Peoples Loans/Future Mortgages/EGG Loan - PPI reclaim - used a solicitor - all gone to the FOS - now Too Late?!!

[Bev01]

Hi, I'm new here  I'd be extremely grateful if anyone could point me in the right direction.

 

To cut a long story short, I contacted a solicitor via his website which stated "Go direct to solicitors and cut out the middle man: Win = pay nothing; Lose = pay nothing".

 

I referred two cases to him:

An Egg Loan

Peoples Loan

 

The People's Loans case concerned a missold PPI worth approx. £12,000 - but the solicitor told me he would not progress this case unless I paid him up front, which I could not afford to do. I asked him on several occasions to return the paperwork I had sent him, as I was running out of time to pursue this case, but he refused saying that he wanted to protect his 'lien' on this claim. I am now out of date to pursue this claim.

 

With regard to the Egg Loan, I told the solicitor that I had already referred the case to the Ombudsman regarding a missold PPI and foolishly asked for advice re 'unenforceability' of the loan - because his website stated that he had won a lot of cases in this respect.

 

There are several discrepancies regarding the handling of my case:

 

1. I submitted my complaint form to the FOS on 03/04/08.

2. I contacted the solicitor on 05/02/09.

3. The PPI was returned directly to my loan account on 12/03/09.

4. The solicitor submitted a complaint form with a 'forged' signature to the Ombudsman on 11/08/09.

5. The solicitor sent me an invoice on 23/07/09 asking for 25% of the sum returned to my loan account.

6. The solicitor has written to me on 11/08/10, 02/10/10, 10/01/11 & 07/02/11 asking me to sign the Ombudsman complaint form, but on each occasion I refused and asked why he wanted me to sign the form. He just responds threatening enforcement action if I refuse to sign the form.

7. The FOS contacted me in October 2010 because the signature on the Ombudsman complaint form submitted by the solicitor did not resemble my signature. I now have a copy of the form and the signature on the form submitted to the Ombudsman by the solicitor is not mine.

 

The solicitor is threatening to take enforcement action unless I settle his costs within the next seven days. In fact, his involvement in the case has just lost me money - I can no longer pursue the claim against People's Loans and the solicitor is demanding payment too.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on how to deal with this situation? Do I contact the Legal Ombudsman? Or should I contact the Solicitors Regulatory authority? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

[BankFodder]

welcome to the forum.

 

Are firstly you should start two threads here because there are two stories. It will make it easier for people to follow the development and easier for them to help you. Find your way to the appropriate sub forums and post there.

 

You can recover PPI on your own. It is quite easy although it can take some time. You don't need the help of a solicitor. I don't understand why you think that claiming PPI on the Peoples Loan is out of time. Please explain. I can't imagine at all that is out of time. I don't expect that the issue will raise its head. £12,000 is quite a large sum of money and so there will be quite hefty interest payment on that as well.

 

I think you should post the details of the People's loan in a new thread elsewhere on the forum. Post the details of the egg problem in its own thread as well. Then we can start to advise you and you can begin claiming them. I really don't understand why you bother going to solicitors and to the ombudsman. It just involves expense and delay.

 

I suppose that you had better start a separate thread for the problem with your solicitor as well.

 

I'm going to close this thread and you can get going on each story separately

[Bev01]

Hi, I’m new here & would be extremely grateful for some advice. To cut a long story short, I contacted a solicitor via his website which stated "Go direct to solicitors and cut out the middle man: Win = pay nothing; Lose = pay nothing".

I have an Egg loan & I told the solicitor that I had already referred the case to the Ombudsman regarding a missold PP,I and foolishly asked for advice re 'unenforceability' of the loan - because his website stated that he had won a lot of cases in this respect.

There are several discrepancies regarding the handling of my case:

1. I submitted my complaint form to the FOS on 03/04/08.

2. I contacted the solicitor on 05/02/09.

3. The PPI was returned directly to my loan account on 12/03/09.

4. The solicitor submitted a complaint form with a 'forged' signature to the Ombudsman on 11/08/09.

5. The solicitor sent me an invoice on 23/07/09 asking for 25% of the sum returned to my loan account.

6. The solicitor has written to me on 11/08/10, 02/10/10, 10/01/11 & 07/02/11 asking me to sign the Ombudsman complaint form, but on each occasion I refused and asked why he wanted me to sign the form. He just responds threatening enforcement action if I refuse to sign the form.

7. The FOS contacted me in October 2010 because the signature on the Ombudsman complaint form submitted by the solicitor did not resemble my signature. I now have a copy of the form and the signature on the form submitted to the Ombudsman by the solicitor is not mine.

The solicitor is threatening to take enforcement action unless I settle his costs within the next seven days.

 

Can anyone give me some advice on how to deal with this situation? Do I contact the Legal Ombudsman? Or should I contact the Solicitors Regulatory authority? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

[Bev01]

Hi, I'm new here and would be extremely grateful for any advice that can be given.

 

On 08/01/08 I referred a case regarding a missold PPI by Peoples Loans / Future Mortgages to the FOS. The Ombudsman had the information for seven and a half months before acting in the September of 2008. In the meantime Peoples Loans applied for a CVA, and the Ombudsman then advised us that there was nothing they could do because of the CVA.

 

I then referred the case to a solicitor, who advertised on his website that he operated on a 'no win no fee' basis. He responded by stating that I should either refer the case to the Ombudsman (which I had already done!!) or take court proceedings which could not be done under the Conditional Fee Agreement. I could not afford to take this action with the solicitor in question. The solicitor told me that if I wanted to take action I would need to do this within 6 years from the date of the contract (which was 2002). I then wrote to the solicitor on three separate occasions asking for my papers back, but he refused saying he wished to protect his 'lien'.

 

I cannot remember the cost of the PPI - and all my paperwork is with the solicitor - but it is in the thousands. Can anything be done?

[spamheed]

Do you have any documentary evidence or screen shot confirming his claims re: Pay nothing? if not, you should try to get them.

 

Were you given any sort of case management agreement or document laying out his terms and conditions> if so did they stipulate 25% of any amounts recovered

 

I would be inclined to let him litigate, he has forged your signature on a legal document and as such has acted unlawfully, anything he did thereafter would be IMO tainted

if he is also making claims for monies that he is clearly not entitled to (as per his adverts) then he is pretty much cooked and basted.

[BankFodder]

in respect of PPI, the solicitors advice is incorrect. If you have been mis-sold PPI then you will be seeking to reclaim money which has been paid under a mistake. The limitation period for money paid under a mistake is six years from the date on which you discovered the mistake – or on which you could reasonably have done so. So the question is when did you discover the mistake? In other words, when did you start to appreciate that the PPI had been mis-sold? The six years begins from then.

 

I'm afraid that too many solicitors – especially on conditional fee agreements – really are just out to make a quick buck and they don't seem to know their trade very well.

 

I really can't understand why you went to a solicitor at all. This is something that you can do yourself perfectly easily as long as you are somebody who is prepared to keeping control of their paperwork.

I have also no real idea why you went to the financial ombudsman because the FOS is limp wristed and takes a long time and also fails to award realistic settlements. Also I don't understand why having already been knocked back by the FOS, your solicitor then went on to make a complaint to the FOS. Please will you explain more about this. A solicitor who simply prepares a file and then sends after the FOS is really not doing his job very well. The FOS system is not really intended for that. The FOS system is intended for direct approach by ordinary people who want to complain.

 

I'm quite sure that you will have difficulty getting the file back from your solicitor. So I think that there are a number of things to do.

 

In respect of the PPI, I think that you need to contact all the parties involved in it – and this means the insurer, the lender etc and send them an SAR so that you can accumulate all of the information that you need in order to build up a complete picture of your position.

 

Once you have sent the SAR's and you understand exactly what your position is and how much money your are owed then you should come back here for further advice about how to get your money back.

 

If I understand things correctly, the FOS has got all the details of your claim as well. Send an SAR to the FOS and get all the details from them. That may save you a lot of time elsewhere.

 

The only difficulty will be if you tell us here that you appreciated that the PPI had been mis-sold before 2005 – beyond six years.

 

By the way, I am assuming that the PPI really was mis-sold. Maybe you would like to explain in what way it was mis-sold and what evidence do you have of the mis-selling.

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you make sure that you have a complete file of everything that has happened.when you say that the FOS contacted you, does this mean that they contact you in writing or on the telephone? The FOS do far too much work on the telephone and of course because no one recalls their calls, it is not possible later on to hold what they say against them.

 

You need to get all the FOS information that you can. In this case you are particularly interested in the way that the FOS complaint was made and the fact that your signature was not used. Also you need to go to the website and make sure that you get full printouts of all the advertising for the service that you saw and to which you responded.

 

Sort this out into a properly ordered file and then send a formal letter of complaint to the legal ombudsman. Look them up on Google. You will find out where they are. I'm not sure whether you are also allowed to make a complaint to the SRA – check that up on the SRA website and if you are allowed to make a simultaneous complaint to them, do so. However the most important thing to do is to assemble all your information on paper so that you have got a full and complete and detailed file.

 

Send off the complaints as quickly as possible. Include any correspondence you have received from your solicitor as well. I hope it goes without saying that you should only be sending copies in the should keep the original file for yourself.

 

Then you can write your solicitor and telling exactly what you have done and that you reject his demands for money. Make it clear to him that you have evidence that he forged your signature on the FOS form and also that he has given you incorrect advice about the limitation period relating to PPI – which we have already discussed on the PPI forum.

 

Tell him that you want your file backand that if he continues to delay or if he refuses then you will send copies of his further correspondence to the legal ombudsman and the SRA as well.

 

Incidentally, you should also make a complaint to the Ministry of justice. They are interested in this kind of thing. Find them on the Internet as well.

 

As I have said elsewhere, begin your PPI complaints again. This time I suggest that you do it on your own. You will find it just as effective, much more satisfying, and when you finally get your money – it's all yours to keep.

[dirkuberpower]

According to fsa's disp guidance. Its 6 years from the time of sale. 3 years from knowing there is something wrong, which ever is the longest.

 

Sorry if this relates to something else.

[Bev01]

Hi - thank you for responding so promptly. I discovered the mistake in January 2008, which was when I complained to the Ombudsman. In hindsight, I don't know why I approached a solicitor - it was probably because I thought they had the expertise to deal with my case.

 

I received two letters from the solicitor - one dated 24th March 2009 and the other 14th April 2009. In the first letter, I quote "After reviewing the file and documentation and speaking to you we consider that due to the difficulty in proving your claim, considering that the broker has now filed a CVA meaning that in order to succeed in your claim we will need to establish an agency link between the broker and the lender and/or insurer. for commercial reasons we can no longer proceed with your claim under the Conditional Fee Agreement. As such, we propose to suspend the Conditional Fee Agreement after which we will continue to investigate the possibility of proceeding with your claim against either the lender and/or insurer for a fixed fee of £500 plus VAT."

 

In the second letter, I quote "You may wish to consider the Ombudsman route set out below. You may following a denial of your claim continue a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman who may decide in your favour. You can do this yourself, it is a free service. If you require us to lodge a complaint we will do this on your behalf at a fixed fee of £200 plus VAT."

 

The final decision letter from Future Mortgages was sent on 20th February 2009.

 

All the paperwork was sent to the solicitor - including the original loan agreement and the decision of the Ombudsman - and I agree, it does not look as though the solicitor is going to return this. As far as I can recall, the reason I thought the PPI had been missold was due to being self employed - but I cannot be sure as it was some time ago now and I don't really remember.

 

Do you think I should pursue the PPI and send SAR forms to the relevant people?

[Bev01]

Hi - thank you so much for your advice. I have kept a file, and have spoken to the FOS on the telephone and have a letter from them. In their letter they state "the signature on the complaint form did not match with your signature that we already held on file" and they sent me a copy of the complaint form. The FOS also said that they had spoken to the solicitor concerned and was informed "that they would obtain a copy of your signature". Obviously, they have been unable to do this as I would not sign the form they kept sending me. They also stated in their letter that the complaint submitted by the solicitor was "in effect a duplicate and as we have not received an acceptable copy of your signature, as discussed, I have removed them as your representative".

 

I looked at the solicitor's website today and it has changed. I do, however, have a copy of an email I sent to the solicitor with the quote from his website. I also have a 'No Win No Fee Agreement' which I presumably signed. Under the section 'Paying Us' it states "If you win your claim, you pay our basic charges, our disbursements and a success fee. You are entitled to seek recovery from your opponent of part or all of our basic charges, our disbursements, a success fee and insurance premium..."

 

The case does get very confusing. On 06/04/09 I received an email from the solicitor attaching an letter from Egg agreeing a refund. In the email the solicitor told me I had two options:

1. Accept the PPI offer, in which case I could not have the loan declared unenforceable.

2. Reject the PPI offer, with a number of conditions relating to how I would have to pay the solicitor.

I emailed back to the solicitor the same day, asking for advice as I was confused over the "no win no fee" promise. On 09/04/09 the solicitor replied to my email stating that when claims are over £5k he could recover his costs from me if the claim was successful, He also told me that Egg had already paid out the PPI without giving me the chance to either accept or reject the offer. In fact, Egg had refunded the money directly to my loan account on 12/03/09!

 

I understand from the Legal Ombudsman website that I have to complain to the solicitor first. If so, how much information should I give away to the solicitor as he is not aware that I know my signature has been forged? With regard to complaining to SAR, what category would it fall under 'Fraud' or 'Suspected Dishonesty'?

 

Any further advice you may have to offer would be appreciated.

[debbbbsy]

Is he part of a well establishe firm of solicitors or is he some cowboy working on his own ?

 

Have you checked to see if he is a fully qualified solicitor ?

 

I looked at the solicitor's website today and it has changed

All seems a bit dodgy.

[Bev01]

He is part of a well established firm of solicitors. I think he is one of the senior partners. The firm of solicitors is mentioned on the website 'Solicitors from Hell'.

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.