1. DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1 The definitions & rules of interpretation in this clause apply in these Conditions. Award: any offer of compensation made at any time by the Creditor(s) to You in connection with the Claim.

Claim: a claim made against a Creditor for losses suffered by You resulting from breach of contract, misrepresentation (or otherwise) by the Supplier.

Claim Assessment: the assessment of a potential Claim carried out by Us, based on the information provided and any documents or other information supplied by You, in order to determine the likely prospects of a Claim being successful.

Commencement Date: means the date that you confirmed to our compliance officer that We may proceed with your claim. This is when your signed Terms of Engagement come into effect and shall continue until terminated in accordance with the provisions of clause 10 Company/We/Our/Us: Addlington-West Group Limited who is authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN838665) Our registered address is: Business Resource Network, Office 3, 53 Whateleys Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2GY.Company Registration Number: 11554567 VAT Number: 327482784

Conditions: these terms and conditions as amended from time to time in accordance with clause 13.

Contract: the contract between Us and You for the supply of the Services on an exclusive basis in accordance with these Conditions.

Cooling Off Period: means the period in which You can cancel the Contract as defined in clause 10. The 14 days cancellation period starts on the day you have confirmed to our compliance officer We may proceed with your claim. Creditor: means the issuer of the credit facility that was used by You to purchase the goods and/or services to which the Claim relates.

Compliance Officer: means a representative of the company that ensures that You have a clear understanding of the contract that You have signed and the process that You are entering into.

Free Assessment Period: means the process by which We will review published statements including statements from regulatory bodies regarding specific companies that may have mis-sold your product and assess your claim.

You will never be charged a Fee(s) during the Free Assessment period. Free Assessment means: 

a) We will review any published statements including statements from regulatory bodies regarding specific companies that may have mis sold your product(s) and assess your claim. If your product has been purchased from a known timeshare or holiday club provider that has mis sold products previously, We will arrange a telephone consultation to discuss this matter with you, this call will be conducted by one of our compliance officers.

 b) You will be advised on this call of whether We believe you have grounds for a claim. If there are no grounds to make a claim(s) We will inform you of this and your claim will be closed at this point with no fees payable.

c) If there are grounds for a claim, we will discuss this with you. You have the option at this point to continue with the process to make a claim with the Firm or you may end our agreement at this point with no fees due. If you wish to continue, we will progress your claim on your behalf. Your 14 -day cooling off period will start from the date of the consultation with our compliance officer in which you agree for us to proceed with your claim(s).

Early Termination Fee: means any fee that you may be liable to pay us, as set out in clause 5.7 and clause 10, in the event that you cancel this agreement outside of the 14-day cooling off period.

Services: means the provision of advice, investigation, and or / representation of a potential Claim for any losses sustained by the Client in respect of Mis- selling of the investment by the Firm.

Success Fee: fee payable in respect of an Award, as described in clause in 5.1 Supplier: the supplier of the goods and/or services to which the Claim relates.

You/Your: the person or persons who have engaged Us to provide the Services.

1.2  Clause, schedule, and paragraph headings shall not affect the interpretation of the Contract.

1.3  A person includes a natural person, corporate or unincorporated body (whether or not having separate legal                 personality) and that person’s legal and personal representatives, successors and permitted assigns.

1.4  Words in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.

1.5  A reference to writing or written includes faxes and e-mail.

1.6  Where the words include(s), including or in particular are used in these Conditions, they are deemed to have the         words without limitation following them. Where the context permits, the words other and otherwise

       are illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding them.

1.7  Any obligation on a person in these Conditions not to do something includes an obligation not to agree, allow,           permit, or acquiesce in that thing being done. 

1.8  References to clauses and schedules are to the clauses and schedules of these conditions.

 

2. COMMENCEMENT, DURATION AND EXCLUSIVITY PERIOD

2.1 The Contract shall come into existence once you have confirmed to our compliance officer that We may proceed with your claim (Commencement Date). This is when your signed Terms of Engagement come into effect and shall continue until terminated in accordance with the provisions of clause 10.

 

3. COMPANY’S OBLIGATIONS

3.1 Subject to clause 3.2, We shall:

a) Provide the Services with reasonable skill and care.

b) Use Our reasonable endeavours to complete the Claim Assessment in a timely fashion.

c)  Pursue the Claim only where, following completion of the Claim Assessment, We, in Our absolute

     discretion, determine that:

(i) there is a realistic prospect of the claim being successful; and

(ii) the Claim is financially viable for Us to pursue,

d)  notify you promptly in the event that any additional information or documentation is required from you

     in connection with the claim.

e)  in a timely fashion keep you informed as to the progress of the claim and respond to any reasonable

     enquiries from you in respect of the claim within the frequency set out in clause 22

f)  deal with any complaints made by you in a timely manner in accordance with the provisions of our

     complaints handling procedure. We are subject to the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service

     (FOS) and complaints can be escalated to the FOS in accordance with our complaints handling procedure.

3.2 Any dates agreed in respect of the performance of Our obligations under the Contract shall be estimates only.

 

4.  CLIENT’S OBLIGATIONS

4.1 The Client shall:

a) co-operate with the Company in all matters relating to the Services.

b) not appoint another person to provide the services under this agreement until this agreement is terminated in accordance with the provision of clause 10.

c) promptly provide copies of all documents and information relating to each Claim (for the avoidance of doubt, it shall be the Client’s 

d) responsibility to ensure that they send Us copies of documents and retain their own copies where originals are specifically required.

e) provide, in a timely manner, such information and documentation as the Company may reasonably require in connection with each Claim and ensure that it is accurate in all material respects.

f) will in connection with any claim promptly give notice to the Firm in writing of any acceptance of any offer, or receipt of any redress made from the Bank/Credit Card Provider or FOS during the terms of this agreement. Such notification shall include the amount of redress and the date of payment (or if payment is already made) then the client shall procure such details are certified by the Bank/Credit Card Provider or FOS immediately notify the Company if the Client is:

i) deemed either unable to pay its debts or as having no reasonable prospect of so doing (within the meaning

   of section 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986)

ii) You must notify the company if in Great Britain or in any other jurisdiction if any of the following has

     occurred or is likely to occur:

• Have ever been declared bankrupt
• Are subject to a bankruptcy petition
• Are subject to, or have ever been subject to, an individual voluntary arrangement.
• Have proposed an individual voluntary arrangement which is yet to be approved or rejected by creditors
• Are currently subject to, or have ever been subject to a debt relief order; or
• Are or have ever been subject to any other similar process or arrangement which is similar to those listed above including but not limited to sequestration

NB: If you are subject to any of the above arrangements any compensation might, in certain circumstances be off set against your outstanding debts and you will where necessarily need to pay our fees from the funds that are not subject to the arrangements listed below:

4.2 Will pay the fee due to Addlington-West Group in accordance with Clause 5.4/5.6 and 11.

4.3 If Our performance of Our obligations under the Contract is prevented or delayed by any act or omission by You, We shall not be liable for any costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by You that arise directly or indirectly from such prevention or delay.

4.4 You shall be liable to pay to Us, on demand, all reasonable costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by Us (including any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit and loss of reputation, loss or damage to property and those arising from injury to or death of any person and loss of opportunity to deploy resources elsewhere) that arise directly or indirectly from Your fraud, negligence, failure to perform or delay in the performance of any of Your obligations under the Contract, subject to Us confirming such costs, charges and losses to You in writing.

 

5.  SUCCESS FEE

5.1 For each separate claim, you shall pay us a success fee where your claim is successful.  The amount of success fee will be dependent on the level of award/compensation that is offered and is based on the GROSS amount. Our fees range from 15% to 25% excluding VAT. VAT will also be added and charged at the prevailing rate which is currently 20%

5.2  Please find an illustration of what the success fee would be  if you were made an offer of compensation to one of the amounts detailed in table below:

The fee illustrations are not to be taken as an estimate of the amount likely to be recovered for you. (VAT rate calculated as the correct rate on 27th June 2019, subject to change).

 

5.3 The Success Fee shall become due upon an acceptance of an Award agreed by you.

5.4 The Success Fee shall be payable to Us within 14 days of the awarded claim amount being received into your account.

5.5 If following a Claim Assessment, We, in our absolute discretion, determine that there is no realistic prospect of the Claim being successful or that the Claim is not financially viable for Us to pursue no Success Fee shall be payable.

5.6 Without prejudice to any other right or remedy that it may have, if You fail to pay Us on the due date for any payment, We may:(a) pursue the debt through legal proceedings.

5.7 If you have outstanding liabilities with the respondent there is a possibility that any compensation/redress will be off set against those outstanding liabilities, and you may still be liable to pay the Firm’s service fees from own funds. If you have been subject to bankruptcy, a debt relief order, an IVA, sequestration or a similar arrangement the compensation/redress might, in certain circumstances be off set against your outstanding debts; and you will, where necessary, may still be liable to pay the Firm’s service fees from own funds.

 

6. PAYMENT OF REASONABLE COSTS FOR EARLY TERMINATION

6.1 If the Contract is terminated after the end of the Cooling Off Period but before an Award is offered to You, or accepted by Us on Your behalf, you may be liable to pay a reasonable fee to Us in respect of work undertaken by Us prior to such termination (“Early Termination Fee”).

6.2  Following such early termination, we shall submit an invoice to You, setting out the amount of the Early Termination Fee, which shall be payable by You within 14 days.

6.3  If the Contract is terminated during the Cooling Off Period, no Early Termination Fee will be payable.

6.4 You can terminate the agreement at any time after the 14-day cooling off period. However, an early termination fee may be charged. This is a reasonable fee in relation to work completed to date. In order to calculate the basis of this charge, the payable amount will be calculated by the time engaged undertaking work at the firm´s hourly rate, applicable at this date (Currently charged at £100 per hour inclusive of VAT). Although, such fees shall not exceed the initially agreed success fee, prior to work being undertaken.   

            

7. CONFIDENTIALITY

7.1 You shall keep in strict confidence all technical or commercial know-how, specifications, inventions, processes or initiatives which are of a confidential nature and have been disclosed to You by Us, Our employees, agents consultants or subcontractors and any other confidential information concerning Our business or Our products which You may obtain.

7.2 We and You may each disclose such information as may be required by law, court order or any governmental or regulatory authority.

7.3 You shall not use any such information for any purpose other than to perform Your obligations under the Contract.

 

8.   LIMITATION OF LIABILITY – YOUR ATTENTION IS PARTICULARLY DRAWN TO THIS CLAUSE

8.1 Nothing in these conditions shall limit or exclude our liability for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; or (a) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

8.2 Subject to clause 8.1, if we fail to comply with these conditions, we shall be liable for loss or damage suffered by you that is a reasonably foreseeable result of our breach of the conditions or of our negligence, but we are not responsible for any loss  or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it were an obvious consequence of our breach or if it were contemplated by you and us on the commencement date.

8.3 Except as set out in these conditions, all warranties, conditions and other terms implied by statute or common law are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, excluded from the contract. Where, following a claim assessment, we agree to pursue a claim, we make no representation or warranty, and provides no guarantee, that such claim will be successful.

8.4 This clause (Clause 8) shall survive termination of the contract.

 

9.  DATA PROTECTION

We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of the services to you and for related purposes including:

• updating and enhancing client records
• analysis to help us manage our practice statutory returns
• legal and regulatory compliance

Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (including any legislation that replaces the aforementioned) and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. Under data protection legislation you have a right of access to the personal data that we hold about you. We may from time to time send you information that we think might be of interest to you by email, post. If  you do not wish to receive that information please notify our office, preferably in writing.

 

10. CLIENT’S RIGHT TO CANCEL

10.1 You have the right to cancel the Contract at any time during the cooling off period of 14 days starting from the day of the consultation with the Compliance Officer.

10.2 Notice of cancellation may be made in writing, by e-mail, by telephone or in any other form to the person named in the accompanying letter. However, to establish proof of cancellation it is preferable to send this by registered post. You can use the NOTICE OF RIGHT OF CANCELLATION FORM provided separately, but you do not have to do so. Cancellation is subject to payment of our costs to date where you have previously instructed us to commence instructions in writing, please refer to clause 6. For the avoidance of doubt, no fees will be due if you cancel within the Cooling Off Period.

 

11. TERMINATION

11.1  We may terminate the contract if:

 a) following the claim assessment, we, in our absolute discretion, determine that:

 i) there is no realistic prospect of the claim being successful; or

ii) the claim is not financially viable for us to pursue; or (b) you commit a material breach of the contract and (if such a breach is remediable) you fail to remedy that breach within 14 days of being notified in writing of the breach; or

 b) you are deemed either unable to pay your debts or as having no reasonable prospect of so doing, in either case, within the meaning of section 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or if you are the subject of a bankruptcy petition or order.

11.2  without prejudice to Clause 10, You may terminate the contract:

a) if we commit a material breach of the contract and (if such a breach is remediable) we fail to remedy that breach within 14 days of being notified in writing of the breach or

b) at any time by giving written notice to us.

11.3  the contract shall terminate automatically if:

a) the claim is rejected; and

b) we, in our absolute discretion, determine that there is no realistic prospect of the claim being successfully pursued any further.

 

12. CONSEQUENCES OF TERMINATION

12.1  On termination of the Contract for any reason (other than cancellation during the Cooling Off Period in accordance with clause 10):

a) you shall be liable to pay the Early Termination Fee (if any)

b) the accrued rights, remedies, obligations and liabilities of the parties as at termination shall not be affected, including the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of the Contract which existed at or before the date of termination; and 8 (Limitation of liability), clause 12, clause 20 (Notices) and clause 21 (Governing law and jurisdiction).

c) if You do not pay the invoice, then the firm may use a debt collection company to retrieve funds:

 

Debt Collection Services Ltd

Unit 5 First Floor,

Silkwood Court Wakefield

WF5 9TP

 

12.2 For the avoidance of doubt, if the Contract is terminated automatically in accordance with clause 11.3, You shall not be liable to pay a Success Fee or an Early Termination Fee.

 

13. FORCE MAJEURE

13.1  For the purposes of the contract, “Force Majeure Event” means an event beyond our reasonable control including, but not limited to, strikes, lockouts or other industrial disputes (whether this involves our workforce or any other party), failure of a utility service or transport network, act of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, fire, flood, storm or default of suppliers or subcontractors.

13.2  We shall not be liable to you as a result of any delay or failure to perform our obligations under the contract as a result of a Force Majeure Event.

 13.3  If the Force Majeure Event prevents us from providing any of the services for more than four weeks, we shall, without limiting our other rights or remedies, have the right to terminate the contract immediately by giving written notice to You.

 

14. VARIATION

No variation of the Contract shall be valid unless it is in writing and signed by User on Our behalf.

 

15. WAIVER

15.1  A waiver of any right or remedy under the contract is only effective if given in writing and shall not be deemed a waiver of any subsequent breach or default. A failure or delay by a party to exercise any right or remedy provided under the contract or by law shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it preclude or restrict any further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

15.2  No single or partial exercise of any right or remedy provided under the contract or by law shall preclude or restrict the further exercise of any such right or remedy.

 

16. SEVERANCE

16.2  If any court or competent authority finds that any provision of the Contract (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part provision shall, to the extent required, be deemed to be deleted, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of the Contract shall not be affected.

16.3  If any invalid, unenforceable or illegal provision of the Contract would be valid, enforceable and legal if some part of it were deleted, the provision shall apply with the minimum modification necessary to make it legal, valid and enforceable.

 

17. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

17.1  The Contract constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes and extinguishes all previous drafts, arrangements, understandings or agreements between them, whether written or oral, relating to the subject matter of the Contract.

17.2  Each party acknowledges that, in entering into the Contract, it does not rely on, and shall have no remedies in respect of, any representation or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in the Contract. Each party agrees that its only liability in respect of those representations and warranties that are set out in the Contract (whether made innocently or negligently) shall be for breach of contract.

17.3  Nothing in this clause shall limit or exclude any liability for fraud.

 

18. ASSIGNMENT

18.1 We may transfer Our rights and obligations under the Contract to another organisation, and We will always notify you in writing if this happens, but this will not affect Your rights or Our obligations under the Contract. You may not transfer Your rights or Your obligations under the contract to any other person.

18.2 Each party that has rights under the Contract is acting on its own behalf and not for the benefit of another person.

 

19.  RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES

A person who is not a party to the Contract shall not have any rights under or in connection with it.

 

20. NOTICES

20.1 Any notice or other communication required to be given to a party under or in connection with the Contract shall be in writing and shall be delivered to the other party personally or sent by prepaid first-class post, recorded delivery or by commercial courier, at its registered office (if a company) or (in any other case) its principal place of business, or sent by fax to the other party’s main fax number.

20.2 Any notice or other communication shall be deemed to have been duly received if delivered personally, when left at the address referred to above or, if sent by pre-paid first-class post or recorded delivery, at 9.00 am on the second business day after posting, or if delivered by commercial courier, on the date and at the time that the courier’s delivery receipt is signed, or if sent by fax, on the next business day after transmission.

 

21. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

21.1 The Contract and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the law of England and Wales.

21.2 The parties irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection with the Contract or its subject matter or formation (including noncontractual disputes or claims).

 

22. SERVICE LEVELS AND FREQUENCY OF COMMUNICATION

Hours of Operation: - We are normally open between 09.00am and 05.00pm from Monday to Friday. We will update you by telephone or in writing with progress on your Claim every six months, when appropriate and we will update you on the likely timescales for each stage of this matter and any important changes in those estimates. Whenever there is a material change in circumstances associated with your Claim, we will update you what options are available and suggest an appropriate course of action.

Outsourcing-Sometimes we ask other companies or people to conduct work for us which may include typing/photocopying/other work on our files to ensure this is done promptly/in the most cost-effective manner. We will always seek a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers. If you do not want your file to be outsourced, please tell us as soon as possible.

External auditing - External firms or organisations may conduct an audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organisations are required to maintain confidentiality in relation to your files.

Equality and diversity - We are committed to promoting quality and diversity in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our equality and diversity policy.

Future instructions -Unless otherwise agreed, these Terms of Engagement will apply to all future instructions you give us on this or any other matter.

 

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

1. Complaints may be made verbally or in writing, by e-mail, by telephone or in another form in respect of a claims management service that Addlington-West Group have provided. If you are making a complaint, please use the following details: Telephone: 01926 800 179 or  Email: Info@addlingtonwestgroup.co.uk Or post to Addlington-West Group, Business Resource Network, Office 3, 53 Whateleys Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2GY. The following complaints procedure is made available to every client upon request, will be supplied upon receipt of a complaint and is published on the company’s website.

2. We reserve the right to decline the consideration of a complaint that is made more than six years after the event when the complaint occurred, or more than three years after you became aware of the cause of the complaint. There may be instances where we will waive this requirement at our discretion. We will confirm to you in writing if a complaint has been made outside the limited that we are prepared to consider.

3. We will send you electronic or written acknowledgment of your complaint within five business days of receipt. We will identify the person who will handle the complaint. Wherever practically possible, that person will not have been directly involved in the subject of the complaint and will have the relevant authority to investigate and bring the complaint to satisfactory outcome.

4. We will endeavour to issue a final response to the complaint within 8 weeks of the initial receipt. The Firms 'final response', being a written response from the respondent which: a response which:

a) addresses the complaint to a satisfactory outcome

b) a response which: explains why we are still not able to make a final response, giving reasons for the delay                   and indicating the timescale of when we will be able to provide a final response

c) response which: rejects the complaint and gives reasons for doing so

d) response which: informs you that if you are not satisfied with our response then you may refer

               your complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman by letter, email or telephone.

5. Where we decide that compensation is appropriate, we will settle it for any acts or omissions for which we are responsible. We will comply with any offer of compensation which you accept. Compensation may not always be financial.

 

If a complaint is not resolved after eight weeks, we will explain why we are not in a position to make a final response and indicates when we expect to be able to provide one or if you are dissatisfied with our final response, you can refer your complaint to the Claims Management Ombudsman. Their contact details are: Claims Management Ombudsman, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR Tel: 0800 023 4567 - Web: cmc.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

 N.B. Please note you have 6 months from the date of our final decision to approach the Claims Management Ombudsman.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE 

We are a claims handling business only and We do not provide any financial or legal advice of any kind. Any such information discussed with you is for general guidance purposes only and does not constitute financial or professional advice and We accept no liability for loss or damage of any kind arising from the use of, or inability to use any such information. You should seek your own independent financial advice. 

 

ACCEPTING FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT 

By accepting a full and final settlement in respect of this claim you will prejudice any future claims you may have been able to make against the Creditor. However, this may not prejudice any future claim(s) you may have against the Seller or any other third parties, which may include but are not limited to; consequential loss and or damages and class actions, for which you should seek independent legal advice. Acceptance of the full and final settlement does not relinquish the contract between you and the Seller. You are still bound by the terms of that contract. For the avoidance of doubt, you will still own the timeshare and therefore remain liable for any liabilities and obligations which arise as a result of your contract with the Seller.

 

LIMITATIONS ACT 1980 

Any claim in respect of a misrepresentation or breach of contract is subject to the 6-year statutory limitation period. For the avoidance of doubt if the statutory limitation period were to expire during our process of seeking redress for your claim, the Creditor may then decide the claim was outside the statutory limitation period and statute-bar your claim. This will ultimately result in your claim being closed permanently. This in all likelihood would end any option moving forward for financial redress. It is the domain of lawyers to issue proceedings which stops the statutory limitation period from expiring. If you are in doubt regarding this matter, please seek independent legal advice to instigate such proceedings. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: We believe that we provide a valuable service to our clients but would like to remind you:  that you do not need to engage a claims management company in order to make a Claim, you can submit your own claim for free - there are a number of bodies that you can claim through depending on the circumstances of the claim. This can be presented through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) www.financial- ombudsman.org.uk. We shall not be held liable for any claim wholly or partly excluded under Financial Ombudsman Service rules. We will submit all claims in good faith and with reasonable skill and care. You acknowledge that We may transfer your data outside of the European Economic area.