonable time, knowing that by this stage I will have spent thousands of pounds reaching this uncertain stage which meant the property was still not mine. I did not understand why it was only an indicative offer given that I was promised by the broker that after I had spent 6 months proving myself of keeping up mortgage payments I would qualify for such entitlement better than when I had started out. Furthermore, I was in a partnership arrangement with someone who had a strong income record and a property portfolio themselves, yet I was still not being given the trust that normally would have been given in this situation. It turned out that they wanted to find a new excuse to fail so they asked to inspect all my bank balances and at this stage I started to feel that this short-term loan contract was just an excuse to spy more into someone’s personal situation irrespective of whether it was relevant to judging the mortgage payments or not, which had already been met consistently. There was another long delay, this time it was reaching nearly the end of the contract, infact exactly a week before the end date I was given a ‘declined’ decision based on my bank balances. But they discriminated me in that they said they would be happy to grant the mortgage to the partner only but not in partnership. In other words this decline was to exclude me from the purchase after it was my capital that had paid for all the acquisition costs, repeat applications, renovations and revaluations to the property, so it was in a ready-made state for someone else to takeover. This tactic (of using the indicative offer to hold on to my time waiting to the end of the contract) was to leave me facing a short notice sales decisions, coupled with a large increased interest rate penalty for not paying off a bridge loan within 3 weeks, was deliberate to create a pressure point so as to force me to give up the property to an auction where they can pick it up for cheap or be forced to compromise on sales price so that their secret buyers and agents can pick it up for cheap. After this news, I searched for other property experts to consult, and I was horrified to discover that the 3 mortgage applications were meant to take place at the beginning along with the lease conversions so that a short-term mortgage was not a threat of uncertainty. So I had been well and truly mislead. Yet this broker claimed to have 16 years of experience who had taken my ex-business partner through this process with success for him and others. There were many other clues, evidences which will make this report too long to describe that the broker was in cahoots with the bank to achieve this outcome. Does anyone know the best action on this matter?

As the title says. Just been to renew my pawn shop loan (gold chains) and for the first time in years at least 5 been a customer they have changed the contract and raised the interest on me. Never in 5 years has this happened, the contract is just renewed with the same terms as the original but this time they have increased the interest. I had no choice but to sign as otherwise I would have lost my gold in 2 days. Can they change the contract on me like this making me pay out more each month in interest. Interest on the original loan was set at £12.50 and now its gone up to £13.89, While its not much it all adds up over the 6 months. Anyone any ideas if this can be classed as unfair terms so I can raise the matter with the fos. My wife and I do have quite a few pledges with the same company and if this is going to happen all the time we will never be able to afford to get the gold out. Regards George

Hi all. Looking for some advice please : After reading a little on the reclaiming of various fee's / charges I wanted to find out more about this matter. Looked into my mortgage paperwork and noticed that during the past few years the Broker has been paid over £3,000 and £4,000 for arrange a mortgage of £200,000 and that the rates are not high street rates eventhough my credit rating is very very good. Can you reclaim the fee's paid to Brokers and can you dispute the interest rate that the Mortgage Company is charging ? I am understanding that had a High street lender provided the mortgages the arrangement fee would be approx £400 and the monthly payment would be at least 30% less. Regretting not looking into this further at the start. Any info would be great - Thank you Forum.

Hello, first post here and i'm hoping someone can advise me with a problem i'm trying to sort out for two friends of mine, a couple of brothers who run a small farm next door to me. they asked me to help sort out some paperwork for an insurance claim they had and it's turning into a nightmare. They've got insurance for their farm through a broker called moneynotion at derby, they have passed this on to another broker called Towergate insurance, who in turn provided insurance underwritten by royal sun Alliance. They've had to make a claim for a machine that caught fire accidentally whilst they were harvesting, the claim has been passed as valid, but there is apparently a dispute about the valuation, we've provided evidence of similar machines advertised for more money than they are asking for, and have sought advice from a dealer who specialises in these machines as to the value. To cut a long story short, the machine was insured for £5000, they wish to claim £5000 and in my opinion and that of the dealer / expert, that is the least the machine could possibly be worth even if it was in very poor condition, which it was not. The broker has dragged the claim out for 9 weeks now, and no progress has been made, the broker has been very rude to my friends and has upset them, and told them that the best they can expect to get is £3000 if they waive all rights to claim for hire of another machine whilst theirs has been out of action. He said that if they wanted more they would need to provide evidence of their valuation, i have drafted an email for them where we put links to a number of online adverts for similar machines, all at more than the £5000 they were claiming, and a copy of the emailed opinion on valuation we had received from the dealer. My friend then received a hectoring phone call from the broker accusing him of wasting his time with emails, despite the fact that this was the information he had asked for. I thought this would simply be a matter of finding some information to support the valuation for my friends, but the broker seems to be stonewalling any progress and actively trying to talk down the value of the machine. I've advised my friends to contact Towergate directly but they are reluctant to speak to them and tell them to deal through the broker. They don't want to speak to the broker because he is so obnoxious, i would offer to draft emails for them but the broker realises that it's not my friend writing them as he's already said he can't use the internet, and he would ring my friend and start being rude to him again. Any suggestions as to how they can deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

Can anyone tell me when trying to recover pay day loan broker's fee less £5, does one have to wait 6 months before making the claim to comply with the bit that says they have to refund if you haven't taken a loan suggested by them in that time??

Had brokers fee taken from myloan, I don't even remember using them and certainly didn't get any referral or loan as a result of them I stupidly put in my card details thinking they were a lender. So their t & c state 14days to cancel, now it was almost 2 weeks before they took any money and I realised what I must/could have done. Pretty convenient waiting 2 weeks. I've missed my chance to contact them in writing, although I did email them in time, within the 14 days, although as you can imagine, no response from email, do I have any hope, can I show the FSO the email? Total crooks.

I have written admission for the mis-sale of PPI. However I dispute the amount of compensation due and wish to proceed in court. I need help with the claim. my thread is here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?292702-Welcome-PPI-reclaim-Advice-please&p=3394501&viewfull=1#post3394501 I dont feel it's being seen by those who are in a position to help, hence I am posting this thread here in hope that I can point others to the situation and solicit advice. In order to keep things tidy, if you are able to assist, please post your comments in the main thread as opposed to this one. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I have recurring menatl health problems, and during an earlier episode, was co-erced into starting a haulage business, which enatiled obatining insurance for the lorries.The Broker obatined insurance and a loan for the balance of the insurance, i paid 25% of the annual premium as a deposit. Jan 2003 - I had to cancel within 2 months...then had a breakdown. Loan company took me to court for a sum ...didnt know why, and was unable to defend myself.They got a CCJ, and a charging order on my home, I was bereaved and had no one to help me. I recovered in about a year, to find the Broker dissapeared, so no redress there -I thought there was nothing I could do. Am in recovery for another breakdown, but this time got good treatment and can think straight , so have been writing to all concerned to try and understand what happened. Broker was sold to Swinton, but they didnt buy their liabilites. Insurers HIghway - sent me proof of refunds issued to the broker (before the swithc to swinton) Loan company say that the Brokers didnt issue the refund money to them , thats why they got the CCJ for £2.6K on me. this is now £4.5k with interest. Bit by bit over the last 2 years i have obtained info' to clarify what went on, and i see that a loan of £4K, was sent to the insurer on my account,( in addition to those i signed up to) but I never signed any agreement for it...interestingly the loan co. havent chased me for that. I have established that the agreements were created in a way that gave the company a financial benefit, but am out of time to challenge so here is my question. Can i use this new information in any way to leverage with the loan co to write of my debt. ..I have provided them with a statement of means, I doubt anyone will employ me after the latest breakdown (3 years) and i am 58, so pleanty of younger purchasing proffessionals out there! i know its statute barred, but as they continue to answer my letters, i feel there may be room to negotiate...but I have no lump sum to offer a lower sum to finish it off. I know I may have a chance of applying for a set aside due to my mental health issues,has any one here been succesful in this after so long? I dont know if i could cope with a court room, though, i have tried to get a litigants freind, but failed there. My partner works, but he dosent earn much so we wont be able to get legal aid. yes its convoluted, and taken me many years to understand what happened.. Any ideas would be welcomed!!! Suzannah

Hi all, Does anyone know who Broker Central Ltd are ? I have been fighting a very long battle with my PPi insurance and the latestest instalment is that Broker Central were the brokers. I have never heard of them and cannot find anything about them. Thanks:-x

I currently use Sky Insurance as my broker to arrange my car insurance, and have just renewed my policy with them having been using them since Sept 2011. I renewed my policy on 20th Sept this year, with the 1st installment due on 5th Oct. Unfortunately I was 30p short on the direct debit, so it bounced, and was referred back to Sky. I cant remember who the actual policy is with, just that Sky are the broker and Creation supply the finance. Anyway, Sky rang me on Oct 10th to take payment over the phone, to this they had added an admin charge of £25, which I refused to pay until I'd had a breakdown of how they reached that figure, and which they have failed to provide, only quoting that it is in their terms and conditions and that a breakdown is not available. Please just bear in mind this is their admin charge, not Creation or the actual policy provider. Today I receive a letter to say that as they have not received the admin charge they are giving me 7 days notice that they are cancelling my policy. Now, if it is their charge as a broker, why are they looking to cancel my policy? My policy is up to date, so isn't it a bit unfair to cancel my policy because their charge hasn't been paid? And £25 seems a bit steep anyway, especially when they are unwilling to provide a breakdown of the charge.

Hi... so I don't know if this is the right area but I couldn't find the unsecured loan section. I paid (I know... stupid idea) Unsecuredloancompany.net a broker fee in Feb 2010, and going through all my records I've just remembered this. They didn't find me a lender however at that time I had a hundred and one things happening at once so I never even thought about claiming a refund. I know it's a long long time ago, but what are the chances of getting that refund, and does anyone know the best way about it? Thanks for any advice

Apologies if this has been asked and answered previously ( i have searched). I had a loan from GE Money with PPI, i wrote the 1st letter claiming miss-selling and they have replied, that the broker is resopnsible. The broker is Karcus ltd who they state is in administration. GE state that i should contact the administrators or the financial services compensation schemes. Is thsi correct?

So Myloans have taken a broker fee from my bank i did visit the site and did enter my details however on the final page it stated a £69.99 charge, i closed the webpage. Next morning they've already taken the money, had to wait until this cleared to arrange a chargeback, however this is where my issue lies Bank is stating that because i have seen the list of comparisons (however i did not finalize the application) that i have negotiated n(see definition below) with the company and therefore cannot apply for a chargeback. This stumped me, not sure whether this is right or not as the OFT is states that brokerage fees should be limited to £5 (also below). Any advice on what i should say to the bank or how to word a statement to them that they wont be able to argue with The Consumer Credit Act limits a credit broker's charges to £5 if, following an introduction to a lender, an agreement is not signed within six months. If more than that has already been paid, brokers must refund the excess on request. source: http://www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/cca/brokerage-fees/ Definition of 'Brokerage Fee' A fee charged by an agent, or agent's company to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers. The brokerage fee is charged for services such as negotiations, sales, purchases, delivery or advice on the transaction. Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brokerage-fee.asp#axzz24Aj7URRs

No renewal notice, suddenly the policy docs came in. I had never been happy with them... details were incorrect. I have taken out a new policy and they have taken one instalment.. been going for 4 days. I really don't want anything to do with them. What can I do?

Hi all. Just want a quick bit of advice regarding getting a first time buyer mortgage. Me and my missus have 10% deposit between us. We went via an independant broker who was whole-market. He found us a nice deal with Accord, but we did not pass the credit check stage. We've got printed reports from both Experian and Equifax for both of us which shows me as Excellant and my missus as good (the only negative thing on hers is that she took out a Next card 2 months ago to buy something from their online catalogue - not sure why this is negative but there you go). I guess Accord's benchmark was really high. The broker has called today and suggested the new NatWest one that has come out today, but it falls over our budget and we don't think it's a good deal so we've said no. He said he'll keep his eye open for the next few weeks and let us know if anything else comes out. However, in the meantime i have seen a deal with Britannia which i believe only offer mortgages direct. I'm a little weary with going direct as i'm in their hands with no independant advice. Can any let me know the pros/cons of dealing with a direct lender and what i should look out for? Cheers!

Hello everyone, I need help regarding a mis-sold a policy by a broker(best advice acting on behalf of bright grey) who is bust, 4 years ego I was offered a mortgage (woolwich) and insurance: cover for sickness, payment cover for sicknes, life or critical illness cover. now I am in need of help and was assured that i have cover so it will be ok, but not apparently my cover uses working tasks definition which really means you have to be hit by a bus to get cover. that time when i was taking out that cover i have explaint to my adviser about my work etc. and they said this is best cover for me. now i cannot get enything from my insurance. I have been off sick for last 4 months cannot work cannot pay my bills please help if you can