Claims Information Library

CLAIMS

Whether your credit card company is charging unfair fees for late payments, or the bank is charging for a breached overdraft or bounced cheque, you could take action.

Alternatively, you might feel that you have been mis-sold PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) – you could make a successful claim. If you have suffered an injury that wasn't your fault, you could win thousands in compensation.

Bad Credit Good Solutions lists Claims services for all of these cases. Here we explain how to make a claim, the process, how much it costs and each specific category:

• Unfair Bank Charges
• Unfair Credit Card Charges
• Injury Claims
• PPI Claims

Using an Official Claims Service

There are companies who can offer a full professional service to help you make a bank claim, credit card claim, injury claim or PPI claim.

Here is what they can help you with:

• Working out whether you can claim
• A dedicated Claims advisor
• No win No fee
• Only charge a fee if case wins
• Expert legal assistance

A team of legal specialists handle the cases, meaning that know you are in the hands of someone who understands the legal system and knows how – and where – claims can be made and won.

What can I Claim?

This depends on the service you are using:

• Bank Claims

For bank claims, you can try to recover fees which were charged to you for breaching your overdraft (typically up to £35 each time) or bounced cheques.

The claims company will look at whether or not you have been treated fairly – please read our section on bank charges as there have been some changes since November 2009.

• Credit Card Claims

For credit card claims, you are looking to recover fees for late payments or exceeding your overdraft limit. If the claims company can see you have been unfairly treated and penalised, they can take action on your behalf.

• Injury Claims

If you have suffered an accident which was not your fault – perhaps you tripped and fell over a cleaning bucket at your place of work – you could claim money for the injury caused and consequent suffering. In many cases, people are left unable to earn money as a result of the injury.

The claims company are specialists in dealing with injury claims so will know whether you stand a chance of winning the case and what is possible.

• PPI Claims

If you feel that you have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance, you could make a claim. Some customers found that the policy they bought to protect their loan payments did not actually cover them and was sold by an inexperienced person.

Specialist claims companies can help you to find out what really happened and whether you are able to win compensation.

Is this Legal?

Claims specialists are usually lead by a team of legal experts and what they are doing is perfectly legal and above board. Many teams include lawyers, financial specialists and experts who are familiar with making claims.

They have found that while credit card companies are allowed to charge customers for breaking their contract, they shouldn't act unfairly by charging more than enough to cover their own costs.

Customers have the right to claim if a service is treating them unfairly or if they were involved in an accident which was not their fault.

What do Claims Services Do?

Online claims services (such as those listed on this website) offer a very simple process. The customer applies via the website and will be asked some questions about their case – how much have they been charged by a credit card company, for example.

Once the claims company is satisfied that you have a case, they will begin to take action. They will take you through every step and explain the process clearly. Feel free to ask questions at any point.

A team of claims management lawyers and financial experts handles your case and generally they operate on a 'no win, no fee' basis. That means they won't charge you anything until the case wins.

What are the Fees?

Claims specialists usually operate a no win, no fee service. That means you won't be charged a penny unless the case wins. If it does win, the company will take a percentage of your compensation – this is usually a flat fee, typically around 20%.

Most claims companies will list out their fee structure (i.e. how much is charged per certain amounts won) and will often charge VAT in addition to the flat fee.

What are the Benefits?

Making a claim when you have been treated unfairly or have suffered pain and extra costs as a result of an accident can be beneficial. You are retrieving money which you feel you have had to spend needlessly and you are also seeing justice done.

Using a claims service is probably the easiest way to claim – they know what they are doing, are fully qualified and have dealt with thousands of cases like yours.

Are there any Disadvantages?

Some people are not successful in their claims case – meaning they will still have to deal with their current situation (be that card fees or a PPI policy). Another drawback is that many people find the fee on their compensation, usually charged by claims companies, is too large. However, given that you may be charged nothing at all unless the case is successful means can be a great relief.

You could try to avoid any fees by claiming on your own – but this can be a much trickier process and you don't receive the expert assistance.