Challenge Solicitors Fees?

robgoingcrazy

My mum died in April, so I thought I would use the solictor who did her power of attorney to do the probate application for me. As executor I basically did absolutely everything else regarding administering the estate, including contacting banks to claim money and claiming life assurance policies. I informed the solicitor of this at the time I instructed him.

However, today I got a bill for almost £1000 - which includes "attempts to contact banks and life assurance companies to be told money already paid direct to executor".

When the same solicitor did my mum's enduring power of attorney documents, it involved visiting her in hospital which involved a lengthy drive, parking, etc etc etc - and yet this only cost £250 or so.

Could £1000 be considered extortionate for a pretty simple estate and will, bearing in mind the solicitor has done (or attempted to do) things I had already done (although I have no way of proving this beyond showing that I had contacted the banks etc prior to instructing the solicitor - it would be my word against his).

The house has still to be sold - do I have to use the same solicitor as did the probate to sell the house, or could I use another one - I feel I may want to do this on principle if he doesn't reduce the fees for work I never instructed him to do...

Many thanks for any insight...

Tozer

Sorry to hear about your mum.

What did the solicitor's "Rule 15" letter say about fees? This would be the letter you had at the outset.

sarahg1969

The house has still to be sold - do I have to use the same solicitor as did the probate to sell the house, or could I use another one - I feel I may want to do this on principle if he doesn't reduce the fees for work I never instructed him to do...

You can use a different solicitor, if you wish.

robgoingcrazy

I know nothing about rule 15 letters, and did not get any letter off the solicitor at the outset. During my meeting with him he didn't mention what the costs would be - I realise with hindsight I should have asked, but it was such a chaotic time, and as his previous services had been at a reasonable cost, I assumed...

Now I look into things further, the SRA says solicitors are supposed to tell you the likely costs up front. The only time he mentioned costs was when I was arranging the power of attorney document 18 months earlier - he said that having to visit mum in hospital and the time it took would seriously ramp up the costs - since it only ended up costing £250 I had no idea a simple probate application involving no long hospital visits etc would cost almost £1000...

Tozer

He is at fault for not providing necessary cost information. SRA will take a very dim view.

cattie

When my mother died the solicitors took ages to sort things out due to the person working on her will going off sick.My sister who was executor seemed happy to let things drift.

When everything was eventually finalised after months & months & the bill came in I wrote a strongly worded letter to the main partner of the firm voicing my disgust for bad service received & the costs charged. I then received a letter in return offering to knock a few hundred off the bill & giving an apology.

So yes do complain & question their charges.

Jogster

Hi

Sorry to hear about your loss.

If you are unhappy with the bill, write to the solicitor asking them for a full breakdown. As they do not appear to have sent you a client care letter at the outset, it would be difficult for them to say that they were charging you according to an agreement at the outset. Also check any correspondence as they may have mentioned in that what their charges would be which would have the same effect as a client care letter (aka Rule 15 letter).

From experience, I would expect that they would offer to reduce the fees as this is more economical than them spending hours arguing the toss with you which they would not be able to charge for.

You are entitled to apply for a remuneration certificate - however this must be done within a certain time limit. I think it is 14 days from the date of the bill and you have to pay the disbursements or at least half. If you check the bill itself, it should say so on there - either on the face of it or on the reverse.

From what you have said, the bill does seem to be high for not much work. Also ask them to confirm at what level the work was done - contacting banks is something a trainee/
paralegal can do at a fraction of the cost of a partner's time.

Good luck!!

robgoingcrazy

Hmmm, thanks.

No, I never received any such letter or indeed any written correspondence at all until the final bill. Should I mention this in my letter to him, as well as the fact that he did not give me even a verbal guesstimate? I was afterall 2 weeks into losing my mum, and admistering the rest of the estate, I assume it was up to him to follow client care guidelines and not seek to profit from my trust/state of mind?! Afterall, I am sure I would not be shocked by the amount of the bill and some of the uninstructed work which was done, had I received such a letter or even had some idea from the outset (seeing as most fixed fee probate work seems to be £300 - £500).

Very interesting. Everything else went totally smoothly until I got a solicitor involved to obtain probate - I was going to do it myself, but thought it was the one thing where a solicitor would save time and hassle and any complications. I would have expected something like £500 not double that.

I just hate getting these letters on Saturdays, but I guess it's stopped me marching down to his office bearing arms :rotfl:

maggie111

That's disgusting and totally taking advantage.

Hope the link helps http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/using_a_solicitor.htm#Solicitors_costs

Keep reading down, lots of interesting info including the remuneration certificate.

Jogster

Absolutely mention that they have not estimated costs at any stage. This is your strongest card!!!

It can be difficut at the start of an administration to estimate fees as you might not know what there is to do but following the initial meeting with the family, there is no reason why an estimate cannot be provided.

Forgot to add - you don't have to use the same solicitor to deal with the sale of the property. Shop around and get quotes as you would do if you were seeking any type of service. And this time, make sure they tell you how much it is going to cost and confirm this in writing!!

Tozer

Solicitors have to give best information as to costs. That means setting out likely costs in the initial engagement (Rule 15) letter and keeping the client informed throughout. Sounds like they have not done that.

Used to be drummed into us at Law School that fees are the number 1 cause for complaint about solicitors.

How much work has actually been done?