Since it began in 2007 Gladstone Brookes has handled more than 613,000 successful claims to recover more than £1 billion in PPI redress which was due to its clients.
A founder member of the Professional Financial Claims Association (IBFSA), it actively participates in all its activities to ensure consumer detriment issues are addressed.
Successes
Handling thousands of claims a week, it has a 91% success rate on claims where PPI was attached and an independent Feefo rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, earning them the Gold Trusted Service Award.
The amount of redress paid out on successful claims depends on how much was paid in by the consumer in the first place. The average refund is £1,700, but GB currently holds the UK record for the amount of compensation paid to a single client.
In 2017 a West Country company director made a series of claims against Halifax, Lloyds, MBNA, Marks & Spencer and Capital One. His first success was a cheque for more than £59,000 from MBNA, but he went on to receive a further £104,000 from six other complaints – a grand total of more than £163,000.
However, it’s not just record sums which mean a lot to the client. When Margo from Scotland got back just over £7,000 she was ecstatic. “I felt like I’d won the lottery,” she said.
Other successful clients have been happy to report what a successful case meant to them by contacting the Money Memories team
Charity commitment
As a company, GB believes strongly in giving back to the community in which it operates, having a strong commitment to charity and community work.
It takes pride in helping those less fortunate than others by supporting a wide range of charities, both national and local. By working with charities and the local community they can make a bigger impact together.
Charities of the month
Members of staff are actively involved in nominating charities, both national and local, to be helped each month with a donation from the firm’s dress-down policy.
Those helped in the last year include: Whiston Special Care Baby Unit, Dravet Syndrome UK, Children In Need, Warrington Christmas Toy Appeal and CLIC Sargent.
Patrons – Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation
As Foundation patrons, GB have joined the Wolves in a special disability awareness scheme in which GB staff were trained in disability awareness before taking their skills out into the community and passing them on to others.
Now in its fifth year, the scheme goes from strength to strength. In 2017, as well as continuing its close connection with the children of St Gregory’s High School, staff joined the Foundation in a number of other Warrington schools to introduce them to a range of sports. After a number of sessions spread throughout the year, teams from the schools took part in a Rio Paralympics style event in the summer.
For 2018 Wolves Foundation and GB staff have started a new project with Sir Thomas Boteler High School helping support children with difficulty interacting in sports to become involved. Later in the year they will be visiting local care homes to support the Foundation’s heritage project.
Special relationship – Adrian Derbyshire
GB also has a very special relationship with disabled fencing champion Adrian Derbyshire as the main sponsor for his national anti-bullying and hate crime campaign.
Adrian has spent more than two years speaking to over 100,000 children and young adults in schools and colleges all over the country to get his message over.
Campaign
The campaign really took off In September 2014 when Adrian toured Britain on a specially designed hand-cycle, speaking to local schools and colleges.
Said Adrian: “It started as a four week tour and now it’s taken over my life. I knew that the message was important, but I had no idea how many people are affected by hate crime and bullying on a daily basis. These people are experiencing real suffering and it’s important that we do something about it.”
As news of his epic trip spread, Adrian was invited to 10 Downing Street by Prime Minister David Cameron for a briefing on the scheme. A few weeks later the Prime Minister recognised the importance of Adrian’s message and campaign by giving him a special Point Of Light Award which recognises outstanding individuals who make a change in their community and inspire others.
Tragedy
Tragedy struck in October last year when Adrian’s 16-year-old daughter Julia collapsed and died at his home. It was only after she died that he learned that Julia had been leading a double life, frequenting websites which promote teenage self-harming and suicide.
Now he has vowed that her memory will live on in an extension to his campaign, specifically aimed at teenage self-harm and suicide under the hash tag #SASSY (Support Against Self-harm & Suicide in Youth).
He is also in the process of trying to gain charitable status for his campaign, even while he travels the country delivering his message on community outreach, intent on getting his message to anyone who may not hear it otherwise as well as maintaining a programme of talking to young people in schools and colleges.
Company Website: www.gladstonebrookes.co.uk
CMR Registration: www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/Gladstone_Brookes
