Claimo

Hi.

I was just wondering if anyone had any dealings with Claimo? They claim back money for you from money lenders etc who have charged you unnecessary insurances etc. My real problem with them is they want you to send your photo id to them for verification purposes. I can see why they might need that, but I’m somewhat wary.

All comments (within reason) gratefully received.
Bluey

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Welcome to the Community @bluey42

Sorry I am not familiar with them but I have seen some news items about them, one being a 9 News one.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/start-up-claimo-getting-thousands-for-customers-sold-junk-insurance-how-to-save/6160e293-967d-40d7-8570-c1306a06fc33

From what I have read it is a 20% fee + GST of the refund if they get you a refund and no fee if no refund. I guess it may be legit. In my case I have signed up to a class action run by a Law firm, again this will have a fee attached to any win.

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Like @grahroll I have not had any dealings with them. The reviews such as can be found on the net seem favourable, but it appears that they perform a service that is not difficult for one to do oneself, and charge for the privilege.

If you as a customer know what companies you have done business with and do even a cursory web search it is fairly easy to discover which ones might ‘owe you money’. With that list in hand they can be approached using a standard form letter you develop, to fill in the blanks of company name, product, etc, and ask for your refund.

The time poor and those not confident in DIY may be well served by companies such as Claimo. But it seems their only value added is sending the letter asking for refunds, not sleuthing to see what one might be owed, that appears left to ‘you’. Worth 20% for them to process what you have told them about?
image

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While 20% fee might seem reasonable for some, I suggest that before engaging a business to send a letter on one’s behalf, is to send your own request or letter of claim to the issuer of the junk insurance policy first…

This website assists with this approach:

https://demandarefund.consumeraction.org.au/

And if this was unsuccessful, then consider using one of the businesses which have been set up post Royal Commission to claim junk insurance premiums back on behalf of policy holders.

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Yes - as you and @PhilT point out, often these businesses don’t go beyond what you can do yourself as a consumer.

I’m actually building a somewhat similar business right now, which will use data to help consumers resolve complaints with big businesses (starting with banks). And front and centre of my thinking is always: what is the value proposition for consumers beyond what they can already do themselves?

My view is that value proposition can fall into two categories:

  1. the service is more effective at getting you an outcome (when you identify you have a claim) - eg much quicker, significantly less effort, higher chance of success, larger compensation); and
  2. the service helps you identify whether or not you even have a claim - along the lines of what @PhilT says in the Claimo context: “not sleuthing to see what one might be owed”.

If a business doesn’t offer a consumer at least one of these, chances are you’re better off doing it yourself (and using something like the Consumer Action tool).

Hi,

I have used them, highly recommend. They will find out if you have been charged for junk insurance and then submit a claim to your bank if you have. They do ask for photo ID as this is a requirement of the banks to verify yourself - I had this question. You can always request the documents yourself and then send it to them. However, they will do all the work for you if you can’t be bothered. They managed to get me back $9.5k, and I was very happy with the experience overall. Good luck!