'Fake' claims management promises to be probed

03/11/2008

Unscrupulous claims management firms making unrealistic promises to customers are the subject of a new Ministry of Justice warning.

The companies are taking advantage of the consumer revolt against bank and credit card charges - often telling their clients that they can recover these penalty fees when they cannot, the Observer reports.

This means that some customers have given money to claims managers and have not received anything back from banks.

One such firm, UPI, was found by the newspaper to be apparently claiming on their website that all bank charges were "unlawful" and that the financial firms were "not allowed to do this".

In fact, the fairness or otherwise of overdraft charges are currently the subject of a High Court test case - which is not expected to rule for several months.

Kevin Rousell at the Ministry of Justice told the newspaper: "In many instances banks have been found to have unfair charges, but it is not true to say it always happens and people should be wary of such claims."

Defending the website's wording, Clive Price at UPI said that labelling the charges "unlawful" only meant that their legal status had yet to be decided.

He added: "It's just an opinion. I believe the wording is correct."

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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