Thousands of consumers who fell foul of Cartel Client Review – the country’s biggest claims management firm before it was closed down by the regulator – will be angered to discover that its founder is back in business. The company offered to help customers escape debt by negotiating with creditors. But the regulator acted in 2010 after CCR took £20million from clients, many of whom struggled to recover their money. Now Financial Mail has established that founder and chief executive Carl Wright is linked to Grass Roots Financial, which is cashing in on the boom in claims for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

And the firm appears to be using methods that have infuriated banks as well as charging large fees to clients. Since the banks admitted mis-selling PPI, they have been deluged with compensation claims. Most are legitimate. Recently, though, banks have complained that some companies are clogging up the system with groundless claims and searches for customer files.
And customers who do make legitimate claims are handing over up to 30 per cent of any compensation to the firms. The Financial Ombudsman Service – which covers complaints against banks and other financial institutions – says most consumers should be able to make a claim by themselves. Regulation and licensing of claims companies is managed by the Claims Regulator, part of the Ministry of Justice, with operations based in the offices of Staffordshire County Council in Burton-upon-Trent. But critics claim that the regulator is ill-equipped for its job.

The regulator is facing a deluge of work and its 60 staff had to deal with 9,300 complaints about claims companies in the past year....Read more here: Cartel Client Review: Boss of crashed debt firm now at PPI claims firm