Hi I am new to the CAG site and have looked around to see if I could find answers but haven't been able to find anything so any help or links to other threads would be fantastic. My second problem today is with Red Star Financial Management. After successfully claiming back my PPI through Blue Sky (who I’d recommend) they said they didn’t do Enforceability so I looked round for another firm and did all the checks with the CSC and law society then decided on Red Star as it was a “Free Legal Audit” and if the solicitors didn’t accept the case I would get a full refund which duped me into stupidly paying the £295 per agreement up front. Now as I had claimed my PPI I already had all my agreements in hand which I sent over in March expecting things to move quickly as I was told at the time of payment. I then spent 3 months trying to get an update and kept being told they were waiting on the agreements from the creditors, I told them they already had them to which I was told that procedure is that they had to request them themselves and this takes time so waited a while longer. I then got a text saying that the solicitors had sent me a letter with the outcome of the Audit. This never came and I kept getting fobbed off with “the solicitors are delaying things” eventually I got the letters from Red Star telling me my case would go no further as the case wasn’t strong enough “ok” I thought but where is my cheque as I was on the impression that I would only be charged if the case was accepted and these letters said that it hadn’t. I called Redstar and asked this and was told that the case was accepted, the solicitors has audited the case and gone to their insurance company who covers their losses if they lose and it was “Amber” which wasn’t deemed strong enough to pursue. I then argued this and was told that I would only get a refund if the case hadn’t fitted the criteria when REDSTAR staff audited the agreements and that Redstar hadn’t made any money out of this as they only get tail end commission. Personally this sounds wrong as they could say every agreement is deemed able to be claimed even knowing full well the solicitor will not take the case, that is even if they actually do have a solicitors and they do send them out. I would like advice on 2 things. Firstly I asked for all correspondence under the Data Protection act and all they have sent me is the forms I filled in, am I within my rights to ask for all correspondence between RedStar and the solicitors used (if they even exist) including their name and address and all letters relating to my case? Secondly I have an email from a Redstar employee saying that I would get a “Free Legal Audit” my question is to use this term would the person doing the audit have to have some kind of legal qualification? I may also have the conversation recorded through my work, would I be able to use this as evidence that I was led down the garden path by the salesman?

Hi I am new to the CAG site and have looked around to see if I could find answers but haven't been able to find anything so any help or links to other threads would be fantastic. I have problems being my Credit cards and their rates. I have never struggled to pay the minimum payments on time each month but I have also got no-where in 3 years since the rates shot up from the standard 15.9% to 29.9%. This occurred when my I went to move my current account from HSBC to Abbey and let them do the switchover, basically the whole process went as wrong as it could do and then some more. They cancelled all my DD's from HSBC and then didn't set them up to be paid from Abbey meaning nothing got paid leaving me in a mess which took a few months to sort out, the long and short of it was Abbey defaulted the account (again without any notice) leaving me with a wreaked Credit file and during this time both my card did a credit check and obviously saw this and used it as an excuse to hike me up to the maximum rates. I called both Barclaycard and HSBC to explain the situation I was in and that it wasn’t through my own actions and that I was appealing against the decision but neither were interested as they work from the credit files and I had missed payments (even though I had caught up on arrears within 3 month) in the past 12 months. After a long 2 year fight with Abbey eventually (only after going to the Ombudsmen) I got back all losses and they cleared up my Credit file bringing it back to 999 as it should be as I never miss a payment. Once it was cleared I again called both Barclaycard and HSBC and explained the situation that the mistake had been cleared from my file and if they did a check again they would see I was of the top score and could my APR rates be reduced to reflect this but both said the same thing that this wasn't possible. My question is what can I do to get back to a decent rate to give me a chance to pay these off before I die as I can't afford to pay any more off but am paying off £7K debt at £38 per month. I feel I am being punished still for a mistake that has been rectified. Due to both cards being near their limits and also having a loan I cannot get a 0% card as I have tried this route and don't know if I should apply for a normal card just to halve my rate, is their any companies that base their decision on your ability to pay month in month out not just on if you clear your balance? Is there a letter I can write to them or will it be worth getting a solicitor/ombudsmen/OFT involved?