The Process in General

Can a Product Review be carried out for a financial contract I no longer have?

Product Reviews for mortgages, secured loans and motor finance can be assessed from as far back as the late 1980s subject to documentation being available from the lender. Product Reviews for credit cards may only be for a current product.

 

What types of financial contracts would be passed to underwriting to assess?

We can assess mortgage, secured loan, motor finance and credit card contracts.

 

If my Product Review is initially assessed by underwriting as a ‘Yes’, does this mean that I am able to make a claim?

You can progress with a Product Review based on the information given. For mortgages, secured loans and motor finance reviews, the information you have provided suggests that any claim will exceed minimum claim requirements of £5000. There is no minimum claim for credit cards. Progression to a claim will be subject to a further assessment once we are in possession of the client file (all documentation relating to your account) from the lender.

 

Are there alternatives to Cartel Client Review's service?

There are ombudsmen schemes such as the Financial Ombudsman Service and other official means that can be used directly as a means of obtaining redress.

 

Before making a claim against any lender (or product provider) that you currently have any product or service with, it is recommended that you have alternative arrangements in place or available for this product or service should the lender (or product provider) choose to withdraw the product.

 

 

Product Reviews for Mortgages, Secured Loans and Motor Finance Contracts

What are the timescales for the process?

The full process for mortgage, secured loans and motor finance contract review and claim can be broken down as follows. All timescales are approximate. The following table assumes that all documentation has been completed correctly and Cartel Client Review has been provided with suitable proofs of address.

Process Step Timescale

Initial request to release client file out to lender.

 1 week

Client file back from lender.

Please note: 40 days only commences once the lender considers it has all relevant information (including cleared payment of search fee).

 40 days

Missing Information requested and returned.

 1 month

Client file dissected.

Please note: If, following dissection of the file, crucial information is still found to be missing this may need to be requested and received from the lender before the case can progress. This could extend this stage by around 2 months.

 2 weeks

Assessment of claim and production of solicitor paperwork.

Please note: If the claim is assessed as having insufficient chances of success a refund of the £495 review fee will be made to you. If prospects are still assessed as reasonable you will complete instruction documentation for the appointed solicitor.

 4 weeks

Progression of claim.

Please note: Occasionally a claim may take longer, particularly if not all documents have been returned by the lender or if the case is required to go to court for conclusion.

 6 to 9 months

 

What is the review fee for and what does it cover?

The review fee for all mortgage, secured loan and motor finance product reviews is £495. This covers the review costs incurred by Cartel Client Review prior to a solicitor taking on a claim. The review fee is payable at the time of signing the client agreement. Cartel Client Review will take no payment prior to assessing the relative chances of a successful claim.

 

Cartel Client Review does not take any percentage of any settlement for mortgage, secured loan and motor finance product reviews.

 

Refund?

Your payment of £495 for mortgage, secured loan or motor finance product reviews is refundable if the individual claim does not result in a payment to you. However, there is no refund for any claim which is made fraudulently or any claim procedure which is withdrawn by you prior to a conclusion. Please see Terms and Conditions for full details.

 

Your payment of £10, which is made payable to the lender to retrieve the relevant Client documentation, is not refundable.

 

 

Product Reviews for Credit Card Contracts

What is the objective of a credit card product review?

If a credit card contract is found to be flawed or unenforceable you may be able to:

  • Claim to cancel the card and clear any outstanding balance on it
  • Claim back any charges previously paid
  • Claim for interest you have previously paid on any outstanding balances
  • Claim for repayments you have previously made

 

What are the timescales for the process?

The full process for credit card contract review and claim can be broken down as follows. All timescales are approximate. The following table assumes that all documentation has been completed correctly and Cartel Client Review has been provided with suitable proofs of address.

Process Step Timescale

Initial request to release client file out to lender.

 1 week

Client file back from lender.

Please note: 40 days only commences once the lender considers it has all relevant information (including cleared payment of search fee).

 40 days

Missing Information requested and returned.

 1 month

Client file dissected.

Please note: If, following dissection of the file, crucial information is still found to be missing this may need to be requested and received from the lender before the case can progress. This could extend this stage by around 2 months.

 2 weeks

Assessment of claim and production of solicitor paperwork.

 4 weeks

Progression of claim.

Please note: occasionally a claim may take longer, particularly if not all documents have been returned by the lender ot if the case is required to go to court for conclusion.

 3 to 6 months

 

What is the review fee for and what does it cover?

Discounted credit card review fees are available to existing clients of Cartel Client Review.

 

Existing clients progressing with a mortgage, secured loan, motor finance or credit card review are entitled to the discounted rate of £175 (per credit card product review).

 

New clients, who are not progressing with a mortgage, secured loan or motor finance review will be charged a review fee of £495 for the first credit card review (any further credit card reviews would be at the discounted price for existing clients).

 

This covers the review costs incurred by Cartel Client Review prior a solicitor taking on a claim. The review fee is payable at the time of signing the client agreement. Cartel Client Review will take no payment prior to assessing the relative chances of a successful claim.

 

Successful claim fees of 30% of the total of interest repaid, payments returned and balance cleared will apply. Please see Terms and Conditions for full details.

 

Refund?

Your payment of a review fee for a credit card review is only refundable within the ‘cooling off’ period. Please see Terms and Conditions for full details.

 

Upon making a decision to pursue a product review for a credit card it is highly recommended that you should:

  • Not make any further purchases using the card
  • Not increase the balance on the card
  • Not incur further arrears
  • Not miss any payments that fall due

Any of the above may affect the success of a claim or the level of any award.

Review

Tell us about your mortgage, secured loan and motor finance history

 

Complete a Client Review Form with our representative.

 

Underwriting

We assess each products chance of success

 

Each product you have submitted for review will be summarised by one of the following three underwriting outcomes:-

  • Yes - The review has identified a good chance of success for this particular product, on the basis that it would potentially result in a claim of £5000 or more (based on the information given).
  • No - No - We do not believe that making a claim would result in a claim of £5000 or more.
  • Possible - Documents are required from the lender before the case can be reasonably assessed. The chances of success cannot be reasonably assessed without the client documents.

Instruction

You tell us how many claims to pursue

 

There is no limit to the number of potential claims you can instruct us to proceed with. For each claim to be pursued you will be required to:

  • Read - Read and understand our terms and conditions
  • Sign - Sign our Client Agreement
  • Cheque - A £10 cheque payable to each lender for the release of documents will be required
  • Cost - At this stage Cartel Client Review charges £495 for each product you wish to pursue
  • Our Promise - Subject to Terms and Conditions, in the event of a claim being unsuccessful we will refund the £495 fee in full, regardless of the work we have completed (*There is no refund following a successful claim)

Investigation

We request the relevant documents and paperwork from the lenders

 

Our in-house team will contact the lender requesting release of all the relevant documentation under the terms of the Data Protection Act. Once released and in our possession, a full and comprehensive assessment of the Client documentation can be made.
At this point the Client documentation will either pass to the nominated panel solicitor and auditors or you will receive a refund of the £495 (please see 'Refund?' in FAQs).

 

Panel

We arrange for a panel auditor and solicitor to act on your behalf

 

We will arrange for a panel solicitor and auditor to prepare your case. You will not pay any fees to either solicitors or auditors as the costs incurred by the panel solicitors and auditors are claimed back from the lender on successful conclusion of the claim.
In the event of an unsuccessful claim you will have no costs to pay and you will receive a full refund of the £495 fee, subject to our Terms and Conditions.

 

Payment

On conclusion of your successful claim you receive payment

 

Under normal circumstances you can expect your payment to be made up of both your actual financial losses, plus compensation for these losses. In most cases we would expect a payment to be made within 6 to 9 months of the claim being accepted by the solicitor.
There is no further fee for our most popular mortgage and secured loan claims. Please see our Customer Information sheet for full details of our fees.

 

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Review

Tell us about the credit cards you currently have

 

Complete a Client Review Form with our representative.

 

Underwriting

We assess each credit card’s chance of a successful claim

 

Each product submitted will be assessed as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

  • Yes - we believe there is a good chance of a claim. There is no minimum level of claim.
  • No - Cartel Client Review will not progress with any case assessed as a ‘no’.

Instruction

You tell us how many claims to pursue

 

For each claim to be pursued you will be required to:

  • Read - Read and understand our terms and conditions
  • Sign - Sign our Client Agreement
  • Cheque - A £10 cheque payable to each credit card company for the release of documents will be required
  • Existing clients - Progressing with a mortgage, secured loan, motor finance or credit card review are entitled to the discounted rate of £175 (per credit card product review).
  • New clients - Who are not progressing with a mortgage, secured loan or motor finance review will be charged a review fee of £495 for the first credit card review. Review fees for credit card product reviews are non refundable outside of the cooling off period. Read full T&Cs

Investigation

We request the relevant documents and paperwork from the lender

 

Our in-house team will contact the lender requesting release of all the relevant documentation under the terms of the Data Protection Act.
Once released and in our possession, your case will be passed to a legal firm who will pursue the claim on your behalf.

Please note, as with all claims, there are no guarantees of success.

 

Legal Representation

We arrange for legal representation to pursue your claim

 

We arrange for legal representation to prepare and pursue your case. You will not pay any fees or costs to either solicitors or auditors to progress your claim.

We will attempt, where possible, to:

  • Claim back interest charges
  • Claim back repayments made
  • Cancel the card and clear any outstanding balance on the card

There are no further charges if your case is unsuccessful.

 

Repayment

  • Interest?
  • Payments?
  • Outstanding Balance?

 

Payment is made to you, less successful claims fees.

Successful claim fees of 30% of the total of the above (see T&Cs) will be payable.

 

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