Oh wow. That's excellent news. Thanks for that c123. I think I'll give it a go. Did they ask any questions regarding the money being paid to a claim management company and what it was for?

Hi supasnooper, I haven't as of yet. As for the past couple of months I was relying on that glimmer of hope I was carrying around with me. But as it's clear to me now, I will contact them. Thank you.

Hi Den. I'm glad you found this thread. I was in the same situation when I came on here. Not knowing what was going on and which way to turn. But there is a lot of useful info on here and as you can see, there are plenty of us in the same boat. I haven't posted anything for a while, because I've noticed that nobody else has. So I didn't think anyone was following the thread anymore. As you've probably read from my most recent posts, my claim was going through Tate Lloyd (via CMUK) and as a result of Tate Lloyd being useless I managed to track down someone at CMUK and have my claim transferred to another company. I still to this day, do not know the name of the company dealing with my claim. But something must be happening, as I have had through my credit agreement from one of my creditors. When I phoned CMUK to see if they had also received a copy of this agreement, they told me they hadn't and that I was to forward it on to them. As of yet I haven't done so, because I'm concerned as to why the creditor is sending the agreement direct to me, and not CMUK. That's what we're paying the money for. For them to take the hassle out of our hands. So still not knowing what to do, i have recently been to Citizens Advice. Which have told me not to have anymore dealings with CMUK, sever all contact with them. And basically told me, that I've lost the money I paid them and that I won't get it back. And by talking to other people and scanning other forums, this seems to be the case. I believe that some people on here are trying to claim the money back from their credit card companies by reporting it as a fraud, but as nobody has posted for a while. We don't know if they have been succesful? So I don't want to be the barer of bad news, but it looks like we have all been completely conned and have lost the money. And there's nothing we can do about it. I think steff63 summed it up best with saying that we have to put this whole mess down to being naive whilst struggling financially. My advice if you're in debt, is to make an apponintment with Citizens Advice. They have been pretty good with me. And I am now considering several options to get out of my debt.

Yes I agree with you richard54. I think the majority of people on here are blaming the wrong company. Although having said that, I think the biggest upset people have with Tate-Lloyd is that they are the one giving false information. They inform people that once the debt is in dispute you have a right to withhold any further payment. Which I think is actually true. But the problem has been that Tate-Lloyd have been so slow and rubbish at dealing with these claims, that everyone thinks their claim is in dispute and stops paying. When in fact the creditors haven't even received any requests from Tate-Lloyd. As a result this is leaving people in arrears. I'm not saying CMUK are any better of course. As they claim that the debt will be cleared in 28 days. Yeah, more like 28 years if you're lucky! I paid for 3 credit cards to be cleared at the cost of £680. Which would mean that CMUK have made a nice tidy profit of £530 out of me. HHmmmm. Now i feel even more of a mug! I'm just glad that i chose to keep up the monthly payments. I feel so sorry for those that didn't. Not only have we all put our trust and faith into these companies, but also been robbed of a large initial cost and been forced into even more debt. But hopefully with all the interest from the media that's gathering pace, something may actually get done about these companies. I'm interested to know out of all the people on here that have been contacted by a journalist, how many have followed it up?

Yeah i completely agree with you steff63 on the legitimacy of this new legal team. Considering I don't even have a company name or number for them yet. I was emailed regarding the BBC's interest as well. Sounds good, although i'm in two minds whether to contact them. It should be a 'no brianer' I know. I think I'll continue with the claim transfer for now, and keep this thread updated as to the progress. That way if (or when) it turns bad, it'll stop other people from doing the same. I can be the guinea pig. Well i may be joining you with the BBC investigation if I decide to go that route. Hope you can sort something out with your credit card company and claim your money back. Keep us updated as to how that goes.

Hi all. I've been following this thread for about a month now. And feel I need to contribute, as there has been loads of useful information on here. I am also in the same boat as everyone. I was approached by Claim Management UK, paid them a nice hefty fee of £680 to clear 3 credit cards back in February. And was passed on to Tate Lloyd. As with everyone, I could never get hold of Tate Lloyd to get any kind of update. But about a couple of weeks ago, Claim Management UK posted a reply in this thread stating a 'public apology'. Strangely or rather worryingly, the post has now been removed. But basically for those who didn't see it, CMUK was explaining the situation between themselves and Tate Lloyd. Apparently CMUK has severed any future and current business with Tate Lloyd as they could not handle the volume of work. CMUK then went on to say that those people with claims going through Tate Lloyd could now be transfered to a new legal team free of charge. I have managed to get hold of CMUK and have switched my claim to another legal team. The claim basically starts all over again now, so the past 3 months have been a complete waste of time. Don't get me wrong, i too still think this whole thing is possibily a [problem]. But I have managed to get in contact with CMUK on 3 occasions now, and am starting this process again. Maybe I'm a mug for doing this, but at the end of the day what have I got to loose. They've already got the money. I'll just have to wait (again) and see. Although I'm not holding my breath. If anyone is still trying to get hold of CMUK for answers, try this number as I've managed to get someone on the other end everytime. 01792 476500. If anyone is brave enough and decide to go down the same root as me and switch your claim. Don't hand sign the paper work that comes through from CMUK. As this will be forwarded on to your creditors. And as i've recently learned from other forums, banks/creditors are able to scan your signature from one form (the one you send them), and apply it to the agreement, then print it off. Obviously it's completely illegal, but they'll try anything. CMUK apparently aren't aware of this and are looking into it. What you do is digitally apply your name as the signature. That way they can't use it on anything else. As it's not your correct signature. Hope this is of some help to people.