Terms & Conditions

1. Definitions

“Account” – the account(s), policies, plan(s), investments, loans, motor finance (including Hire Purchase, Personal Contract Purchase and Lease agreements), credit cards or other financial arrangements identified by You as being relevant to the Claim.
“Agreement” – the agreement entered into by You with Us, incorporating the Letter of Authority Form and these Terms and Conditions.
“Claim” – the claim or claims made by Us to the Provider on Your behalf.

“Client Account” – a separate bank account where client funds are deposited. This account is separate to Our main business account.
“FCA” – the Financial Conduct Authority.
“Fees” – the fees payable by You to Us under clause 5 and/or any other fees or other amounts payable by You to Us under the Agreement.
“FOS” – the Financial Ombudsman Service.
“FSCS” – the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
“Letter of Authority” – the signed document which You complete in respect of a Claim which enables Us to correspond directly with Your Provider.
“Personal Notice” – written notice provided by Us to You at least 15 Working Days in advance (or such shorter period as may be necessary to ensure We comply with Our regulatory and legal obligations) by post or email (in each case provided to the most recent contact details provided by You to Us).
“Provider” – the bank(s), financial institution(s), broker(s) or other provider(s) of generic financial services against which We bring a Claim on Your behalf.
“Services” – the services that We agree to provide to You under this Agreement, including (not exhaustively) the assessment, preparation and negotiation of Your Claim as described in clause 3.
“Settlement Amount” – all amounts paid or to be paid by the Provider to You in settlement of Your Claim (gross of any tax You are liable to pay), being the total value of the benefits to You, monetary or otherwise, and including any cash or cheque payment, any reduction in Your account balance, any reduction in Your account arrears/debts and any interest paid by the Provider in relation to the Claim. Where a Settlement Amount is increased on appeal during the term of this Agreement, then the higher amount shall be used.
“We”, “Our” and “Us” – M. R. Consumer Services Ltd (07102609) T/A Mis-sold Expert whose registered address is 23a Kenilworth Gardens, Hayes, Middlesex, UB4 0AY or anyone to whom We transfer Our rights and obligations under the Agreement.
“Working Days” – any day on which banks are open for business (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays).
“You” and “Your” –the person(s) engaging Us in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement.

2. The Agreement Between You and Us

2.1. You appoint Us to act as Your exclusive representative in your Claim and We agree to act on Your behalf and to provide the Services on the terms of the Agreement.

2.2. The Agreement takes effect when You sign these Terms and Conditions and unless terminated earlier, will continue until:

• The Settlement Amount is recovered for You by Us and You have paid the Fees in respect of all Claims We are processing; or
• Your Claim is rejected and either We notify You that there is no avenue of appeal remaining or any such avenue is,
  in Our reasonable opinion, unlikely to succeed

2.3. By appointing Us You:
2.3.1 confirm that no agency or person other than Us is acting for You in relation to the Claim and You agree not to appoint any such agency/person, including yourself, in relation to the Claim unless You terminate this Agreement with Us in accordance with clause 6.
2.3.2 understand and acknowledge that We cannot guarantee the outcome of Your Claim; and
2.3.3 accept responsibility for payments that You may be liable for under this Agreement.
2.3.4 authorise Us to investigate any other potential claims held with that Provider and submit a Claim for which You are subject to Our Fees as detailed in clause 5. We will notify You of any additional accounts that are identified.

3. Our Services

3.1 We will assess the basis and merits of Your claim by asking You questions in relation to Your interactions with the Provider. We reserve the right to refuse to provide the Services to You where We believe that it is not in Your best interests for Us to provide the Services.
3.2 We will contact the Provider to obtain transactional information such as statements and agreements which will enable Us to assess whether We consider Your Claim to be viable.
3.3 We will give You advice on the merits of Your Claim and any particular steps You need to take (such as those described in Clause 4).
3.4 We will raise a formal complaint to the Provider regarding your Claim, requesting an appropriate Settlement Amount including statutory interest in accordance with rules and guidance of the FCA/FOS/FSCS.
3.5 We will notify You promptly of any requests for additional information or documentation that the Provider needs to investigate Your Claim and We will provide the Provider with the relevant information that We have received from You promptly.
3.6 We will update You within 10 working days when there are any material developments on Your Claims or when We receive any information which is for Your attention. Where there are no material developments, We will update You at least every 6 months in writing

3.7 We will request from the Provider a full financial breakdown of all charges that relate to the Account and any other accounts that You have or have had with the Provider.
3.8 We will use Our reasonable endeavours to negotiate with the Provider for a settlement of the Claim on Your behalf.
3.9 We will notify You in writing of any Settlement Amount offer made by the Provider and provide Our advice regarding whether the offer You have received is in line with the rules of the FCA or the principles used by the FOS, FSCS.
3.10 If, at Our complete discretion, We consider that Your Claim is not viable, whether due to the claimed amount being too small or for any other reason, We will notify You, following which You will not be required to pay anything to Us and We will have no further obligations to You under the Agreement.
3.11 If the Provider fails to respond to Us or to You within 8 weeks of Our communication, You may have certain options including to issue a formal complaint to the FOS and/or the FCA.
3.12 Where necessary and appropriate, We will seek Your instructions and agreement to refer Your Claim to the FOS, FSCS or FCA.

4. Your Actions

4.1 You agree to co-operate with Us at all times.
4.2 You agree to provide Us with all appropriate and available information and documentation relating to Your Claim as soon as possible. Such information may relate to Your financial circumstances, vehicle details, recollections of the sale of the product and where necessary, health information. Documentation which may be required are; suitability reports, finance agreements, bank statements, product documentation, proof of identity and residential documentation. This is not an exhaustive list.
4.3 You agree to provide Us with information which is truthful and accurate, to the best of Your knowledge and belief.
4.4 You authorise Us to act on Your behalf and as Your representative to take the action set out in these Terms and Conditions.
4.5 You also authorise Us to carry out the following actions on Your behalf:

• request appropriate further information from the Provider relating to Your Claim
• with Your consent settle the Claim
• with Your consent give binding commitments on Your behalf that You will not bring any further complaints relating to the Claim following settlement and release the Provider from any obligations or liabilities to You relating to the Claim;
• withdraw Your Claim, at our absolute discretion, in the event that the Provider provides Us with evidence that the Claim duplicates a Claim made by You or on Your behalf other than through Us;
• take any other actions which We are reasonably required to do in relation to the above.

4.6 You agree to provide any further information, documents or questionnaires that may be necessary for Us to progress Your Claim as soon as possible on request.
4.7 You agree to notify Us promptly of any direct communications that You may have with the Provider regarding the progress of Your Claim (which may include telephone calls, receipt of statements, Settlement Amount offers or rejections) and forward any paperwork connected with this to Us as soon as possible if We request it. (Please note that if You fail to advise Us of any communication from the Provider, You may impede the progress of Your Claim and we may terminate the Agreement with Fees payable as detailed in Clause 6);
4.8 You agree that You will not accept any settlement that is communicated directly to You by the Provider unless agreed in writing in advance with Us.
4.9 You will notify Us promptly upon becoming aware of any changes in Your circumstances or of any documents not provided to Us which could affect the Claim. This includes, but is not limited to, any arrears, the issue of a default notice, a petition for a County Court Judgement or bankruptcy claim. In these circumstances, We reserve the right to terminate the Agreement in accordance with Clause 6.
4.10 You acknowledge that settlement of Your Claim may result in the termination of Your finance agreement.
4.11 You agree to pay Our Fee due as a result of a successful Claim.

5. Our Fees and How You Pay Us

5.1 Where Your claim is successful, Our Fees will be calculated based on the Gross Settlement Amount You are awarded in accordance with the table below. the Fee illustration is not to be taken as an estimate of the amount likely to be recovered but only to be used as a guide to the level of Our Fee.

For example, if You are awarded £2,000, Our Fee will be 33.60% including VAT (£672 (including VAT of £112)) and You will retain £1,328. If Our percentage will exceed the maximum total Fee allowable, then You will not be charged more than the maximum. For example, if You are awarded £9,999, Our Fee will be £3,000 including VAT and You will retain £6,999.

Please note that You are responsible for ensuring that any tax due from Your Claim is declared to His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

5.2 If you have arrears or outstanding liabilities on your finance then the Provider may use the Settlement Amount to pay those before making any payment to You. In this case You will still be required to pay Our Fees.
5.3 In the event that you are or have previously been subject to a Trust Deed, IVA, Bankruptcy, Sequestration, DRO or other debt solution, you should be aware that the Settlement Amount may be used to pay your creditors and You will still be required to pay Our Fee.
5.4 We will issue an is soon as possible following the earliest date on which We become aware that the Provider has offered to pay You or has paid You a Settlement Amount which We are or would have been prepared to accept on Your behalf.

5.5 Where We operate a Client Account, you agree that the Provider is to make payment of the Settlement Amount directly to Us and this will be paid into our Client Account. We will deduct Our Fee and make payment of the balance to You within 2 business days of receipt by Us.
5.6 If the Provider makes payment to you directly,You must settle Our invoice within:

• 14 days of it being issued if You receive a settlement of Your Claim from the Provider in cash or cleared funds;

5.7 Where the Provider pays some or all of the Settlement Amount directly to You or the Provider reduces any of Your account balances or outstanding debts in payment of the Settlement Amount:

• You will notify Us of such payment or reduction within a reasonable time of You becoming aware of it;
• We will notify You of such a payment or reduction within a reasonable time of Us becoming aware of it, should We become aware of it before We have been notified by You.

5.8 You agree that We can deduct the Fees from Your credit/debit card where You have provided Us with those details for the purpose of payment of Our Fees.
5.9 Once You have settled Your invoice in full, in respect of all active Claims Our responsibilities and obligations to You in connection with this Agreement will cease.
5.10 Subject to clause 5.2, if We submit a Claim on Your behalf but no Settlement Amount is paid by the Provider in respect of that Claim, You will not be required to pay any Fee to Us.
5.11 We reserve the right to charge the full Fee on the basis of the Settlement Amount being made if:

(a) You reject a Settlement Amount that is calculated in accordance with rules of the Financial Conduct Authority or the
principles used by the FOS, FSCS; or
(b) You reject any other reasonable Settlement Amount which We recommend (acting reasonably) should be accepted by You.
5.12 In respect of any unpaid invoices, We may at Our discretion:

• commence debt collection proceedings to recover the amount due;
• charge simple interest on the amount unpaid at the rate of 8% per annum; and add to the amount reasonable costs incurred in seeking to recover Our Fee from You

6. Termination

6.1 You have a statutory right to cancel this Agreement for free within 14 days from the date You sign these Terms and Conditions. You may cancel at any time during this period by completing the cancellation form included in Your pack, or by notifying Us by letter, telephone, email, or in person.

6.2 You can terminate this Agreement at any time outside of the 14-day cooling off period referred to above. We reserve the right to charge You a reasonable and proportionate Fee based on the work carried out in relation to Your Claim at a rate of £80 plus VAT per hour and £10 plus VAT for each individual piece of correspondence We have issued to either yourself or Your creditor.
6.2.1 If this Agreement is terminated by Us/You and an offer of settlement has been made which We recommend You should accept; We reserve the right to charge Our full Fees as detailed in clause 5
6.3 We may terminate this Agreement and We reserve the right to charge You a reasonable Fee based on the work carried out in relation to Your Claim at a rate of £80 plus VAT per hour and £10 plus VAT for each individual piece of correspondence We have issued to either yourself or Your creditor If any of the following events occur:
6.3.1 We become aware that You are pursuing Your Claim independently;
6.3.2 You provide Us with any information which is untrue;
6.3.3 You knowingly submit any frivolous or vexatious Claims;
6.3.4 You fail to respond to Our reasonable requests for information to support Your Claim.
6.3.5 You fail to remedy a breach of this Agreement within 28 days of Us asking You to do so;
6.3.6 You unreasonably refuse to accept an offer of a Settlement Amount which We recommend that You accept, and which is reasonable having regard to any guidance issued by the FCA or FOS.
6.4 We may terminate the Agreement without charge If any of the following events occur:
6.4.1 We reasonably consider that the process of pursuing Your Claim has become abnormally delayed or time consuming;
6.4.2 We become aware that Your Claim is unlikely to succeed;
6.4.3 You enter into any bankruptcy proceedings including an individual voluntary arrangement with Your creditors.
6.5 If We are in breach of Our obligations under this Agreement You can cancel this Agreement at any time without having to pay a Fee.

7. Limitations On Our Service and Liability

7.1 Where the Provider makes an offer of a Settlement Amount, We are under no obligation to verify the calculation of the amount other than to confirm that the offer of a Settlement Amount has been calculated by the Provider as required under the process rules of the FCA and FOS/FSCS.
7.2 If any form of tax is payable by You or on Your behalf in relation to the Settlement Amount (such as income tax which is payable by You in respect of the interest paid to You as part of the Settlement Amount), You shall be fully responsible for such payment and We shall have no responsibility to make such payment on Your behalf.
7.3 We shall have no liability to You for any loss to the extent it arises as a result of the information provided by You on Your Letter of Authority being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7.4 Nothing in the Agreement shall exclude or limit any liability of Ours which may not be legally excluded or limited.

8. Changes to The Agreement

8.1 We may make changes to the Agreement, including introducing new Fees and charges and making changes to the basis on which We charge for providing services, by giving You Personal Notice.
8.2 We may be required to make changes to the Agreement in order to comply with the law and/or requirements of the FCA and/or FOS, and if We do, We will give You Personal Notice.
8.3 Where We make any change under clause 8.1 or 8.2 the change will be proportionate to an underlying reason for the change.
8.4 When We give You notice of a change We intend to make in accordance with:
8.4.1 clause 8.1, before the change takes effect You may end the Agreement by giving Us no less than 10 Working Days notice in writing at no charge to You; or;
8.4.2 clause 8.2, before the change takes effect You may end the Agreement by giving Us no less than 10 Working Days notice in writing and We reserve the right to charge a reasonable and proportionate Fee based on the work carried out in relation to Your Claim at a rate of £80 plus VAT per hour and £10 plus VAT for each individual piece of correspondence We have issued to either yourself or Your Provider.
8.5 If You do not tell Us that You want to end the Agreement and if We do not hear from You as described in clause 8.4 before the date each change is to take effect, then You will be deemed to have accepted the change and it will take effect automatically.

9. Personal Details and Statement of Data Protection

9.1 We recommend that You read this statement carefully as it defines the use of personal information, We obtain about You and how the information is used.
9.2 We confirm that all personal information supplied by You will not be passed on to anyone other than:
9.2.1 as required by law, court orders or as requested by any government or law enforcement authority;
9.2.2 associated companies as set out in clause 9.3;
9.2.3 any company or other entity to which We may either transfer or subcontract any or all of Our obligations to You under this Agreement.
9.3 We may use Your personal information only if You have freely given Us, specific, informed consent to contact You to provide You with details of other products and services which We think may be of interest to You. Contact could include services or products offered by Our associated companies or selected third parties where you have consented to this. We may share personal information with these associated companies and selected third parties and they may contact You directly to provide You with details of such products and services. You may let Us know if You do not want Us to disclose Your personal information as set out in this clause or if You wish to amend the way We communicate with You by using the contact details in clause 10. Further details of how We process personal data can be found in Our Privacy Policy available on request or via Our website.
9.4 If You have chosen to receive information by e-mail please be aware You are solely responsible for the security of Your personal computer and every reasonable precaution must be taken to ensure no unwanted access to the information is allowed. If You feel that someone has accessed the information We have sent You or Your computer is lost or stolen please contact Us immediately.
9.5 You can contact Us at any time by writing to the Data Protection Manager at the above address for any information You require and also if You would like copies of any or all personal information We hold about You. Please be aware that We may record and monitor Your calls to maintain or improve Our services.

10. Complaints

10. 1 You can submit a complaint to us in one the following ways:
Write to us at: 1 Queens Park Gate, 86 Richmond Park Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8TQ
By email: complaints@mis-soldexpert.co.uk
By telephone: 0161 883 7261
Or in person by visiting our premises (address detailed above)
10.2 We will send you a written acknowledgement with a copy of our complaints procedure promptly and in any event within 5 business days.
10. 3 If we haven’t resolved Your complaint within 8 weeks of receipt or You are not satisfied with our response You can refer it to the Claims Management Ombudsman, whose contact details are:

Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange, London, E14 9SRG
www.cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Tel: 0800 023 4567

10.4 If you believe we have breached our Data Protection Warranties, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance as above.

11. General Terms

11.1 By giving You Personal Notice We may transfer Our rights and obligations under this Agreement. Your rights under the Agreement will not be reduced as a result of such a transfer.
11.2 You may not transfer Your rights and obligations under this Agreement unless We agree in writing.
11.3 This Agreement is between You and Us. No other party shall have any rights to enforce its terms.
11.4 Each clause in this Agreement operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any clause is unlawful the remaining clauses will stay with full force and effect.

11.5 If We fail to insist that You perform any of Your obligations under this Contract or if We do not enforce Our rights against You or if We delay in doing so, that does not mean that We have waived Our rights against You and will not mean that You do not have to comply with this Agreement. If We do waive a default by You, that does not mean that We will automatically waive a later default by You.
11.6 If any event beyond Our reasonable control prevents or hinders Us from performing Our obligations under this Agreement We shall not be deemed to have breached this Agreement.
11.7 The Agreement will be governed by English law, and each party submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. However, if You are resident in Northern Ireland or Scotland, You may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland or Scotland.