Terms of Engagement
Terms of Engagement for the appointment of Belmont Thornton to act on the Client's behalf in all aspects of the administration & negotiation of the claim.
1.Definitions
1.1 "Agreement" means the contract comprising the Letter of Authority and these Terms of Engagement, between Belmont Thornton and the Client for the provision of the services which shall be carried out in accordance with these Terms.
1.2 "Belmont Thornton" means Belmont Thornton, a limited liability company and a third party claims handler, registered in England and Wales with number 6221233 having its registered office at Suite 2, Unit 25, The Coda Centre, Munster Road, Fulham, London, SW6 6AW.
1.3 "Cancellation Fee" means the reasonable costs incurred for the work undertaken in pursuit of the claim by Belmont Thornton charged at the rate £85 + £17 VAT = £102 per hour pro rata.
1.4 "Claim(s)" means the Client's claim or claims against the Company relating to the mis-selling of a payment protection insurance policy or policies; or the application of unlawful charges to the account(s) of the client.
1.5 "Client" means the policyholder/account holder(s), whose details are set out in the Letter of Authority and who have appointed Belmont Thornton to provide services.
1.6 "Company" means the Financial Institution and or persons whom the Letter of Authority is addressed being the Insurance Company, Bank, Building Society, Credit Card Company or Financial Advisor or any other entity which sold the policy or gave the advice to the Client, or applied the unlawful charges (including for the avoidance of doubt any employee, director, agents, representatives and associates of said entities or any other entity and/or any of their predecessors).
1.7 "Compensation" means total of any sums offered by the Company as a result of a Claim, including but not limited to gestures of goodwill, interest, reductions in borrowing and or arrears, and repayment of premiums.
1.8 "Fee" means the fee of 25% plus VAT (at the VAT rate applicable) of the Compensation, payable to Belmont Thornton for the Services carried out by it. For example, if we recover £1,000 Compensation, our fee would be £250 + £50 VAT = £300. A further example being where compensation is £2,500 which is applied as a reduction in the Client's loan of £2,000 and a cash payment of £500, our fee would be £625 + £125 VAT = £750.
1.9 "Letter of Authority" means the letter included in the claim pack to be sent to the Company authorising Belmont Thornton to act for the Client.
1.10 "Services" means the services provided by Belmont Thornton including assessing the viability of, preparing, submitting and negotiating your Claim.
1.11 "Terms" means the Terms of Engagement.
1.12 "Unsuccessful Claim" means one where no compensation is offered by The Company.
2. Conduct of Engagement
2.1 By signing the Letter of Authority, the Client hereby agrees to be bound by the Terms and appoints Belmont Thornton to provide the Services for such period as to allow Belmont Thornton to assess, and if reasonably possible, to complete the Claim.
3. The Client will:
3.1 by completing and signing the Letter of Authority give Belmont Thornton his/her/their consent and full authority to deal with the Company on the Client's behalf and obtain relevant information from whatever source on a continuing basis;
3.2 deal promptly with all reasonable requests by Belmont Thornton for authority, information, documents and further instructions that Belmont Thornton may from time to time require. Failure to do so will give Belmont Thornton the right to terminate the Agreement forthwith with the client being liable for the cancellation fee;
3.3 promptly inform Belmont Thornton of any relevant matters affecting the Claim and forward any documentation received from the Company in respect of The Claim;
3.4 hereby assign his/her/their entitlement to any Compensation to Belmont Thornton. The Client hereby agrees to the Company remitting the Compensation to Belmont Thornton and for Belmont Thornton to retain the Fee before paying the Client. Notwithstanding such agreement should compensation be paid directly to the Client, Belmont Thornton will invoice the Client for the Fee which will become immediately due and payable by the Client to Belmont Thornton;
3.5 give Belmont Thornton the right to deal exclusively with the Claim unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Client and Belmont Thornton;
3.6 subject to clause 3.7 below, if this Agreement is terminated by the Client for any reason, pay Belmont Thornton the Cancellation Fee;
3.7 if the client terminates the Agreement after an offer of Compensation has been made by the Company, the Fee will still be due and payable from the Client regardless of whether the Client accepts the offer
3.8 not be liable for any charge in respect of an Unsuccessful Claim;
3.9 not be liable in respect of any claim cancelled within 14 days starting from the date the Client signed the Letter of Authority. After this date cancellation will be subject to clause 3.6; and
3.10 pay Belmont Thornton the Fee within 28 days of notification of an offer to pay Compensation. If this fee is not paid in full within 28 days of the dated invoice Belmont Thornton reserves the right to refer the debt to a collection agency or pursue legal action which may result in the addition of further fees.
3.11 agree that where as a result of a claim submitted by Belmont Thornton, the Company investigates additional policies and makes offers of compensation to pay Belmont Thornton the fees due on all successful claims.
4. Belmont Thornton will:
4.1 rely on the information and documents provided by the Client to Belmont Thornton as being true, accurate, and complete. Belmont Thornton will not audit, test or check such information or documents except where it is under a legal obligation to do so;
4.2 use its reasonable endeavours to obtain the maximum Compensation for the Claims which are pursued;
4.3 accept no liability for an unsuccessful Claim or for the amount refunded to the Client;
4.4 as soon as is reasonably possible notify the Client if the Claim is not to be pursued. It is at Belmont Thornton's discretion to decide whether or not to proceed with the Claim at any time during the claims process but Belmont Thornton must act reasonably in taking any such decision;
4.5 as soon as is reasonably possible notify the Client of the outcome of the Claim;
4.6 as soon as is reasonably possible following the settlement of a Claim and the payment of Compensation by the Company to Belmont Thornton, pay the Client the balance of the Compensation, after deducting the Fee and;
4.7 preserve confidentiality, including the Client's personal information (even when this Agreement has terminated and the Client is no longer a client), save as expressly or implicitly authorised to the contrary including when disclosure is made at the Client's request or with the Client's consent in relation to pursuing the Claim or where otherwise required by law.
5. General
5.1 You are aware that you could complain directly to the Company at no cost, with the ability to take matters further with the Financial Ombudsman Service yet still wishes to pursue your complaint via Belmont Thornton.
5.2 Full details of Belmont Thornton's internal complaints handling procedures are available upon request or on Belmont Thornton's website.
5.3 Belmont Thornton is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities; our authorisation number is 18273
6. Governing Law
6.1 This Agreement shall be subject to the laws of England and Wales.V10 - September 2011