TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT (“AGREEMENT”)
We are one of the country’s leading consumer law firms and have been involved in some of the UK’s most important and ground-breaking cases.
These Terms of Engagement provide you with important information about how your potential vehicle finance mis-selling claim will be handled by us, how costs will be managed and the management of your claim.
Step 1: Please carefully read all of the Terms of Engagement (the ‘Terms’). The Agreement sets out our binding contract with you.
Step 2: If you are happy with the content of the Terms and wish to proceed, You will need to sign electronically on the portal to enable us to proceed. Your signature will be added to a letter of authority to be sent to the relevant finance provider and the below Terms of Engagement.
Reclaim My PCP is a trading style of Reclaim Legal Limited. Reclaim Legal Limited is a Private Limited Company (Company No. 13438429) with its registered office at Suite 103 4 Montpelier Street London SW7 1EE. Reclaim Legal Limited is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA no. 830575.
1. Definitions and Interpretation
a. “Agreement” means the contractual relationship between You and Us which You enter into by providing Your signature on the Letter of Authority (“LOA”) and this Agreement. This includes where You provide Your signature electronically.
b. “Reclaim Legal” means Reclaim Legal Limited. Any reference to ‘We’, ‘Us’ or ‘Our’ in this Agreement shall be taken to be a reference to Reclaim Legal. “You/Your” means the Account/Policy Holder whose details are set out in the Letter of Authority and who has Instructed Us to act on their behalf.
c. “Claim(s)”’means any Claim(s) or complaint(s) or potential Claim(s), whether litigated or not, against a Lender relating to (i) the failure to disclose commission charges, or other sums paid in connection with your Credit Product and/or ii) the failure to undertake sufficient affordability and/or creditworthiness checks when arranging Your Credit Product and/or iii) any other unfair lending practices identified during the provision of the Claims Services. For the avoidance of doubt, a separate and distinct agreement is hereby entered into with respect to each and every Claim, and the Success Fee is payable upon Compensation awarded in relation to each and every Claim. You agree that each Claim is accordingly not a ‘connected’ or ‘associated’ Claim for the purposes of the SRA Regulatory Arrangements (Claims Management Fees) Rules 2024 or any other applicable legislation or rules.
c. “Claim(s)”’means any Claim(s) or complaint(s) or potential Claim(s), whether litigated or not, including any claim(s) under a FCA rules based remediation or complaints programme or any claim(s) to a consumer redress scheme whether voluntary or introduced by the FCA, against a Lender relating to (i) the failure to disclose commission charges, or other sums paid in connection with your Credit Product and/or ii) the failure to undertake sufficient affordability and/or creditworthiness checks when arranging Your Credit Product and/or iii) any other unfair lending practices identified during the provision of the Claims Services. For the avoidance of doubt, a separate and distinct agreement is hereby entered into with respect to each and every Claim, and the Success Fee is payable upon Compensation awarded in relation to each and every Claim. You agree that each Claim is accordingly not a ‘connected’ or ‘associated’ Claim for the purposes of the SRA Regulatory Arrangements (Claims Management Fees) Rules 2024 or any other applicable legislation or rules.
d. “Claims Services” means the work We undertake to prepare, submit and negotiate the Claim(s) to/with the Lender, as broadly outlined in Clause 2 of these Terms of Engagement.
e. “Cooling-Off Period” means 14 days after the date that You provide Your signature to Us during which You can cancel this Agreement free of charge.
f. “Compensation” means any sums offered, paid or given in respect of a settlement, goodwill gesture, policy refund or rebate or any other payment associated with the Claim(s) including any interest payments and associated charges. For the avoidance of doubt Compensation also includes any sums used to reduce any outstanding balances/debt.
g. “Credit Product” means a financial product allowing You to borrow money from a Lender. This includes, but is not limited to Credit Cards, Store Cards, Loans and Car Finance
h. “CRIF check” means a search carried out by us through a third party provider to verify identity, complete required money laundering checks and ascertain financial status. This will not appear on your credit history.
i. “Data Subject Access Request” (DSAR) means an information request that We will send to Your Lender on Your behalf to request information to substantiate Your Claim(s), where required.
j. “FSCS” means Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
k. “FOS” means the Financial Ombudsman Service, who can review the Lender’s decision about Your Claim(s).
l. “Instruction” means You authorising Us to undertake the Claims Services by providing Your signature. This includes where You provide Your signature electronically.
m. “Lender” means the business; for example the Lender, Credit Provider or Broker, which was responsible for the arrangement of the Credit Product. This includes any representative or affiliate of a Lender.
n. “Letter of Authority” means the document that may be sent to the Lender with any DSAR and/or Claim that evidences Our authority to act on Your behalf.
o. “Soft Credit Check” means Us reviewing Your credit file to identify information about Your Lenders and Your Credit Products. This check will appear on Your credit file but will only be visible to You and will not adversely affect Your credit rating.
p. “Success Fee” means the amount You will have to pay to Us for the Claims Services, as detailed in Clause 5 of these Terms of Engagement and payable per Claim.
q. Unless the context otherwise requires, words in the singular include the plural and in the plural include the singular.
2. Claim Services
a. We will not process the Claim(s) until We receive Your Instruction.
b. You understand that by providing Your signature to Us You are providing Instruction for Us to identify all Credit Products You have held with Lenders since 2008 and make a Claim(s) against the relevant Lenders on your behalf, including submitting Your Claim(s) to FOS, where We identify that such Claim(s) has a reasonable prospect of success.
c. Upon receiving Your Instruction We may undertake the Soft Credit Check to identify which Lenders you held Credit Products with and information about the Credit Products, including account numbers. We will also carry out identification, money laundering a financial checks in line with our regulatory obligations (“CRIF check”). You understand that by providing Your signature to Us You are providing authority to us to undertake these checks.
d. Once we identify Your Lenders and Credit Products, we will: (i) submit a Claim(s) to the Lender(s), or the FSCS, where We have all relevant information to do so and believe the Claim(s) has a reasonable prospect of success; and/or (ii) where required, request additional information from You to substantiate Your Claim(s) against Your Lenders; and/or (iii) where required, request information from the Lenders or other relevant third parties about the Credit Products You held.
e. We will use reasonable endeavours to obtain Compensation for each Claim pursued and will liaise and negotiate with the Lender on Your behalf, as necessary to progress the Claim(s).
f. Where Your Lender does not provide a satisfactory outcome to Your Claim(s), We will assess Your Claim(s) and submit the Claim(s) to FOS where there is merit to do so.
g. We will keep You updated throughout the Claim(s) and promptly notify You of the outcome of the Claim(s).
h. We may outsource some elements of the Claims Services such as the administration of the Claim(s), taking and making of telephone calls and/or chasing documents from You to a specialist supervised Company(ies). You agree for Us to outsource elements of the Claim(s).
i. Where interest is included by the Lender as part of the Compensation, they may deduct tax from this and pay it directly to HMRC. Depending on Your personal tax status this tax may be refundable. Where You have a successful Claim(s) We will contact You at the conclusion of the Claim(s) to assist You in claiming a tax refund, where this is due to You.
j. Where your Lender and FOS do not provide a satisfactory outcome to Your Claim(s) and following a further assessment of Your Claim(s), and conditional upon our specific confirmation and agreement in writing after our further assessment, we may pursue your Claim(s) in litigation through the courts.
3. Our Responsibilities and Liabilities
a. We will:
(i) always act in Your best interests subject to Our legal and regulatory obligations; and
(ii) provide You with a reasonable standard of service, in line with Your Agreement with Us.
b. We will use reasonable endeavours to keep safe any information or documents that You, the Lender or any third party send to Us. We will not be responsible for any loss to You or any third party arising out of the loss of documents or information including in transit either to or from Us. Any additional protection that You require for lost documentation or information (for example photocopies and/or a Recorded Delivery service by Royal Mail) will be at Your discretion and Your expense.
c. We are required to verify Your identity(ies) and address(es). By giving Your Instruction You acknowledge that You are giving consent to Us to undertake an electronic check to verify Your identity(ies) and address(es). This process involves searches with credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies and the electoral register. The agencies will record the details of the search but the electronic check will have no adverse effect on Your credit rating. Subject to these checks, We may require You to supply certain documents and/or We may refuse, at Our discretion, to act for You without giving reason.
d. We will not be liable to You whether in contract or tort for indirect losses which happen as a side effect of the main loss or damage and which are not foreseeable by You and by Us, such as (but not limited to) loss of profits, loss of opportunity, loss of benefits or tax demands.
e. Our total liability to You in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with Your Agreement with Us, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall in no circumstances exceed the amount of any Compensation to which You are entitled for the Claim(s) in connection to which We are liable unless those losses were foreseeable by both parties when Your signature was provided. We consider that this limit is reasonable and fair in view of the type of work that We are undertaking. If the limit does cause You any concern, please contact Us so that We can discuss Your concerns.
f. Nothing in these Terms of Engagement shall limit or exclude Our liability for:
(i) death or personal injury caused by Our negligence, or the negligence of Our employees, agents or subcontractors;
(ii) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or
(iii) breach of the terms implied by sections 49 to 52 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
4. Your Responsibilities
a. You acknowledge that You could pursue the Claim(s) Yourself with the assistance of any legal expenses insurance that You may have or, where applicable, through an Ombudsman Compensation Scheme, such as the FSCS.
b. By entering into this Agreement, You agree to:-
(i) provide Us with all information and documents which are relevant to the Claim(s),including but not limited to Credit Agreements, letters, documents and emails. You agree to provide Instruction for Us to request any information required to substantiate the Claim(s) from the Lender, by way of a DSAR or by any other method;
(ii) co-operate generally with Us in the conduct of the Claim(s), including by dealing promptly with requests We make for authority, information, documents, Instruction or further requests;
(iii) tell Us promptly if any information that You have previously given to Us is no longer true or accurate. Including Your contact information, which You agree to ensure is up to date at all times;
(iv) inform Us promptly of any relevant matters affecting the Claim(s), such as direct contact from the Lender, and consult with Us before making any contact with or having any discussion or correspondence with the Lender concerning any aspect of the Claim(s);
(v) not abandon or discontinue the Claim(s) or any part of the Claim(s) against Our advice;
(vi) not settle the Claim(s) without Our consent;
(vii) give Us the exclusive right to deal with the Claim(s) and to not enter into any new agreement, orally or in writing, with any other person(s) in respect of the Claim(s) unless We otherwise agree to this in writing; and
(viii) not ask Us to work in any way that is improper or unreasonable or cause or contribute to a conflict of interest arising that would prevent Us from continuing to act in the Claim(s);
(viii) pay to us the Success Fee in the event of receiving Compensation.
5. Compensation, Fees and Charges
a. You acknowledge that any approximate value of Compensation given to You is an estimate only. The success of any Claim(s) depends on Your individual circumstances.
b. If We undertake the Claims Services and are not successful in obtaining Compensation then You owe Us nothing.
c. If We are successful in obtaining a reasonable offer or payment of Compensation then Our Success Fee is contained in the below table, excluding VAT which is charged at the prevailing statutory rate:
The Success Fee charged for any Claim is the lower of –
(a) The maximum percentage rate of charge with reference to the redress awarded for the Claim, or
(b) The maximum total charge in the table below applicable to the redress awarded for the Claim.
| Band | Redress awarded for a claim (3) | The maximum percentage rate of charge | The maximum total charge (£) |
| 1 | 1-1,499 | 30% | 420 |
| 2 | 1,500 – 9,999 | 28% | 2,500 |
| 3 | 10,000 – 24,999 | 25% | 5,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 – 49,999 | 20% | 7,500 |
| 5 | 50,000 or above | 15% | 10,000 |
d. In addition to Our Success Fee, You agree to pay an Administration Charge of up to £10.00, inclusive of VAT for each Claim We submit to Your Lender on Your behalf, unless the Success Fee and Administration Charge are together greater than the upper limit identified above . The Administration Charge is payable to cover administrative costs associated with Your Claim, including the cost of payment processing. You will not be required to pay this fee to us directly but it will be deducted from your Compensation.
e. For the avoidance of doubt, if You receive a reasonable offer of Compensation from the Lender and You reject that reasonable offer, or refuse to sign any Acceptance Form from the Lender, the Success Fee and Administration Charge would still be payable by You to Us even though You would not receive any Compensation Yourself as You have rejected that reasonable offer.
f. In entering into this Agreement with Us, You have agreed for all Compensation to be paid directly to Us and agree that We shall deduct the Success Fee and Administration Charge before paying the balance of the Compensation to You. Before deducting Our Success Fee and Administration Charge from any Compensation received, We will send an invoice to You which details the amount(s) due to Us and the balance of Compensation due to You. All funds will be held in Our Client Account in accordance with the SRA Account Rules. A copy of Our policy on Monies held in Our Client Account, is available on request.
g. For the avoidance of doubt where You have more than one successful Claim(s) against one or more Lender, We may deduct from any Compensation paid the Success Fee and Administration Charge in respect of each of the Claims from the Compensation received for any one of those Claims.
h. Payment of the Success Fee and Administration Charge become due at the point that either We or You are informed of an offer of Compensation and payable from the date We or You receive Your Compensation. If the Lender offers or pays Compensation to You directly, You agree to notify Us immediately (and within seven days at the latest) and to provide the details We need to calculate the Success Fee and Administration Charge.
i. Compensation may be used by a Lender to reduce any outstanding debt that You owe a Lender and You understand that Our Success Fee and Administration Charge will be payable based on the total amount of calculated Compensation even if the Lender does not pay the whole sum of the Compensation to You.
j. Your Compensation may be applied as part of Your bankruptcy estate, insolvency asset, or other debt arrangement and Your Compensation may not be paid directly to You. If Compensation is paid directly by the Lender to an Insolvency Practitioner or the Official Receiver, and You do not receive any Compensation, You will not be liable for Our Success Fee or Administration Charge.
k. If You fail to pay the Success Fee and Administration Charge due and payable in accordance with the Agreement, We reserve the right to cancel all other active Claims.
l. We reserve the right to charge for costs incurred in recovering unpaid Success Fee(s) and Administration Charge(s) where an offer or payment of Compensation is made from a Lender directly to You.
m. You agree to provide Us with Your Bank details via a secure method to enable Us to pay You Your Compensation, less our Success Fee and Administration Charge, where We receive this directly.
n. We will take reasonable steps to ensure You receive any money due to You. If You do not provide Your Bank details within 12 months of Us receiving Your Compensation, or a cheque we issue to You is not cashed within 12 months of the issue date and We do not receive any contact from You, We will close Your file and You agree for Us to pay the outstanding monies to a charity of Our choice.
o. If You ask Us to re-issue a cheque We have sent to You, there will be a charge of £15.00, inclusive of VAT. Where the value of the cheque is under £15.00 You will not be required to pay Us any more than the amount of the cheque. We will not charge You if We have made a mistake that requires Your cheque to be re-issued.
p. Our Agreement shall continue to operate until all Claims where a Success Fee and Administration Charge are payable have been settled.
6. Cancellation and Assignment
a. You must notify Us of Your intention to cancel Your Claim, by emailing us at welcome@reclaimmypcp.org.uk.
b. You have a Cooling-Off Period of 14-days after the date You provide Your signature to Us, during which You may cancel Your Claim with no charge.
c. By providing Your signature to Us You expressly request that We commence the Services immediately and prior to the end of the Cooling-Off Period.
d. You acknowledge by providing Your signature to Us that Your right to a 14-day Cooling-Off Period is waived if Your Claim has been processed by the Lender and an offer of Compensation has been made within this 14-day period.
e. If You cancel Your Claim outside the Cooling-Off Period, Our Success Fee will remain payable for any offer of Compensation that has been made by Your Lender up to the date of Your cancellation, or that is approved by the Lender after Your cancellation.
f. We may at Our sole discretion cancel this Agreement at any time, but We must act reasonably in taking such a decision. We will promptly notify You if We decide to Cancel this Agreement.
g. We reserve the right to assign this Agreement and all rights under it and to subcontract to others all or any of Our obligations under it. This Agreement is personal to You and is not assignable by You except to Your personal representatives.
7. Your Personal Data
a. We take the privacy of Your personal information seriously. We will only use the personal information You provide to Us as outlined both in this Clause 7 and in Our Privacy Policy which can be viewed at www.reclaimmypcp.org.uk/privacy-policy. We ask that You read Our Privacy Policy carefully and, if required, a hard copy is available upon request.
b. During the execution of the Claims Services Your personal information may be shared in so far as it is necessary to effectively carry out the Claims Services, including sharing with approved third party organisations where necessary.
c. We may also use Your personal data to 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, or from a specific method of communication, at any time by contacting Us.
d. After providing the Claims Services We will be entitled to continue to hold Your personal information until the Claim(s) is concluded and We receive full payment of money owed to Us for Fees plus VAT, or Expenses incurred. We will then keep Your personal information for up to seven years in accordance with applicable regulations, in electronic form after which time We will destroy it.
8. Complaints, Governing Law and Indemnity Insurance
a. You can make a complaint about Our service via Our internal complaints procedure by email to PCPcomplaints@reclaimlegal.co.uk.
b. Should You remain unhappy with Our service, You may refer Your complaint, within six months of the date of Our final response, to the Legal Ombudsman Service, by email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org. uk, by phone on 0300 555 0333 or post to Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ. The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints up to six years from the date of the problem happening or within three years of when You found out about the problem.
c. Each party irrevocably agrees that any proceedings relating to any dispute or Claim(s) (including noncontractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with the Agreement or its subject matter or formation shall be brought in the Courts of England and Wales and shall be governed and construed by the law of England and Wales.