18th March 2010
Cartel Client Review has been closed down by the Ministry of
Justice.
Cartel, one of the UK's largest claims management companies, was
ordered to cease trading by the claims management regulator
following an investigation by the MoJ after thousands of customers
had complained.
The firm charges customers an upfront fee of £495 to
"write-off" their debts by claiming to lenders that their credit
agreements are unenforceable.
However, many customers - some of whom had paid thousands of
pounds in upfront fees - say that after starting their claims they
heard nothing back from Cartel and the company would not respond to
correspondence.
One Cartel customer who contacted Claims Financial said he had
paid nearly £1000 to Cartel in 2007 but heard nothing from them
until the MoJ began its investigation earlier this month.
It is thought that Cartel has taken over £20m from 70,000
customers over the past two years, however this is now unlikely to
be refunded by the company.
In an interview in today's Daily Mirror, Cartel boss
Carl Wright said: "The money is not available to be refunded
back."
The MoJ said: "Enforcement action is taken against businesses
which fail to comply with the conduct rules.
"Removing a business's authorisation is a serious matter which
can only be taken after careful consideration of all the evidence
and the consequences for clients of such action.
"This means that CCR will no longer be able to carry out
any claims management services."
The MoJ is advising Cartel customers to ask for their money
back, or reclaim fees from their credit card provider using Section
75 of the Consumer Credit Act if they had paid that way.
"If you are a customer of CCR your agreement with them, as with
any provider, is a private contractual matter between yourself and
the provider in which MoJ cannot intervene directly because it is
not a regulatory matter for which MoJ has responsibility," the MoJ
said.
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Mr R Evans 11 Nov 2010