12th March 2010
A legal firm which advised controversial claims management
company Cartel Client Review has been shut down by regulators.
Consumer Credit Litigation Solicitors (CCLS), which advised and
took on clients from Cartel, had its Manchester office closed by
the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA) after it was found not
to be acting in its clients' best interests.
The SRA said it closed down the firm to protected clients of
CCLS from "suspected dishonesty".
An SRA spokesman said: "We have evidence and we have been
looking at CCLS for weeks.
"The intervention protects the immediate position and safeguards
documents and clients' money held by this firm."
The majority of CCLS's clients were channeled to it from Client
Cartel Review, which itself is currently under investigation by the
Ministry of Justice.
For an upfront fee of £495, the firm claims that it can wipe out
consumers' debts by challenging the enforceability of their credit
agreement.
Customers, some of whom have several claims with the firm
totaling thousands of pounds in upfront fees, are told that if
their claim is not successful they will receive a refund.
However, thousands of Cartel customers have complained that they
have heard nothing back from the firm and are unable to get their
money back.
One customer told Claims Financial he started two claims with
Cartel Client Review costing £990 in upfront fees in May 2008, but
received no further correspondence until the MoJ began its
investigation earlier this month.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We are continuing to
actively investigate Cartel."
"We are in contact with the SRA in view of the close working
relationship CCLS had with the authorised business Cartel Client
Review."
Useful links:
Claims Financial
Testimonial
"I just had to put pen to paper and write to say I'm more than delighted with my settlement that you won me back from my PPI I had with Lloyds TSB. The Claim Forms were simple to fill in. It was a breeze"
Mr R Evans 11 Nov 2010