Fresh hope for dozens of Burnley and Pendle victims as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vows to act on SSB Law's collapse
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Former clients of the law firm are being chased for tens of thousands over failed compensation claims for defective cavity wall insulation, despite assurances they were on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Bradford West MP Naz Shah appealed to PM Rishi Sunak on Wednesday at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons Chamber to step in and help the victims.
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Hide AdResponding, Mr Sunak said: "I'm sorry to hear about the situation impacting the honourable lady's constituents.
"I'll be more than happy to make sure the right minister looks into it and we will get back to her as soon as possible."
Ms Shah is one of many MPs, including Burnley representative Antony Higginbotham, who have called on the Government to intervene since SSB Law went bust in January.
Addressing the PM, she said: "The Prime Minister is no doubt aware of the collapse of SSB Law and many constituents, including hundreds in my constituency, have been affected and have bills of up to hundreds of thousands.
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Hide Ad"One constituent had to sell his wedding gifts, and his father had a heart attack with the stress.
"People are having to literally raid their pension pots and getting bills and bailiffs knocking on the door.
"Will the Prime Minister meet with me and my constituents' representatives [about the] collapse of SSB Law and make sure the government responds to something that is an injustice that's happened to people across the country?"
Mr Higginbotham, who is believed to be the first to speak about the issue in Parliament since SSB Law went into administration, said at a Burnley meeting for victims earlier this year that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove should meet the victims to hear their stories first-hand.
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Hide AdSpeaking at the meeting, he said: "This was 100% a government-backed scheme that installed insulation using tax-payers' money, and so the Government has got to work with MPs [and] the people impacted to put this right.
"Ministers, just like MPs, have a responsibility to meet the victims. We saw that with the Post Office. It took too long for ministers to meet victims of the Horizon scandal, and we don't want to go through that again."
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