Monday, 15 October 2012

PPI 'win' cost me £1,090 in interest on my credit card

Redress Claims deducted £3,190 for £195 win … then took another £139

I received a call from Redress Claims in May last year, offering to win me compensation for mis-sold payment protection insurance. They told me they operated on a no-win, no-fee basis. Their terms and conditions said they would charge a fee no higher than £495. But when my credit card statement arrived they had deducted £3,190. As a result, I accrued £1,090 interest on the card, the payment method they insisted on.

DT, Ware, Herts

You've misread their terms and conditions; they charge up to £495 for each credit check and then expect 25% of any compensation you receive, although it claimed 100% of one £36 award. What the company does to earn these huge sums for claims people can make themselves for free is a mystery and will remain so because Redress Claims phone lines no longer accept incoming calls due to "high demand" and when my email is finally answered by a third-party business management advisory company, Scott Roberts LLP, that question remains unanswered . But Redress Claims does very well out of its business for you tell me it won for you a total of £195 in compensation, £139 of which it deducted for itself. This is in spite of its own terms and conditions which promise not to pursue claims where the likely compensation would be worth less than the fee. Roberts merely tells me that its client has suddenly discovered, 17 months on, that you were not eligible to make several of the claims for which you've presumably paid (it claims you failed to return some paperwork) and it will refund you all but the cost of your claim for missold mortgage PPI. It doesn't specify how much this will be. Redress Claims, along with similar firms, is licensed by the Ministry of Justice which, in response to previous complaints, has imposed conditions, including an obligation to issue an invoice and receipt when any money is debited from a customer. You say you received neither. Redress Claims is under investigation by the authorities and if malpractice is discovered, the outcome can be new conditions governing its trading, temporary suspension or withdrawal of its licence. In the meantime, you could claim for the £3,000 against your card issuer which is held jointly liable for disputed transactions under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Mark King is away. If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include an address and phone number.


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