ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

portlandboy · 9 September 2009 at 2:27PM

Hi All,
Please see this as a warning...
I think (or used to think) that I am of average intelligence and would know if I was being caught out by a dodgy company. Well I've been caught by these - ITC Legal Services.
My father died in April '08 and the local registrar gave me a leaflet regarding the probate service among other bereavement booklets. It was advertising ITC Legal Services who would visit me in my home, talk me through the probate system and give me the options of either applying by myself or getting them to do it.
I was down (obviously) and had just left hospital (and waiting to go back in again) so I opted for them to take the load off me. They were to be cheaper than solicitors or banks and stated that the "industry average for the service was 6-9 months". I gave them power to work on my behalf. That meant that I had no power to change anything they did.
They have sent me personal letters belonging to other clients, had other clients papers in my file, called me asking why I had questioned valuations (which I never had done) and have taken, to date 17 months to do the work they said should take 6-9 months to complete.
During the home visit their rep asked me what I estimated the value of his property was to check that there was sufficient funds available for them to carry out the work. I guessed at a figure of £150,000, not knowing that a property next door was for sale for £139,000.
Following this, about 6 months later they sent 3 estate agents to value the property. They all put in values of £95,000 to £100,000. ITC have now stated that they have to use my (unprofessional, untrained) guess of £150,000 as it was at the time of death!! So they get more money out of it.
They are not cheap, they give you minutes, not days, to decide whether to use them or not, they don't give you the info you need to do the process yourself, they are not professional in their work and they do rip you off.
Please be warned. They carry out many types of legal work, but I've only experienced this one, thankfully.

lincroft1710 · 9 September 2009 at 6:05PM

If the registrar gave you a leaflet advertising this company, then I would inform the registrar of your experiences with the company.

portlandboy · 9 September 2009 at 7:09PM

I contacted the registrar's office earlier today and, guess what? The've stopped issuing the leaflets due to having received "so many complaints". This company, ITC Legal, seems to financially support the non-profit making Bereavement Advice Centre (across the country) and in doing so gets a mention as "the biggest probate company in the country".
A Google search found that back in June '09, solicitors had concerns over the way that ITC is publicised by local authorities and many have now stopped handing out the leaflets. The local authorities are clearly dubious about ITC.

woderwick · 17 September 2009 at 4:11PM

omg! I am about to use ITC for my mothers estate, i had never heard of them but the bereavement centre at Barclay bank recomended them as they only charge 1% of the estate
I have had the home visit from them last Monday 14th Sept, the cooling off period expires Monday 21st.
Will have to make a decision very soon, can anyone else give me feedback on them.

Thanks.

Troubled_Joe · 17 September 2009 at 4:34PM

Firstly I'll disclose an interest in this as a solicitor but this really does show the problem of dealing with unregulated providers of legal services.

muskoka · 17 September 2009 at 4:46PM

You can do probate yourself. If the estate is fairly straightforward, probate is cheap & easy to effect. Phone your local probate office who can advise and I found them very helpful. I had probate granted when my mum passed away. There was a will and property. Probate took 5 weeks to be granted.

portlandboy · 17 September 2009 at 6:16PM

woderwick wrote: »

omg! I am about to use ITC for my mothers estate, i had never heard of them but the bereavement centre at Barclay bank recomended them as they only charge 1% of the estate
I have had the home visit from them last Monday 14th Sept, the cooling off period expires Monday 21st.
Will have to make a decision very soon, can anyone else give me feedback on them.

Thanks.

Hi Again,
Please, please don't even consider keeping these people on. They have since told me that my figure is the one they are using and that's that, no arguing! A local solicitor (who kindly gave me advice on the phone) tells me that they should involve the District Valuer if a value is questioned, but that they should have asked for estate agents values anyway.
The 1% you mention is plus "disbursements". They seem to pile a fair old whack on to those too. They are trying to charge a total of just short of £4,000 for the probate and transfer of property. The total value of all assets was about £117,000 x 1.25%. This should be £1460 + transfer fees and disbursements. Clearly their maths is as good as their service.
My father left a will and I was the sole beneficiary, so this case is as simple as it gets...like me, they must think!. [TEXT DELETED BY ABUSE TEAM].
Cancel while you can, you won't regret it.

portlandboy · 18 September 2009 at 2:08PM

Further to above...
Been to CAB today. Seems that ITC can get away with using my valuation because (as stated above by Troubled_Joe) there are no regulations covering the way they work. The advisor thinks that the charges are "not unexpected" but the time they have taken to deal with the case is "completely unbelievable and highly excessive". She stated that there is no point contesting the valuation of the property, as ITC are most likely to charge me extra to have the property revalued because this would cause them extra work. No regulations = no grounds for complaint. After all, I DID sign up and agree to their terms and conditions at the start. So be warned, if you sign up you have no comeback. Their rules, their game, their gain.

woderwick · 19 September 2009 at 5:57PM

I sent the canellation letter to ITC ON Friday registered post, they will get it by Monday which is the deadline, but I am told that they will still charge a fee, is that correct?
They have in their possession now 6 death certificates and various other documents but thankfully not my mothers will.
Can they hold them to ransom!
Any more feedback will be much appreciated.
Thanks.......

portlandboy · 19 September 2009 at 8:47PM

woderwick wrote: »

I sent the canellation letter to ITC ON Friday registered post, they will get it by Monday which is the deadline, but I am told that they will still charge a fee, is that correct?
They have in their possession now 6 death certificates and various other documents but thankfully not my mothers will.
Can they hold them to ransom!
Any more feedback will be much appreciated.
Thanks.......

Hi Woderwick,
Logically, the "cooling off" period should be a time in which ITC do nothing on your case, incase you do indeed cancel your contract with them. There is good news and bad here. The good being the fact that they don't do anything very quickly, the bad being that they also don't seem to have to work logically. So my suggestion would be to contact them as soon as possible on Monday morning, using the free phone number (0800 013
2014) to tell them not to proceed as your letter is on it's way. Get the call log number and operator's name too. The call should be recorded by them but, if you have a speaker on your phone and a camcorder, record it yourself just as a precaution. As you might imagine from these tips, I don't trust them very much. And I'm still waiting for their customer complaints section to call me back...they say this will always be within 2 days of making a complaint! Good luck.

tizhimi · 19 September 2009 at 9:09PM

I'd threaten them with the small claims court if they are insisting on the 150k valuation.

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ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

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