Client Connection /Cento

[herodog]

I am asking for help with a problem a friend of mine with no access to a computer is having with Client Connection.

 

I have the outline and will probably be able to obtain more information if needed.

 

She was telephoned in March 2010, by a company called Cento who told her that they would be able to claim back PPI etc from Credit Cards and Loans that she had.

 

She had 4 Credit cards and 1 large overdraft that she was juggling with due to the fact that ther husband could not work due to ill health.

 

They advised her that if she paid them £250.00 the would get her at least £3000 back

- if they did not achieve this then they would refund her the money.

 

She borrowed the £250.00 and sent it to them.

 

They also asked her for small payments for administration costs - 2 of £10.00 and 4 of £1.00.

 

They wrote to her a couple of times over the next year stating that they had claimed small amounts but she never received a penny

the monies were just taken off of the balance of her Credit cards.

 

When she eventually told me about this in 2011 things had taken a nasty turn with her receiving daily calls and letters from Client Connection

and a company called Ashworth Law stating that she owes them( CC Ltd )money.

 

I looked at her paperwork and the thing that stood out is that on the agreement

they are saying she signed the signature is that which she used when she took out the Credit Cards

not the one she had been using since she remarried 4 years previously to her contact with CC Ltd.

I wrote a letter to Ashworth Law for her pointing this out, but no reply.

 

Now she has received County Court Claim forms for each of the 4 Credit Cards.

 

I wrote to all of the Credit card suppliers requesting CCA's none have been supplied.

How can this be dealt with.

 

The other issue is with her Santander Bank Overdraft - it is £5000 and is all made up of bank charges,

 

Hope you can offer some advice - I can get more info if needed.

[ims21]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

I've moved your thread to Legal Issues since court papers have been received.

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available.

[dx100uk]

dump or ignore the reclaims company - end of.

 

now the bad thing here is the CCJ's

 

did she get the claim forms sent to her and she has just ignored them

or

she knew nothing about them?

 

and how old are they please?

 

 

 

dx

[herodog]

Hi

I have been away and she called me to say she had these yesterday they are dated the 6th March and have to responded to within 14 days. What I am struggling to understand and she doesn't seem to know the answer to is why she is receiving invoices from them when they are supposed to be claiming money back for her.

[herodog]

I have just reread what I wrote, the 4 separate Claim Forms list the Claimant as Client Connection. This is a claim for each of the accounts they were going to obtain the refunds from. Sorry to have misled but I have just taken a whole chunk of paperwork from her and trying to sort it out.

[dx100uk]

sorry so what are the claim forms about?

 

dx

[herodog]

I don't have the invoices

- but will try to get more paperwork from her today

- there is a letter from CCL stating that the invoices are for their commissions even though she never received a penny.

 

It seems she has been completely missold this product

- she was led to believe in the initial contact telephone call with them that she was paying them the fee of £250.00 to get her some of her money back

- I have seen the paperwork they sent her after the initial call,

 

it states that she would be charged 30%

- but she has explained to me that she thought (was led to believe) that this would be deducted from any money they obtained for her - i.e. the £3000

they stated they would be able to get back for her.

 

She never received a penny and in her dire situation could not afford to pay anybody.

 

Should I bide for time on this and reply to the court that we are defending the whole claim -

 

Another point

- when I wrote to Ashworth Law on her behalf asking for a copy of the signed agreement

- they returned this but the signature is not one she had used for many years

- it is the name she was known by at the time she took out her Credit cards.

 

So surely they should not have been writing to her in one name but accepting a signature in another name.

 

Thank you for any help you can offer - she is a good person but in a real pickle

[asokn]

It's not for the company to accept or reject a signature, if that's how your friend signed her name then that was her valid signature. Of course, if you're suggesting that she didn't sign that way then that is another matter entirely.

 

You should check the terms and conditions very carefully to find out if the charge was supposed to be a commission taken from any money recovered, as your friend believes, or calculated in some other way.

[herodog]

In the T'sandC's it states the following :

 

I/We understand that we will be charged a Service Charge Fee of 30% plus VAT on compensation on all Successful Claims.

 

For Example on a successful claim of £1000, the Service Charge would be £300+vat=£345 vat rate at this time) leaving the client £655.00 -

 

This suggests to me that they will be deducting it at source - not invoicing her

 

- there are a few letters where they state they have been able to claim small amounts but she never received anything

 

- the money was deducted the by the Card Companies from the outstanding balance.

 

Regarding the signature

 

= she says she did sign a form but not in the name on the form they have presented her with.

 

I think that is a rocky road - perhaps it is better to concentrate on the county Court papers

[asokn]

Do the t&cs define "successful claims"?

 

If your friend received letters saying they had been able to recover her money why did she not ask for it or chase it up?

 

EDIT: I absolutely agree that the signature point is not worth exploring.

[herodog]

No - I can't see their definition of successful claim. When she received notification of small refunds initially she spoke to them and asked why she was not receiving any money - they stated that it was being used to pay off some of the balances. I have just obtained some more paperwork from her - she was apparently in an arrangement with a company called Byrom Keeley and she was paying them £150.00 p.m. which they were spreading amongst 4 companies. The caller from Cento told her to stop paying this as they would get all of her money back ! I also have now two notifications from Lifestyle stating that she has two more small settlements offered - she has not signed the authorities for these because as she says she was getting deeper in to debt !

[asokn]

I don't understand the final sentence above; if a company was instructed to recover money and two settlements were offered surely your friend would have wanted to accept them to *reduce* her indebtedness.

 

Also, check the t&cs to see if the company were entitled to offset the sums recovered against the balances on these debts. In any event your friend has benefited from the work done by the company as her debts are now reduced. This is the same as if the money had been paid directly to her and then she pays off part of the balance. Also, the above extract from the t&cs doesn't say the fee will be taken at source although it is somewhat implied.

 

Unfortunately it is starting to look as though the company did as they were asked in claiming money on your friends' behalf and now your friend is refusing to pay.

[asokn]

Having reread the post, the t&cs do say "leaving the client" which suggests a deduction at source.

[herodog]

But is 'suggestion' a good defence - I don'y know why she never accepted these other offers - all she would say today is that while she was with Byrom Keeley the balances were being reduced but on Cento's adbvisce she stopped paying them - she felt that every time she won a small settlement that it was costing her more money which she didn't have. The contentious part in all this is that in the initial call from Cento - she was told that they would get her £3000 'back' all for a one off fee, or receive a total refund - this is not it transpires how it happened. When she contacted Centro and repeated what the caller had said of course he had left the Company and she had not recorded the conversation.

[asokn]

But is 'suggestion' a good defence

 

The choice, as they say, is yours. I don't do what many will and tell you what you should do. At the end of the day it is your friend's choice and no one on this forum will be there to pick up the pieces if the legal process goes wrong for your friend.

 

I have tried to give you a few ideas and avenues based on the t&cs but I won't give advice because I don't think it's fair.

[Old Cogger]

Ashworth Law name change to : - Fortius Legal.

 

Debt collection Solicitors is the trading style now.

[AndyOrch]

How is this proceeding Herodog?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[herodog]

Hi

 

We entered a defence at Northampton |County Court - Cento never responded to it - so my friend called to ask what was happening and they told her to just forget about it now. So all good news.

[dx100uk]

did you get costs?

 

dx