Terms and Conditions

Pre-contract information and terms and conditions of contract

This document (Agreement) sets out the terms and conditions for the appointment of ACL Consultancy Limited to act on the client’s behalf (you) in all aspects of the administration and negotiation of your claim for compensation.

1. Our Services

1.1. We are ACL Consultancy Limited (ACL) of The Old Carnegie Library, 361 Ormskirk Road, Wigan, WN5 9AE registered in England and Wales with registered number 07865881. We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for regulated claims management services. Our temporary permission – firm reference number is: 830071
1.2. We provide reclaiming services in respect of Investments; Pensions and Mortgages, we will make a claim for compensation on your behalf.
In summary:
1.2.1. Once we receive your written instructions, the documentation for which has been provided to you with this Agreement, we will investigate your claim by obtaining copies of any documentation from the organisation responsible for the sale and/ or provision of the product(s) and/or services in respect of which you have a claim. This could be a lender, bank, building society, insurance company or any other FCA regulated organisation (unless you can provide this documentation to us).
1.2.2. If we think that you may have been mis-sold any financial products, we will send you a questionnaire to complete to enable us to assess whether a claim is pursuable.
1.2.3. If we establish you have been mis-sold any financial products, we will submit a claim to the organisation. The organisation has eight weeks in which to respond to the claim (although it may take longer).
1.2.4. Where your claim is rejected by your financial service provider we may submit it to the Financial Ombudsman with your authorisation.
1.2.5. If the organisation has been declared in default we will submit your claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
1.2.6. If your claim is successful and you receive compensation we will charge you a fee (the Success Fee) as shown in clause 4.1.
1.2.7. If you decline an offer of compensation which we advise you to accept, and that compensation is in accordance with FOS guidelines, our service under this Agreement will be complete and we will charge you our Success Fee as shown in clause 4.1 of this Agreement.

2. Our obligations

2.1. We will:
2.1.1. use our reasonable endeavours to obtain compensation for the claims which are pursued on your behalf;
2.1.2. promptly notify you if the claim is not pursuable. It is at our sole discretion to decide whether or not to proceed with the claim at any time during the claims process but we must act reasonably in taking such a decision;
2.1.3. promptly notify you of the progress and the outcome of the claim at least every 3 months via SMS/Email/Letter or via the telephone; and
2.1.4. not disclose any of your personal information to anyone without your consent or as required by law, court order or as requested by any other government or law enforcement authority or as requested by any company or other entity to whom we may either transfer or subcontract any or all of our obligations to you under this Agreement.

3. Your obligations

3.1. By signing and returning the Letter of Authority (provided to you with this Agreement) you are agreeing to the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement and appoint us as your agent to liaise with your creditors on your behalf.
3.2. You must ensure that you always supply truthful and accurate information. We will rely on the information and documents provided by you as being true, accurate and complete. We will not check such information, except where we are under a legal obligation to do so.
3.3. You must forward any correspondence which you receive regarding your claim to us.
3.4. You must promptly reply to any request for further information and documents we make.
3.5. You must pay our fees within 14 days of receiving an invoice from us. You should consider how you will pay our fee if you decide to decline an offer of compensation which we recommend that you accept.

4. Our Fees

4.1. We will charge you either (i) a Success Fee of 12.5% (plus VAT) of any compensation which you receive or (ii), if you decline an offer of compensation which we recommend that you accept, we will charge you a Success Fee equal to 12.5% (plus VAT) of the compensation which was offered to you. For example:
4.1.1. Redress £1,000, fee payable £125 + VAT (currently at 20% = £25), total fee £150, leaving you with £850.
4.1.2. Redress £3,000, fee payable £375 + VAT (currently at 20% = £75), total fee £450, leaving you with £2,550.
4.1.3. Redress £10,000, fee payable £1,250 + VAT (currently at 20% = £250), total fee £1,500, leaving you with £8,500.
4.2. Where you have outstanding liabilities or are in a formal debt agreement (IVA or Bankruptcy), it may be that any damages, compensation or settlement monies, in certain circumstances, is offset against these liabilities. Where necessary, you will still be liable to pay our fee of 12.5% plus VAT from your own funds.
4.3. For the avoidance of doubt, if you decline any offer of compensation which is consistent with the FOS guidelines, and which we recommend you accept, we will charge you 12.5% plus VAT of the offer amount.
4.4. In accordance with clause 5, we may also apply charges in the event that you terminate this Agreement after the expiry of 14 days from the date that the Letter of Authority is signed.
4.5. The compensation you receive may be repaid directly into a Self-invested personal pension (SIPP). It is possible that our fee may become payable before you have access to your pension. In this event, you are still liable to pay our Success Fee of 12.5% plus VAT from your own funds.

5. Cancellation

5.1. If you decide that you do not want to proceed with our services you can cancel this Agreement by writing to us at any time, using the attached cancellation form.
5.2. If you cancel this Agreement during the first 14 days after you sign the Letter of Authority, you will not have to pay any cancellation fees.
5.3. We can cancel this Agreement at any time if you breach any of your responsibilities under the terms of the Agreement and you fail to rectify your breach within 14 days of us informing you of the breach, which we will attempt to do by both telephone and post.
5.4. Subject to clause 6.7, if this Agreement is cancelled after the expiry of 14 days, by either you or us (in accordance with clause 5.3), we will charge you a reasonable fee based on the value of the work that we have undertaken up to that point at the rate of £45 + VAT per hour.

6. Your Personal Data

We will use the personal information you give to us during the claims services process to:
6.1 Provide the Claims Services.
6.2 Tell you about similar products or services relating to financial claims, by email, SMS (text message), post and/or telephone, but you can opt out of receiving these at any time by contacting us.
6.3 We will not provide your personal data to any third party organisation except for the purpose of providing the claims services.

7. Other important information

7.1. You are entitled to seek further advice in relation to your claim and to consider what services might be most appropriate to your claim for compensation. In particular you have the right to shop around and you should be aware of the services provided by FOS.
7.2. You acknowledge that you are entitled to pursue a claim for compensation directly at no cost, with the ability to take matters further with FOS or the Small Claims Court, yet still wish to pursue your claims using the services of ACL.
7.3. You acknowledge that if the claim is successful for compensation for an Insurance policy, the policy will be cancelled and that you are responsible for organising a replacement policy (if appropriate).
7.4. The provisions of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 are excluded from this Agreement which means that only you and us have any rights under this Agreement. However, if you ask us to liaise with any third parties on your behalf in relation to this Agreement we will do so provided that you give us your written permission.
7.5. Our services are personal to you and for this reason you are not able to assign this Agreement to any other person.
7.6. You acknowledge that there is a small risk that a claim may result in court proceedings. In the highly unlikely event that this occurs we will continue to provide our services and arrange for you to be represented by a solicitor.
7.7. You acknowledge that we may pass your details to third party companies whose products and services may be of interest to you but we would not do so without your prior consent.
7.8. You acknowledge that any information provided is no substitute for legal advice.

8. Complaints

We hope that you will be very pleased with the service that we provide but in the unlikely event that you have a complaint please refer to the enclosed complaints procedure. You can also complain by e-mail:info@aclconsultancy.co.uk by telephone on 0333 358 0074 or by post to ACL Consultancy Ltd, The Old Carnegie Library, 361 Ormskirk Road, Wigan, WN5 9AE

9. Governing Law

9.1. This agreement shall be subject to the laws of England and Wales.