CMC demanding payment advice please

[Fishpie]

a friend of mine is being bombarded by a claims management company, he has had repeated requests to sign a form giving them power to act for all/any ppi claims he may have, secondly he has been sent a bill for a ppi he settled direct with a bank and cannot recall signing anything to authorise the CMC to act for him.

 

I spoke to them on the phone for him and told them that unless a copy of the contract showing he had agreed to them to act for him was received he would not respond to any further communications.

 

he is now being threatened to be taken to court which is upsetting him as he is a pensioner, my question is can anyone point me to what letter would be best to sent to the CMC to request the copy of any agreement they may hold

 

many thanks

[mikeymack2002]

A simple letter stating he wants no further contact should suffice. Failing that a complaint to the relevant bodies will help too... Or ask CMC to provide the written agreement.. Bullies.

 

 

 

Get him to record any calls from now on...

 

If you want good advice start a thread for your friend in the relevant areas of CAG and you will soon be up to speed on his debts ok?

[Fishpie]

thank you will get one sent off

[mikeymack2002]

It looks like you friends needs our help maybe? If so ask him if he wants the help from the many CAG posters... It can only help him in the long run...

 

 

Secondly get proof of postage which is free from the RM keep it safe should you want to escalate this high.

[Peterbard]

Can we have the name of this company and are they registered ?

[Fishpie]

Harringtons Advisory Ltd

[dx100uk]

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/harrington-advisory-services

[dx100uk]

and read their letter properly

it does not say WILL do anything

 

 

all ifs/buts/might be's

[mikeymack2002]

No license. Then threatening Court I bet the FCA would love this account?

 

 

You should also be aware that if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.

[Peterbard]

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/harrington-advisory-services

 

We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation. Find out why to be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm and how to protect yourself from [problematic].

 

This firm is not authorised by us but has been targeting people in the UK:

[Peterbard]

Sorry too slow on the draw it seems.

[mikeymack2002]

Sorry DB nice to see you this side of the forums

[Fishpie]

very interesting thanks, my friend as received an invoice showing there fees, and now a letter saying court proceedings Ive attached copies

Harrington invoice letter.pdf

Harrington icourt.pdf

[Peterbard]

I would not contact them until I had been in contact with the FCA, the number is on the above link to the FCA website.

I am unsure about the 0161 number, according to the FCA the firm is registered in spain.

Perhaps someone should check their business registration on the companies house website.

Certainly do not pay them any money. Operating an ancillary consumer credit company is an offence and punishable by imprisonment on indictment and summarily by a fine. No agreements made with such company are enforceable.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Dodgeball
spel

[Fishpie]

Thank you will contact them tomorrow, I'll update post when I get there response

[Peterbard]

Good here i the number if you do not have it, please keep us updated.

 

Step 2: Report it

 

If you have been cold called and suspect it was a [problem], you can report it using our online forms, Investment [problem] form, and Share fraud form or by contacting our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.

[Fishpie]

Will do many thanks hopefully stop my friend from being bombarded via letter & phone

[renegadeimp]

edited

[Hortz]

A few comments on this thread.

 

Firstly,

Harrington's Advisory based in Bury is a claims management company authorised by the Ministry of Justice.

Not that it makes them any good or makes it worth using them,

but they are at least permitted to represent complainants in PPI complaints (see the MOJ regisyter at https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/details.aspx/29496/Harringtons_Advisory_Limited/?search=simple&business=harringtons+advisory&authID=&sector=-1&county=-1&status=-1).

 

They are also a UK incorporated entity and their incorporation is confirmed on the register held by Companies House

(see https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07933572).

 

Harringtons Advisory Services, based in Barcelona,

is a well known investment [problem] outfit whose activities have been going back at least ten years

( see http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1508926/Friends-swindled-out-of-163143000.html).

 

If the UK entity was anything to do with it,

the FCA would have had them shut down long ago for conducting unauthorised financial services activities

(they are not authorised by the FCA to carry out financial services business).

 

However, they are not.

Therefore, it is pointless speaking to the FCA about their conduct, they do not regulate them and are powerless to act.

 

The best suggestion is the first one,

write to them on your friend's behalf and ask for a copy of any authority signed by him to act on his behalf

(you may need a letter of authority signed by him to do this).

If there is no agreement then there is no debt.

 

 

However, just be aware that their letter insinuates that they have been made aware by the bank of the offer,

which would not normally happen unless they had produced signed authority to act on his behalf.

 

Even if the bank sent the offer directly to him, which nearly all of them do,

this does not absolve him of his responsibility to pay the CMC if indeed he has signed a contract.

 

Therefore, the copy request is the route you should pursue in the first instance as you need to find this out before you can do anything.

 

A simple letter stating he wants no further contact should suffice. Failing that a complaint to the relevant bodies will help too... Or ask CMC to provide the written agreement.. Bullies.

 

 

What "relevant bodies" exactly are you proposing that he complains to and about what?

 

 

I'm no fan of CMCs or their greedy and abrasive sales tactics and agree their credit control teams can be well out of line too.

 

 

However, if the OP's friend does indeed owe this CMC money then they are entitled to chase it.

 

 

Writing to say he wants no further contact is not going to suddenly stop them chasing it and is likely to result in them following through with their threat to serve a court summons

(I say likely as depending on the amounts involved they may just decide it's not worth bothering, but this is a risky thing to rely on).

 

As per my previous post, first port of call needs to be to establish whether he does in fact have a valid contract with them.

 

No license. Then threatening Court I bet the FCA would love this account?

 

You should also be aware that if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.

 

Different company. Also, the FOS and FSCS have nothing whatsoever to do with contracts between CMCs and consumers.

[dx100uk]

good spot hortz

[Fishpie]

Thank you for all your information ,

 

 

it's all a bit odd as he said the bank telephoned to say three companies asked for the ppi information and asked which one he was going to use,

which he told me he replied none of them,

 

 

have told him to request this information from the bank,

 

 

don't know if this would shed any light on his situation,

but will get him to send the letter to see if any authority has been given if so he will have to pay the fee

[Peterbard]

good spot hortz

 

Yes only they are not authorised by the cmc regulator either https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/search.aspx

 

Also it is odd given that the FCA have no interst tht they should print this on their page.

 

We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorizationn. Find out why to be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm and how to protect yourself from [problematic]

 

They are also not registered with the ICO. In addition if you look at companies house they have no discription of their function. I personally think the FCA would be very interested.

[Peterbard]

Regarding the contract, the legislation states that all CMC contracts must be commenced by a written contract.

 

http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/claims-management-companies-financial-services-complaints.pdf

 

Authorised CMCs that offer to help consumers make a

complaint must follow strict conduct rules. For example,

they must:

> not engage in unsolicited electronic marketing, faceto-face

‘cold calling’ or in any form of high-pressure

selling;

> where they give advice, the CMC must tell you about

ombudsman schemes or other official means of

obtaining compensation;

> give written information on how to pursue a

complaint and the costs involved before a contract is

agreed;

> allow a ‘cooling off’ period of at least 14 days;

> operate a consumer complaints scheme.

> agree a contract in writing, before they take any fees;

[Fishpie]

Thank you for the information,, will give my friend a letter to send to request a copy iof any agreement, will have to wait and see what happens.

 

Thank you to everyone fir or all your input

[Hortz]

Yes only they are not authorised by the cmc regulator either https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/search.aspx

 

Also it is odd given that the FCA have no interst tht they should print this on their page.

 

We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorizationn. Find out why to be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm and how to protect yourself from ****mers

 

They are also not registered with the ICO. In addition if you look at companies house they have no discription of their function. I personally think the FCA would be very interested.

 

They are. If you type Harringtons Advisory into the search field it will come up.

 

As regards what is stated on the FCA website, if a firm is providing, or trying to provide, investment services to UK residents then the FCA will be interested since the firm is supposed to be authorised by it to do so. However, as they are doing it by telephone from an office based in Spain there is not a right lot the FCA can do about it. However, the point remains that this is a different company. The FCA has no remit whatsoever over Harringtons Advisory the CMC.