Cartel Client Review, the Claims Management Firm, based in Manchester has had its licenses suspended by the Ministry of Justice. The PPI Claims Company had charged its clients up to £495 per claim. In turn, the claim was sent to CCLS (Consumer Credit Litigation Services Ltd) a Legal firm regulated by the SRA (Solicitors regulation Authority) for processing.
The SRA closed down CCLS last week following ‘serious concerns’ regarding clients cases as well as to secure any funds paid by CCLS clients. It appears as if the processing was not happening as fast as the sales teams were bringing in the work. The business model was also dealt a blow by the fact that several “˜test cases’ went against the “˜debt write-off’ business model that so many companies are trying to focus on.
I would urge anyone who is thinking of ‘writing off debt’ by paying a Claims Management Company an upfront fee to think again. DO NOT PAY ANY UPFRONT FEES! All things that look to good to be true, 99.999% of the time are, this time is not different. You have more chance of getting out of debt, by putting the money you would have paid the CMC on the 3.30 at Chepstow.
Please read about this type of arrangement at Martin Lewis’ site and make your own decisions. If you are in debt, seek the services of a debt related charity or a good debt management company that charges low fees. Alternatively, you can contact your creditors and make affordable repayments every month.
i-Smart Consumer Services has noted that some of their PPI Claims are in fact taking people out of debt to the tune of up to 70%! A lot of interest and charges are applied on debts (that should have never been a debt in the first place – i.e. mis-sold PPI and unfair charges) This additional credit can be enough to push you over the edge and you may start to default. Please remember that any PPI Claims you may have, if you are in debt, would come off the arrears that you have with the company.
We wait for the FSA update on their PPI redress programme for PPI Claims. It is clear that they have made concessions and these are now back in the arms of the banks highly paid legal teams, reducing the banks liabilities at every level, whilst failing miserably to take in to consideration any ethics or the feelings of their customers. It will be interesting to see how we are hoodwinked this time. How do we bridge this huge gap between the ultimate capitalists causing havoc with lives for the lucky few, versus the stupid British Airways Strike at the hands of the Unite Leaders at present? The contrast is huge and I am predicting a summer of discontent. We will see unemployment rise, strikers become more active and Trade Unionists doing their bits. I would love to see the Unite Union take on the banks. Maybe we should switch the FSA with the Unite Union. This Country is so out of Equilibrium, that I am beginning to lose all sense of reality!
Anyway, my job is to help people to reclaim mis-sold PPI. I am sure Willie Walsh would swap me at the moment, but I am afraid I would have to decline if he did. I would shut down BA and make all these people redundant, then they can find a new job, one in which they can agree their terms upfront and pay. This, I am sure, would help them in their struggle for success. Sometimes decisions have to be made for people, but if BA goes bust, then they made the decision themselves. Me, I prefer Virgin Atlantic anyway – free toothpaste and interactive TVs in the back of the seats, that clinches it for me.