Warning - do not use wolstenholmes solicitors

mjmal51

rebeccak wrote: »

There's just been a news item about this on Granada Reports. It said that £4 million of customers' money has been frozen - so at least it sounds like the money is still there and in the hands of the investigators rather than having disappeared.

You beat me to it! Yes a lot of money and now seems safe. Interesting that Imran Hussain appeared for interview on both Granada Reports and BBC Northwest and did state that it is not an insolvency case and that all the money would be returned, he has not done a runner!

Simply_Me_2

mjmal51 wrote: »

You beat me to it! Yes a lot of money and now seems safe. Interesting that Imran Hussain appeared for interview on both Granada Reports and BBC Northwest and did state that it is not an insolvency case and that all the money would be returned, he has not done a runner!

Hallejua, praise the Lord! I hope its enough to pay everyone and everyone's associated losses.

Does anyone have the link to the report on Granada.

opinions4u

Hopefully this is a case of maladministration and not fraud.

Just don't count your chickens on this £4m figure. If that's 100% of the funds involved then that's fine. But how does anybody know what the real figure should be yet?

rebeccak

rfsp wrote: »

when was your purchase completed?

I completed in 2007 which I think is after the firm was taken over and, to be honest, I thought they were okay at the time. I have read on here about people finding out after completion that stamp duty hadn't been paid or that they hadn't pointed out an important clause in the lease which is now causing problems for one buyer so I'm still hoping no problems are going to come out of the woodwork with my purchase. However, maybe it has just been this year that things have really gone downhill.

Catwoman8950

rebeccak wrote: »

There's just been a news item about this on Granada Reports. It said that £4 million of customers' money has been frozen - so at least it sounds like the money is still there and in the hands of the investigators rather than having disappeared.

Pity the reporter got the location of the office wrong. It's Heald Green, not Cheadle Hulme!

cakinwande

Simply_Me wrote: »

Hallejua, praise the Lord! I hope its enough to pay everyone and everyone's associated losses.

Does anyone have the link to the report on Granada.

http://www.itv.com/granada/law-firm-investigated13826/

mjmal51

Note that the reporter mentions clients will be wanting compensation for hardship and stress. This is a separate issue to getting the money owed back and is paid by the LCS/SRA/Indemnity Insurance
http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/guidance-on-compensation/distress-and-inconvenience.page
So when the current sorry mess is sorted out by the appointed agents then compensation claims can be applied for. No idea how much each individual could claim. maybe you need another solicitor to work that out!!!?

Dior

Hi All, I'm new to this site and came across it whilst searching for information on Wolstenholmes. I used the firm earlier on this year to sell my house, and I must admit I had absolutely no trouble at all. The whole transaction took only 6 weeks and my solicitor, who was the Head of Conveyancing at the Birmingham office, was always available. My partner and I are now in the process of buying a property, so I decided to use the same firm, and contacted them on 30th November for a quote, paying a £300 deposit on my debit card. As I had previously used the firm, I knew that I'd be contacted shortly by my solicitor and my online account set up. However, I received no contact and after several phone calls to the Head Office, all I had been given was the name of the fee earner who would be dealing with my purchase. After 10 days I emailed my former solicitor in desperation. asking him if he could ask my solicitor to contact me, which he did and I receive a call and had the Client Information Forms emailed to me. The day after I sent these forms back, I received a bank statement which showed that my £300 payment had been taken from my account twice on two seperate occasions. Before I had chance to contact my solicitor, he called me to say that the Birmingham office was being closed down and that as such Wolstnholmes would not be able to act for me and that I would get a refund. I told him about the duplicate payment, to which he said he would speak to my former solicitor (the Head of the Conveyancing Dept) about it. Despite receiving an email from my former solicitor saying I would be contacted that day for a CHAPS payment, I have received no further contact from anyone at Wolstenholmes and am now £600 out of pocket and have had to instruct another firm of solicitors. I have put a complaint in to the LCS and am awaiting news on that.

Yorkie1

Hi Dior

Might also be worth trying to raise a dispute with your debit card company - they may be able to refund one or both payments?

picklesjsw

Hi All,

Further to my previous post, Times Online and several other online news sources have posted stories. I am sure that many of these would be interested in hearing from you. Also some, like Times Online, have the option of posting comments. The more comments that are posted - competently writing as much as possible - the more likely it is - in my opinion - that this case will not disappear from the news, and will be dealt with more competently by the SRA & LCS.

It is my understanding that the problems started when Nasir Ilyas took over. Indeed that's when my friends current (and competent) Solicitor had a dispute with them, and was compelled to leave the firm. David Burke may claim he has nothing to do with them now, but he was involved in the firm - as a partner - when issues were going on, and indeed dealt with - rather incompetently and rudely - my friends complaint about them.

I am planning to send a copy - with his permission - of my friends file to the SRA to assist them with their investigations. I suggest that anybody else who had problems with Wolstenholmes which were eventually resolved also does. There is no reason why anybody involved should get off lightly in this matter! In my opinion, the bare fact that David Burke did not report their borderline fraudulent, and definitely incompetent, behaviour to the SRA; and indeed was involved at the start of such acts; means that he should be dealt with harshly as well!

Good Luck to all!