They do not get any fee unless they raise a formal investigation. When they receive a complaint, they write to the bank and ask the bank for the file on that customers complaint, the bank then choose to settle rather than provide that file. At this point no formal investigation has begun and no charge is made.

Only if they launch a formal complaint. The banks normally settle prior to this hence they don't charge the bank anything.

I'm really not looking for an argument, I was just surprised to read the press release in light of some conversations I had last week with the FOS. I also found it interesting as I have read on here many times people telling posters not to bother using the FOS as they are a waste of time.

Indeed

The BBC article says he will be appealing the FOS, however I thought you were unable to use the FOS if you had previously taken court action.

But come on, admit it, you enjoy it. It must feel great to be a consumer champion and to be respected by those you are helping. Despite what many might think, we are not going to make an obscene amount of money out of this. You'd be surprised how difficult it has been setting this company up and managing it, we do work hard. I got a quote from our solicitors the other day, and they wanted £250 per client just to handle the court phase. We also have to factor in a high percentage of bad debt in to our fee also. As a result, I think our fee is pretty fair. I'm pretty honest about why I do this, to make money, but as I've said its very rewarding too. If you don't give people a good service and you rip them off, you're business won't do that well. I can honestly say, after 7 months of doing this we've not had a single dissatisfied customer.

Rolls eyes. Nope, its something that has taken your interest and in a way you have become a little addicted to the cause of fighting the banks. You do this because it makes you feel good, it makes you feel like you're in control and are some kind of moral champion. So get off your high horse Jesus. There's absolutely nothing wrong in helping people and making money out of it. You disagree with that and that's fine, just don't think that you are somehow morally superior.

In my experience, Natwest will come back to you with a full offer within 8 weeks.

The £15 is to cover the DPA fee so they are even making a profit on that which is a bit greedy considering they are going to take 25% at the end. Sounds like their marketing has been a little too effective and they can't cope with the demand.

Its also worth noting that you can always take the court route if you are not happy with the FOS service. I have it on good authority that the banks are settling within 3 weeks of a FOS complaint being made. The reason for this I'm told is that when the FOS make the initial approach to the bank, the bank have 3 weeks to hand over their file on the complaint to the FOS. Rather than doing this they are simply settling. If the FOS have to launch a full investigation the bank are charged for that investigation.

I'm getting sick of the BBC's reporting on this matter. In every story, they now refer to last weeks Lloyds case as though it has some impact on ongoing claims. It was one judge in one court!

Phone and ask for the e-mail address of the person dealing with your claim, who are your letters addressed from? I normally e-mail them and they get back to me within 48 hours.

Make a complaint against them at http://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk. They are not supposed to cold call like this and regulator is looking in to companies with these kinds of practices.

I think you will find that I have asked very few questions, and the ones I have were personal not business related. I may have asked one or two but for the amount of time I have been here, over a year I haven't really asked many questions at all. You also conveniently ignore the posts were I have shared my experience and been helpful. I'd love to be more helpful but with 2 businesses and a family there isn't much spare time. If I have a business related question, I ask my solicitor who charges me through the nose In all honesty Pen, I don't really care if you approve of what I do, I learnt a long time ago that you can't please all the people, all of the time. I have a great deal of respect for this site and its founders.

But thats not what the act says, it quite clearly states that you can't issue proceedings in yours or anyone elses name for gain, you can do it for free though. I appreciate your opinion on the matter. Are you a solicitor?

I don't think he is alleging champerty he is simply pointing out the relevant legislation in the Solicitors Act. The one that gives me the most trouble is this one "(a) act as a solicitor, or as such issue any writ or process, or commence, prosecute or defend any action, suit or other proceeding, in his own name or in the name of any other person, in any court of civil or criminal jurisdiction" The judge seems to be indicating that it is an offense for a non qualified person to fill in an N1 on behalf of a client for gain.

I think we have to remember that we are all fighting the banks and are on the same side. We are all stronger if we work together. Lets just remember that its the banks we are fighting and the more people that claim the better.

I don't remember asking for advice, could you point out the bit were I asked for any advice? I was simply sharing information with regards to Judge Cooke as I thought it was topical. But you're right, its terrible that some person has chosen of their own free will to use a company to get their money back. They should be forced to do it themselves or not at all.

Brilliant, they really are useless! I had a customer phone them the morning of their court case to see if they were going to settle, the guy wouldn't even go and check, he just said that if he hadn't had a letter they must be defending. We went to court and won. 2 days later the client received a letter offering settlement dated 10 days prior! The problem is, these people are used to chasing debts, not paying them and they behave accordingly.

I'm certain I saw Judge Cooke in a restaurant the other night, I very nearly went over and said hello Car2, you need to clarify with them who exactly will be representing you if your case is actually heard. WIll they be representing you as a civil representative or will they instruct solicitors? Did they prepare the N1 for you, or was it their solicitors?

I left the search field blank which then lists them all alphabetically.

It ok Anita, I'm big enough and old enough to take criticism and accept others points of view. I understand peoples concerns and respect their opinions, I hope they can do the same. I applaud anyone who reclaims their bank charges themselves and stands up to any injustice. However the reality is, no matter how much coverage this issue gets, there are a great many people who will never reclaim their charges if it wasn't for companies like mine. Companies like mine will spend money marketing our services, increasing exposure of the issue. Some of the people that see that marketing will end up here and do it themselves for free. Others will be happy to pay a fee so that they can watch The Apprentice instead of reading this site, writing letters, and launching court claims. Thats capitalism for you, as long as there is someone prepared to pay a fee for a service, there will always be people prepared to offer that service. This industry is in its infancy, and it will mature over time, just as this site has. Yes there will be cowboys, and that's why we welcome regulation. Yes its primarily about making money, but it is immensely satisfying to see the difference this money makes to the lives of our clients. Its easy to jump to conclusions and demonise the whole industry, however I for one intend for our company to act ethically and offer the best service we can to our clients.

Did you have to sign any court papers? If so did it mention their name anywhere on the form?

Bad debt is a serious problem, especially since many claimants are in debt to begin with, often their settlement gets eaten up by other debts leaving them struggling to pay us. We reclaimed £6.5k for a client 3 months ago who still hasn't paid us. People are a lot better at cashing cheques than writing them Of course the best solution is to get the banks to pay us directly, the only one to do so is Natwest.

I'm not disagreeing