No win no fee scam

[Hugsandsmiles]

Hi,

I was called by a no win no fee person from a call centre telling me he can get me compensation for personal injury and it will not cost me anything and its a free service. I didn't want to make any claim but he kept on hassling me. I spoke to someone stating they were from a law firm only once and didn't pursue it any further. I received a bill from the company stating I need to pay them £1,500 for doing absolutely nothing. They are threatening to take me to court as well. This is affecting my mental health and wellbeing.
I would be very grateful for any help and advice please?

Did you read the contract before signing?

No I was told it was a no win no fee service and there would be no charge. It was the man cold calling me and pressurising me into making a claim
I suffer from mental health conditions and am on medication for it as well. I didn't pursue with the claim after 1 phone call from the person.

I suggest that you take the letter and details to Citizens Advice

There will be laws regarding "distance" selling .
There may well be a 14 Day cooling off period but you don't say how long ago it was (so might not be relevant anyway)

Did you actually sign a contract (sorry, it's unclear from your posts)?

If not, you have nothing to worry about. If you have signed something that's had a £1500 fee buried in the small print, I'd take it to Citizens Advice.

It could well be that you still don't need to pay because they've not made the term clear - you know like when you buy insurance or take out a mortgage you have a big contract document, that no-one reads in reality, but there's also a 'key facts summary' that's a page or two. I think if there's any charges they have to put them in there or else they're not enforceable. Otherwise people can be tricked into agreeing to all sorts by burying it in the small print.

But unless you've missed quite a bit of detail about what they've done, it does sound unlikely that they've done £1500 of chargeable work for you that you are legally required to pay. For them to enforce this, they'll have to take you to court, at which point they'll need to prove this and that you weren't misled at any point and understood what you were agreeing to, and this all sounds unlikely.

Hi, no its been more than 14 days. This happened in May last year.

The man said I needed to sign a form for him to handle my case thats all. I was told from the starting this was a no win no fee service and its free of charge. I spoke to a man over the phone only once claiming he was a no win no fee solicitor and didn't speak to them after that. But they carried on harassing me asking me to sign a document and return it yo them so they can access my G.P record. I ignored the emails hoping they would leave me alone but they carried on harassing me and then they sent me a bill for £1,500 to pay which has made my mental health condition worse and has left me in shock and panic.

If it was a recorded line I would co back to the company and ask for a SAR request, including all call recordings.

I'd ask for a copy of the form you signed too. Have a read through, and go to citizens advice.

Can you state which company it is OP? It won't put you or tell us who you are.

So they sent you a form but you never actually signed or returned it?

Did you sign and send a form?

I'm using a no win no fee solicitor at the moment and I think that from when I signed up I had a certain amount of days to back out, or else there would be a fee to close my claim. I think they might be trying to charge you for the time it's taken to chase you for details. Although it could equally be a scam. No win no fee only means that there isn't a fee if you don't win, there might be if you back out or mislead them or whatever.

When did this all happen OP?

Did you sign a form or not? You are refusing to answer - but if you want help you need to answer it.

Thank you. What is a SAR request please?
The solicitors are called Equitas Solicitors.

Thank you so much for replying and your help. It really means a lot to me
God bless you 🙏

Hi, thank you for replying. I didn't mislead them. It was a scam and the man kept on phoning me and he was pressurising me to.make a claim. My daughter made me aware that why did you speak to a person who you did not know and why did you answer the call if you didn't know who was calling you.
The man who cold called me has changed both numbers and they are out of use. My daughter tried to phone him yesterday to speak to him as he gave me incorrect and misleading information but his number was put of use.

I signed a form as the man said it was only for me to give him permission to handle my case and that's was all.

A subject access request. Basically a request of all call recordings, emails, notes on your file. Everything.

Unfortunately that sounds as though you did ‘appoint them’ to handle your case. You didn’t then proceed. So they are charging you. It will have been on the form you signed. Do you still have a copy?

Equitas solicitors are a genuine company. You can ring them, they have a telephone number online. What about the bill they sent you, does that state a way to contact them? You keep saying it's a scam but I think you might have signed up and not cancelled within the cooling off period

Thank you. Does that help?

Even if you did sign the form, it's unlikely the fee is enforceable if it's not been brought to your attention before you signed it. So unless they can prove they told you there was a fee to pay before you signed the contract, you can't be made to pay. They're basically relying on people panicking and paying up to make them go away.

The link below explains this (there are loads of such examples online if you google fees in contracts enforceable). For you, the last sentence is key:

Courts will not look favourably on unduly onerous terms buried within contracts and where they are not drawn to the attention of the customer whether that customer is a consumer or a commercial entity.

https://www.wardhadaway.com/insights/updates/cancellation-fees-in-a-contract-are-they-enforceable/

I do think these things are scams. A friend of mine agreed and signed up then she felt they manipulated her statement to make out what she had said happened and injuries were worse than they were. Decided not to go forward as didn’t want to be shown up as a liar. Got a bill for over a 1k as only no win no fee if you proceed. Head in sand ignored it as ridiculous. Took her to court and sent debt collectors round, they got costs added in too and collection fees so nearly doubled.

Id agree with a Pp and go to CAB.

It's not a cancellation fee though. The OP has ignored them since May. The charges are for trying to work on her case/contact her

By signing that form you entered into a contract with them allowing them to represent you in your claim for compensation. By not continuing with the claim, they are billing you for the work they have done so far (phone calls, letters, admin, initial research etc). Had you continued with the claim, they would have got this money from the compensation.

What makes you think it is a scam? They appear to be a legitimate law firm.

Hope you get a good outcome OP but at the very least learn a very valuable lesson not to sign anything without reading it properly.