"No Win No Fee" Recovery Companies - a good idea?

[JonCris]

Issue of legal proceedings

[GaryH]

Personally I think it stinks. Its the ambulance chaser bigade set up overnight to make a quick few quid. None of them are legal professionals or solicitors - they could only act as lay representitives if a case went to court. In fact most of these companies probably get their information from here anyway!

 

Anyone thinking about employing one of these firms should think long and hard about who they would be giving their bank details to. I know I would'nt risk it. Plus, they won't do anything that you can't do yourself easily enough.

 

I also totally disagree with an earlier post which commented on these firms being able to recover contractual rate interest easier than those doing it for themselves. How? The principle and basis for claiming contractual interest is exactly the same either way. Many claimants from this forum have successfully claimed it now - its just a case of holding out for it.

[andrew1]

Personally I think it stinks. Its the ambulance chaser bigade set up overnight to make a quick few quid. None of them are legal professionals or solicitors - they could only act as lay representitives if a case went to court. In fact most of these companies probably get their information from here anyway!

 

Anyone thinking about employing one of these firms should think long and hard about who they would be giving their bank details to. I know I would'nt risk it. Plus, they won't do anything that you can't do yourself easily enough.

 

I also totally disagree with an earlier post which commented on these firms being able to recover contractual rate interest easier than those doing it for themselves. How? The principle and basis for claiming contractual interest is exactly the same either way. Many claimants from this forum have successfully claimed it now - its just a case of holding out for it.

 

 

Here, here ! Couldn't agree more.

[clive Howlett]

Way back in september my partner allowed a company ADS(Advanced Debt Solutions - Debt Management, Debt Consolidation, Debt Help) to begin proceedings on our behalf , we signed an agreement to pay them 25%of recovered money.when it came to court the banks defence was that ADS did not have the right to action in regards to the recovery of the money(fair enough) so ads asked if we would sign a deed of assignment allowing them to take action ,i agreed only to find that in this deed they did not just want the right to action but the rights to all claims to compensation .I told ADS that i was not prepared to sign away my rights to any money as this deed would do if i signed it.i asked why they wanted more than just the right of action as i had already signed an agreement to pay them 25% . Their answer was that they had had trouble getting paid by individuals and that it was harder to get money from individuals than buisnessess.At this i laughed and said that if this deed was changed to just rights of action then i would sign it their answer was that it could not be changed as it was a legal document and they would not change it , to which i replied that i could not their sign their deed as i believe it to be an unfair contract and that if they were not prepared to change the deed that i would like them to stop all actions.I am not sure if it was a [problem] or what but now i am not sure how to advance with my claim ,i mean its already in the courts although ADS failed to advance me the defences of the banks from my accounts bar one

[clive Howlett]

Yesterday i phoned the courts concerned with the cases ,to my surprise:shock: i found that the court had struck off one of the cases as ADS didnt have the right to action etc on the on the 29th december:idea: and ADS canceled the other case on the 18th January but on the 22nd Jan they tried to get me to sign a deed of assignment to give them all rights to action and claims to compensation .so it appears that they were planning on starting up the claim at a latter date once i had signed over my rights to them and i would not have had a clue what had happened .I am seeking legal advice as to wether this is a criminal offence (attempted fraud/deception).Also the courts are sending me the papers i need to take over where ADS left off at a small cost (£65) so fingers crossed all is not lost.I've also e-mailed watchdog about what seems a new [problem] .because this is a debt management company they seem to target those least able to afford this loss of what rightly should be their's:-x so hopefully i can throw a spanner in the works of any company trying this con.

[Guest NATTIE]

I love no win no fee solicitors---not:D

 

 

Oops no win no fee companies(is that better?)

[JonCris]

1st these are not solicitors nor are they 'no win no fee' as clive has clearly stated.....Their fee was to be a percentage of any award

 

2nd clive you have a cause of action against ADS for negligence the compensation would be equivilent to the anount you would have obtained had your claim been handled correctly.........If a law practice/solicitor was involved then you also have grounds for complaint there because a solicitor cannot act for a company that is taking a percentage of the compensation.........it's agin the rules

[tenbog]

Just a quick update on my original post starting this thread.

 

I decided to use a company called '********* *******' in Cardiff in December 06. I DO NOT RECOMMEND using this company for the task of recovering bank fees.

 

They are seriously over-whelmed with work and are unable to offer any kind of suitable service. From sending all of my carefully prepared statements and documents (recorded) I never received any contact from them in over 3 months. I called 50+ times, several letters, countless faxes and emails. None of which were answered.

 

I spoke to The Law Society and Trading Standards with no luck and the Information Commissioner regarding my data protection. I sent them a fax treating to report them to the IC and they called the next day with an update..

 

To cut a long on short. They hadn't done much and I was in an unknown pile of claims. It made my blood boil. Apparently the claim is in courts and I am awaiting an outcome any day.

 

I would not recommend using one of these companies in my experience as they are either unable to cope or just unprofessional in their business.

 

I would be happy to try and help anyone who is experiencing similar problem with a similar company.

[lucid]

That's terrible news tenbog. How much are they going to charge you for this "service"?

 

By the way, I don't think the MODS like having such companies' names on the forum. Even though the context is negative, you might want to edit out the name.

 

Lucid

[tenbog]

Thanks for the tip Lucid

 

If anyone wants to know the company are please ask!

[lucid]

That's ok - I could have been wrong but I'm sure I've seen a couple of MODS say that before.

 

So do you know how much they're going to charge you if you win?

 

Lucid

[Bookworm]

Just for info, Lucid's right. ;-)

[tenbog]

Yes - they receive the 8% interest, and their own legal costs. There's no cost or risk to myself. There were other companies out there who wanted a larger percentage of the overall figure.

[JonCris]

Yes - they receive the 8% interest, (Why only 8% when you could be claiming contractual compound interest which would greatly increase your claim) and their own legal costs. (Apart from court fees which are recoverable at any level legal costs will only be awarded if your claim exceeds £5k) There's no cost or risk to myself. (There is if you don't have either Before or After Event Insurance & the other side are awarded costs which can happen even if you win) There were other companies out there who wanted a larger percentage of the overall figure.

 

See above in red