Beat The Interest Rate Swap Mis-selling Limitation
Poole, Dorset (PRWEB UK) 19 November 2013 -- Victims of interest rate swap mis-selling should take legal advice as soon as possible before the statute of limitation expires, warns Coles Miller Solicitors. Companies have six years to issue a claim but most of the products were sold between 2005 and 2008.Therefore very little time remains for some firms to take legal action while others may have already missed the deadline.
But there is hope for mis-selling case that fall outside the six-year time limit, says Coles Miller, which is handling claims from across England and Wales. Firms with claims that fall outside the time limit may be able to take legal action on the basis of alleged professional negligence by the bank as ‘advisers’.
Coles Miller litigation solicitor Carly Jermyn said: “It is important to get legal advice as soon as possible if you don’t want to get caught by the limit. If it can be established that the bank was providing financial advice rather than product information, then this will buy claimants more time. The clock starts to run from the date that the alleged negligence was first discovered, not when it occurred.”
There is also the option of redress through the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Banks have so far set aside £3 billion (1) to compensate companies that were mis-sold interest rate hedging products.
But to date the banks have paid out only £15.3 million in compensation to their victims. That is just 0.5 per cent of the total.
UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority has written to the banks telling them to speed up (2) the compensation process for the 25,000 firms affected by mis-selling.
FCA officials are concerned that the banks will miss its 12-month compensation deadline unless they process the victims’ claims for redress more quickly.
Coles Miller has launched a dedicated team of litigation solicitors tasked with helping companies that have been mis-sold interest rate swaps.
Victims are typically small and medium-sized enterprises. They were sold interest rate hedging rate products as a way of protecting themselves against rising interest rates.
But interest rates fell, forcing the companies to make extra payments on their loans – or face extra fees in order to escape the deals.
Coles Miller Solicitors LLP is based in Dorset but handles interest rate swap mis-selling, clinical negligence and personal injury cases from all over the country.
The firm also assists business clients in Dorset and Hampshire with legal advice on company commercial, property, planning, business disputes, employment law and debt recovery. Specialisms include the hotels & leisure and marine sectors.
Its dispute resolution solicitors use arbitration, mediation and other forms of negotiation to help improve the chances of success and reduce the cost of litigation for companies.
Coles Miller also carries out private client work including moving home, residential leasehold property, wills and probate, trusts, powers of attorney, planning, family law, disputes, debt recovery and equine law.
For further information about claiming compensation for interest rate swap mis-selling, please contact Coles Miller solicitor Carly Jermyn, 01202 673011.
(1) FCA Urges Banks To Speed Up Swaps Compensation, Reuters, 07 November 2013
(2) Swap Mis-selling Compensation Too Slow, BBC News, 07 November 2013
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Notes For Editors
Coles Miller is one of Dorset's leading law firms with offices in:
• Poole - (01202) 673011
• Charminster - (01202) 511512
• Bournemouth - (01202) 293226
• Broadstone - (01202) 694891
• Wimborne - (01202) 935039
Coles Miller is one the largest law firms in the region with 13 Partners and around 110 staff. It traces its history back to the late 1920s.
As well as providing a full legal service for the private client, the firm also has one of the largest dedicated commercial departments in the Bournemouth and Poole area.
Lee Taylor, Coles Miller Solicitors LLP, http://www.coles-miller.co.uk/, +44 1202673011, [email protected]
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