Bullet points

Here are some simplified bullet points requested by a journalist yesterday:

  • HFC Bank (part of the HSBC Group) for many years applied unlawful contingency fees to defaulting  accounts via their solicitors Restons – 16.4% of debt was added. (John Lewis, Dixons, Curry’s, B&Q, HFC Bank, Beneficial Finance etc). There was no contractual provision for the charges and the bank paid no legal costs.
  • Their solicitor Duncan Hamilton was told by NW in 2003 that the charges were unlawful.
  • NW reported his employers to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2006, for the unlawful practice. The SRA agreed, NW was sacked.
  • NW’s ex-employers & Restons solicitors continued to apply the charges until they were told to stop by an order of the Office of Fair Trading in November 2010.
  • No debtors affected have ever been compensated [apart from 2 NW has assisted]. NW estimates at least £500m applied. [NW has recently reported HSBC to the FSA and Duncan Hamilton and Restons to the SRA]
Last Modified on June 12, 2014
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