I'm going to need to use a company to claim back.. Advice please!

[feefofum]

Hi All.

 

My sister (in Leeds) requested I help her claim back her charges, BUT I am in Bournemouth, AND she has sent me a HUGE pile of statements and I just do not have the time to go through them all.

 

I've suggested she use a company instead (she's unable to go through them herself, time commitments etc). All the companies I've looked at (from google) charge 25% + VAT of the amount reclaimed.

 

Does this site recommend any companies, or are there any companies that charge less?

 

I would LOVE to do this for her but really do not have time and do not want her to loose out (A quick look at her statements showed she'd due about 6K back from the past 6 years).

 

Any advice/help/anyone in Leeds can do this for her for a lesser fee? (or am I not allowed to ask that queston)?

 

Thanks all

[noclue]

I can understand you are busy but...

 

It won't take you more than 1 hour to tot up the charges and fill in the templates.

 

You sister needs you!

[PPMAN159]

I think that CAG takes a dim view of the companies that charge 25% and VAT and would not recomend anyone to use one.

 

The steps for recovery of the charges are clearly laid out on the site but I do understand that it is the time element that is the main consideration here.

 

If at all possible for you, take a coupe of minutes to view the threads that relate to your sisters bank and then you may feel that the task is not so complicated as first thought.

[feefofum]

Honestly it took me a day to go through a quarter of them!! (1 hour no clue??? - fancy doing them for her?) Now I have to go abroad for business, plus I'm in the middle of selling my late mothers house and aranging my own flat purchase. If I had enough hours in the day I'd use them for sleeping first. I seriously just DO NOT HAVE THE TIME!

 

I know it's relaitively simple once you know how (I successfully claimed back my boyfriends charges) but that also means I know how long it can take too! (and he had no where near as many charges). However I live with my bf so was easy to get him to sign letters, whereas it would also involve me writing letters etc then sending them to my sister to sign and post on etc (and she's in the middle of various family upheavels so I can see these letters being 'delayed' if it's left up to her to post them).

 

If I don;t do them, she won't do it either and it'll just be left till she missses the boat. Surely getting something back (albeit minus 25% + 17.5% VAT) is better than nothing?

 

I can see why this site takes a dim view of these companies, but for some ppl it may be this or nothing at all.

[PPMAN159]

Understand your situation and taking all of the above into consideration then maybe getting back £6000 less the charges is probably a better option than missing the boat.

 

A shame but as you say you do want to miss the boat.

 

Good luck whichever way you chose to go

[feefofum]

Just to add, what a shame this site doesn't do it for you, My sister (on my recommendation) would happily pay this site to reclaim the charges.

[PPMAN159]

Opps

 

I should have said 'do not want to miss the boat'

[noclue]

I can see you are a very busy person!

 

May be you should use a third party (I don't know any) I think I'd rather have a "no win no fee" conpany have 25% than the bank keeping 100%

[livelylad]

I strongly advise you to reclaim the charges yourself and not to use a company, I will help as much as I can should you require.

[PKea]

Honestly it took me a day to go through a quarter of them!! (1 hour no clue??? - fancy doing them for her?) Now I have to go abroad for business, plus I'm in the middle of selling my late mothers house and aranging my own flat purchase. If I had enough hours in the day I'd use them for sleeping first. I seriously just DO NOT HAVE THE TIME!

 

I know it's relaitively simple once you know how (I successfully claimed back my boyfriends charges) but that also means I know how long it can take too! (and he had no where near as many charges). However I live with my bf so was easy to get him to sign letters, whereas it would also involve me writing letters etc then sending them to my sister to sign and post on etc (and she's in the middle of various family upheavels so I can see these letters being 'delayed' if it's left up to her to post them).

 

If I don;t do them, she won't do it either and it'll just be left till she missses the boat. Surely getting something back (albeit minus 25% + 17.5% VAT) is better than nothing?

 

I can see why this site takes a dim view of these companies, but for some ppl it may be this or nothing at all.

 

TO be blunt, if she cant be bothered to help herself, why should you do

all her donkey work. I appreciate that she may have other things going on, but so do we all.

 

I have helped friends, but i dont do it for them, i give them a copy of the template and tell them to write it out and send to the companies.

 

She doesn't have to do them instantly, spend 15 mins a night adding a fews sheets up til shes done them all.

[feefofum]

ARGHHH, Maybe I should try another tack, anyone know how to successfully clone me, or add a few more hours into my day, and another couple of days into my week? THEN I could do this for her.

 

Lively-lad, thank you for your offer of help, can I send the statements to you then to add up the totals etc (along with my 1/4 done excel spreadsheet)?

[Guest ian cognito]

There are a lot more issues here than plucking a name off google, one such 'company' was on Watchdog last week who had failed to pay the amount due to the claimant even after a successful claim.

[feefofum]

PKEA, .. cos she's my sister and I have more respect for my family!

 

In the last year.. Our mother died, my sister 'depended' on my mother much more than I. My sister finally obtained a divorce after 4 years of acrimonious wrangling from a violent partner. She is in the middle of buying her own house (after spending past 4 years sleeping in spare rooms of friends with her children). She has just got a new full time job, despite having two children aged 10 and 13, She has just about managed to ween herself off anti-depressants, but is nowhere near back to being mentally well.

 

Yes we all have our sob stories, and no I'm not going for the sympathy vote, but now can you see why I want to help my sister so much, and why it's better off that she at least gets 'some' of her charges back even if it means a company gets to keep a commission? (As opposed to teh bank keeping all the charges)?

[feefofum]

Really Ian? Which company was this? ... Is this site completely AGAINST recommendations? (i.e will I have to trawl through other sites for recomendations, if so, any body know any other good forums please)?

[PKea]

fee,

 

Sorry if i came across as rude i didn't mean to and I apoligise if i upset you.

My mother did everthing for my grandma, shopping, running round etc,

my aunts and uncles didn't bother, but when my gran died they all want to have this and that, but leaving my mum to sort everything out.

 

Anyway, back to the subject. Have a look at his thread, as this person is using a company and she has to do a lot of dealing withthe company.

You can't just sit back and leave them to it. In this case the company didnt know exactley waht they were doing as well.

Just a word of warning thats all

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/74521-car2-hsbc-lloyds.html

[feefofum]

Thank you PKEA, very useful thread indeed (no offence taken btw). Anyone have anymore links to threads like this please?

 

At the end of hte day it looks like using a company is our only option (unless any other suggestions)? SO my focus now is to look at WHICh company has the best success rate/less hassle/etc etc.

[ladybird17]

I'm afraid these firms who do it for you don't carry much of a reputation along with them, so are not looked upon in a good light by pretty much everyone.

Whilst I, and I'm sure others, will have sympathy and indeed, some empathy, with yours & your sister's situations, there are many, many people on here whose lives for one reason or another have been completely turned upside down and are also dealing with traumatic and distressing circumstances. So all I can say that this is a self-help site, and has turned around the lives of many people who felt helpless in the face of great adversity, and now have the confidence, knowledge & skills to deal with things they thought they would never be able to do. It depends how much you really want something in order to go through the process to get it. 6 years statements - 12 statements per year is 72 statements, even if it took 3 mns per statement, and then 2 hours to do a spreadsheet and another half an hour to type a letter that's only about 6 hours - tops - - over 2 - 3 weeks? Not really that bad is it?

[lucid]

Hi feefofum,

 

This site is completely against recommending such companies - as far as I know anyway. Whilst I can see your view of "it's better than nothing" being appealing to you and your sister I am going to echo PKea word of warning. Some of these companies seem to be set up as a completely easy way to make money and they don't always know what they're doing either. They charge 25% (maybe less) of your claim which can be a very large amount of your money and for doing what? Totalling up the charges, sending 2 letters, and then filing a court claim. The service they provide is really not worth the amount they take for it. I appreciate that your sister and yourself are very busy but as PKea said earlier, you could spend small amounts of time each evening gradually doing it. There's no time limit to getting the claim prepared etc.

 

Good luck. Lucid

[PKea]

There is no mad rush to get it done, The process can take 6 months depending on courts, replies etc.

If i was you, just do bits when you can.

I think the 6 year limit has been proved not to be an issue anymore, and anyway if it was it would probably be cheaper to lose 6 months charges than to give someone 25% (plus in some cases VAT on the claim as well).

 

Paul

[PKea]

It also gives you quite a boost when you win and makes you feel empowered (bit OTT but couldn't think of a another word lol)

 

If you sister does this for herself, whether it takes her a month to do her statements, the feeling at the end when you win is worth it

[feefofum]

Pkea, hmm, having already done this for my boyfriend, I agree the feeling when you win is empowering, however the nerves and nailbiting of getting 'legal-speak' letters back from the banks etc, then having to file a court claim with everyone on this site emphasising it's NOT an easy option and you have to be prepared to go to court and know your case inside out.. that bit is nerve racking as hell!! yes I've done it once, and could do it again IF I HAD MORE HOURS IN MY DAY.

 

There's no way my sister will be able to sit down and do this herself, (I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person with some things, but I found it difficult with bf's stuff, I had to triple check ALL my calculations as I made mistakes just by having to look at reams and reams of figures for any length of time). I'm still a believer that it's better for her to at least get some of her charges back, rather than none at all.

 

And please don't think I'm going for the sympathy vote ladybird. Both my sister and I know we're very very lucky to have each other, and no matter what ever life throws at us, there's always someone worse off. Compared to some we're in very enviable positions indeed and we're very aware of that. Well done to everyone who does claim bank charges in the face of other adversity's!! (Anyone worked out how to clone oneself yet)?

[ladybird17]

Is there not anyone else in your family who could help her out? Or a friend? I have difficulty counting beyond 20 but a little patience and I manage to get around it all. I don't think you'll get anyone on here to actively recommend using a 3rd party!

[Bookworm]

Is this site completely AGAINST recommendations? (i.e will I have to trawl through other sites for recomendations, if so, any body know any other good forums please)?

 

 

Yes, completely.

 

Not only will we not recommend anyone, but if we find any link or recommendation being listed, the moderating team will delete them as fast as they find them.

[lucid]

Pkea, hmm, having already done this for my boyfriend, I agree the feeling when you win is empowering, however the nerves and nailbiting of getting 'legal-speak' letters back from the banks etc, then having to file a court claim with everyone on this site emphasising it's NOT an easy option and you have to be prepared to go to court and know your case inside out.. that bit is nerve racking as hell!! yes I've done it once, and could do it again IF I HAD MORE HOURS IN MY DAY.

 

Feefofum,

 

From my experience the majority of these "companies" rely heavily on the bank settling before the court hearing - they are probably even less prepared to attend court than most of the users on here. I honestly think they are a bad way to go. They are not anymore trained or qualified to take on legal issues than you are. This may seem like a major generalisation but I have come across three members on here so far who are such companies and I haven't been impressed with any of them, and I certainly wouldn't want them handling my claims. And the fact that they charge so much money when they aren't experts really angers me.

 

Like I said before, even if your time is very limited just take it on very slowly. You've already got through one claim so you know what you have to do at each stage, so that will get you through it a little quicker now you know your way around. I think the most time consuming parts are the initial totalling up of charges and then preparing the court claim. The rest isn't too taxing, and you will still get the same support on here from everybody else.

 

Lucid

[dandylion]

I can sympathise with your sister as I have just been through a seperation myself, but actually taking control of the situation and doing it myself gave me great confidence and the Halifax paid up without it getting to court. It does take time but as everyone says there is no rush if she does a bit at a time she will get through it. Once the leg work of working through the statements is done the rest is quite straight forward, encourage her to have ago.

 

Dandylion