[Finance] Finders international

[schmunk]

Mate, if (and it's a stupidly large IF) I inherit £250,000 - I will personally deliver you a £250 bottle of anything you desire (except virgin's blood - that'd be weird).

So, you'll shag her first, then it won't be weird...?

 

[BNthree]

I don't believe that they would have contacted you if they didn't know the amount.

Exactly! And they wouldn't bother if all they get is £200 out of it. Not saying it is huge amounts but got to be a few grand at least to make it worth their while.

 

[Arthur]

Wow, Cheers. Yes, I was wondering how they tracked me down. I've been off grid for 13 years and they somehow found me through my FIL's address (where admittedly I do receive my uk bank correspondence) How would they know that? Would my bank give them that info - data mining is a thing perhaps. As for information they have on me about the claim - I'm guessing it's purely a matter of tracing Genealogical stuff - that's basically what they bang on about on their website.

They state the 20% is to be paid when everything settled. Which is fine if it's a cash deal, but if I got lumbered with a derelict property in S Norwood and told to cough up 50,000 for the privilege I'd be fooked!

The bank would let credit agencies and such like know. I used to deal with these guys https://www.data-8.co.uk/ and its worrying the amount of information they have on you and if you are prepared to pay for it how easy it is to obtain without your consent.

There is a service called NCOA (National Change of Address), if they had an old address for you they'll probably be able to find out if you've moved.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

I don't believe that they would have contacted you if they didn't know the amount.

It may be that their willingness to negotiate could be governed by the amount. If they won't negotiate, maybe walk away for a couple of months. If their 20% is significant, I would expect them to try and maintain contact and try and 'persuade' you.

If they don't, you can always go back to them later, but your expectations will have been set that it may not be a great amount. I can't think of a situation where you would lose out with this approach (awaits NSC poster to immediately point out the blindingly obvious way you could lose out ).

Hard ballin' - I like it! They absolutely do know the value - they will also know how many other folk may be in contention and they will have graded each of those to judge who is more likely to have a successful share of the claim. Testing the waters as you suggest is smart and bold, but I also wouldn't want to miss out on even a small windfall if they dropped me like stone - it's tricky but I am gonna try to play it cool with them at first, maybe pretend I'm minted and not too bothered, whadya recon?

The balls entirely in their court unless I can super-sleuth around them (which I definitely can't). Honestly I just don't buy into the whole ' long lost relative' scenario - doesn't make any sense to me.The only thing I can think of is that perhaps my dad had a secret insurance policy that we failed to find of maybe some long since forgotten premium bonds my dear old mum had came in. I have no idea how I'd find if that were so.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

So, you'll shag her first, then it won't be weird...?

40 year old virgins are tough to find these days.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Hard ballin' - I like it! They absolutely do know the value - they will also know how many other folk may be in contention and they will have graded each of those to judge who is more likely to have a successful share of the claim. Testing the waters as you suggest is smart and bold, but I also wouldn't want to miss out on even a small windfall if they dropped me like stone - it's tricky but I am gonna try to play it cool with them at first, maybe pretend I'm minted and not too bothered, whadya recon?

The balls entirely in their court unless I can super-sleuth around them (which I definitely can't). Honestly I just don't buy into the whole ' long lost relative' scenario - doesn't make any sense to me.The only thing I can think of is that perhaps my dad had a secret insurance policy that we failed to find of maybe some long since forgotten premium bonds my dear old mum had came in. I have no idea how I'd find if that were so.

Play it cool kimchi, play it cool

 

[Seagull kimchi]

Exactly! And they wouldn't bother if all they get is £200 out of it. Not saying it is huge amounts but got to be a few grand at least to make it worth their while.

I agree, but I think they would use a scatter gun approach. If it's a matter of £10,000 between 5/6 people then they'd get their £200 x 5/6 and were'd all get a grand or so. Still I wouldn't be complaining!

 

[Seagull kimchi]

The bank would let credit agencies and such like know. I used to deal with these guys https://www.data-8.co.uk/ and its worrying the amount of information they have on you and if you are prepared to pay for it how easy it is to obtain without your consent.

There is a service called NCOA (National Change of Address), if they had an old address for you they'll probably be able to find out if you've moved.

That's crazy - I mean I'm glad the 'Let's try to inherit you money' people found me, I'd be less impressed if the 'Oi why haven't you paid tax in the uk for 13 years ' people found me! The insane part about this is i've never even set foot in my FIL's house - they moved there about 6 years ago and I haven't been back to the uk since!

 

[happypig]

Interestingly my sister (who has a different surname since marriage) has had no contact from them. If they can find my FIL's address you'd think they'd look at marriage records of siblings ,too?

If you sign a contract to give them 20% of your inheritance, you will know what it is and then your sister can have 100% of her entitlement and you can split the fee with her so you'll only be 10% down. Of course other siblings/cousins might dilute your share further

 

[Early Doors]

I had similar contact back in February, not from FI but from a similar type of business. It's close to fruition now; I'm only going to get a few hundred quid out of it, but it's money I wouldn't otherwise have got.

I've got to know the guy doing the FI type job quite well (I cheekily suggested we could do a better job on his website when we first spoke, and I got the job!) and they initially genuinely don't know how much the inheritance is worth other than it will be at least £600. I'm sure thy can do research to establish whether the deceased had property etc so will get an idea, but they won't know an exact amount until much further down the line.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

If you sign a contract to give them 20% of your inheritance, you will know what it is and then your sister can have 100% of her entitlement and you can split the fee with her so you'll only be 10% down. Of course other siblings/cousins might dilute your share further

Yes, good. My concern is that the first question they will ask me is about siblings, as I believe they are a legit company so will cover all bases. As was mentioned before I could deny knowledge of my sister's whereabouts and not co-operate.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

I had similar contact back in February, not from FI but from a similar type of business. It's close to fruition now; I'm only going to get a few hundred quid out of it, but it's money I wouldn't otherwise have got.

I've got to know the guy doing the FI type job quite well (I cheekily suggested we could do a better job on his website when we first spoke, and I got the job!) and they initially genuinely don't know how much the inheritance is worth other than it will be at least £600. I'm sure thy can do research to establish whether the deceased had property etc so will get an idea, but they won't know an exact amount until much further down the line.

BINGO! Ok thanks for replying. It's great to hear from somebody who has been through the process. A few hundred would be an amazing result - In my case they said they won't even charge a fee for a claim under £1,000. I'm surprised to hear they don't have knowledge of the amount involved, makes their position somewhat tenuous. No doubt they would lose interest in the case when the amount become unprofitable to them.

So how was the process for you? Did you have to do anything of note?

 

[Triggaaar]

They state the 20% is to be paid when everything settled. Which is fine if it's a cash deal, but if I got lumbered with a derelict property in S Norwood and told to cough up 50,000 for the privilege I'd be fooked!

I can't see that being legally forceable. If you ended up with a property that you'd want to sell, it's not settled until that is sold. If you had to, you'd put it in an auction so it went quickly, and they'd get their share. I can't see how they could bill you for a percentage of something that you're not able to sell (unless it's 20% of nothing).

 

[Seagull kimchi]

I can't see that being legally forceable. If you ended up with a property that you'd want to sell, it's not settled until that is sold. If you had to, you'd put it in an auction so it went quickly, and they'd get their share. I can't see how they could bill you for a percentage of something that you're not able to sell (unless it's 20% of nothing).

I get you - I racked my brains for the worst case scenario and that's what popped out. I will be asking about that when I call them tomorrow.

But honestly - my rational brain is telling me after agreeing to the process a week later I'll get an email saying 'we're sorry to inform you that your claim was unsuccessful blah blah more prominent beneficiaries blah blah'.

Whatever, I'm good - it was fun for a while. I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[father_and_son]

They state the 20% is to be paid when everything settled. Which is fine if it's a cash deal, but if I got lumbered with a derelict property in S Norwood and told to cough up 50,000 for the privilege I'd be fooked!

The whole of S.Norwood is worth a small fortune now that Palace are planning to reclad 1/4 of their stadium, they will be buying up properties all the ground to make space for all the extra facilities they'll be adding as part of the extensive, long term investment programme.

 

[Juan Albion]

40 year old virgins are tough to find these days.

There are a few on the Brexit thread.

 

[Early Doors]

BINGO! Ok thanks for replying. It's great to hear from somebody who has been through the process. A few hundred would be an amazing result - In my case they said they won't even charge a fee for a claim under £1,000. I'm surprised to hear they don't have knowledge of the amount involved, makes their position somewhat tenuous. No doubt they would lose interest in the case when the amount become unprofitable to them.

So how was the process for you? Did you have to do anything of note?

I didn't have to do much at all. Just complete a few documents and prove who I said I was.

He said from the outset that they don't know the value, but i didn't really believe it. However when we were discussing their website, we were talking more casually and generally, and they genuinely don't know. He said it's a numbers game and some will be barely profitable, but then they'll have a biggie which earns them some serious dosh. Hopefully yours will be one of those

You don't need to worry about selling any property etc by the way. That would have all been done, and the cash will be there waiting to be divided up between the amount of beneficiaries discovered.

 

[The Clamp]

Your last statement is basically it. When I call them tomorrow I'll certainly push for more details, but I doubt they'll disclose very much until I commit to their conditions. That's their shtick! They absolutely do know how much and how many other people may be in contention. They also do promise to do everything involved in acquiring the fund/assets - hence their fee.

I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. If they have information regarding a beneficiary of a will then they have a legal obligation to inform all parties. Force them to hand over the information. Con artists.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. If they have information regarding a beneficiary of a will then they have a legal obligation to inform all parties. Force them to hand over the information. Con artists.

I get you - there is an element of coffin chasing about it.

Their point is that these are estates left in purgatory on account of the benefactor not leaving a will. So they state that it would be almost impossible to know if you were in fact a potential beneficiary, particularly if you had never even met the distant ' long lost' relative. They portray this as a service and some people go to them speculatively to see if there's anything out there for them to claim.

I certainly had no inkling that I may've been in line for a pay out.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

I didn't have to do much at all. Just complete a few documents and prove who I said I was.

He said from the outset that they don't know the value, but i didn't really believe it. However when we were discussing their website, we were talking more casually and generally, and they genuinely don't know. He said it's a numbers game and some will be barely profitable, but then they'll have a biggie which earns them some serious dosh. Hopefully yours will be one of those

You don't need to worry about selling any property etc by the way. That would have all been done, and the cash will be there waiting to be divided up between the amount of beneficiaries discovered.

That's brilliant info, cheers. I too am surprised that they don't know the amount at the outset. I guess they must have at least an inkling that the amount is over their threshold for extracting their fee - £1,000 per beneficiary in my case.

Can I ask? When your benefactor was revealed to you - were they known to you? Thanks again.