ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

Cerredwen

Hi All,

I too have had an ongoing battle with ITC regarding my late Father's Will. I have lost count of the number of falsehoods and down right lies I have received from this dispicable company. The company ethos appears to be one of deception and embezzlement, being able to seemingly 'disappear' whole portions of a Deceased's Estate, and lose the remainder in obscure company charges that you're not 'allowed' to know about. I cannot understand why they are allowed to operate above the law.

I noticed that the Law Society lists Independent Trust Corporation as a solicitor, based at Heron House. I have read that they are not regulated, but is it not possible complain to the Law Ombudsman if they are indeed a Law Practice?

portlandboy

Cerredwen wrote: »

Hi All,

I too have had an ongoing battle with ITC regarding my late Father's Will. I have lost count of the number of falsehoods and down right lies I have received from this dispicable company. The company ethos appears to be one of deception and embezzlement, being able to seemingly 'disappear' whole portions of a Deceased's Estate, and lose the remainder in obscure company charges that you're not 'allowed' to know about. I cannot understand why they are allowed to operate above the law.

I noticed that the Law Society lists Independent Trust Corporation as a solicitor, based at Heron House. I have read that they are not regulated, but is it not possible complain to the Law Ombudsman if they are indeed a Law Practice?

Note to self: Remember to be "within the guidelines of the forum rules" when posting...

Just did a quick search. Whether ITC Legal Services have any connection with The Independent Trust Corporation is obviously hard to tell, but they are registered at different addresses and may well be different companies altogether.
ITC do not perform the legal work that they charge for. They put it out to at least one firm of solicitors by the name of Geoffrey Parker Bourne (GPB). One of ITC's delaying tactics is to blame them for being slow to return paperwork (or lose it and then find it again later). The fact that you are a customer of ITC and not GPB means that when you wish to make a complaint about the "legal" service that you might see as slow or not to your required standards, you can't. Only ITC can complain about GPB as they are the customer! That leaves the ITC customer with no comeback. ITC are most unlikely to upset their nice little earner, are they?

Cerredwen

ITC is a trading name of Independent Trust Corporation Ltd. It says so on their official Head Office note paper. Furthermore, when I phoned Independent Trust Corporation to speak to Martin Trees, they confirmed that THEIR Chief Exec is Trees, but is based at ITC Legal - Heron House.

Cerredwen

Just re-read that. To clarify:

Officially ITC are registered to Heron House, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Officially Independent Trust Corporation are registered to Cotswold Business village, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucester.

However, The Law Society has a page called 'Find a Solicitor' and lists one office and one solicitor at Independent Trust Corporation, Heron House, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Therefore ITC and Independent Trust Corporation are one and the same company, registered with the Law Society as a Solicitor. Surely they are therefore answerable to the Legal Ombudsman?

Cerredwen

If anyone has Martin Trees telephone number can they email me please? [EMAIL="cerredwen@hotmail.co.uk"]cerredwen@hotmail.co.uk[/EMAIL]

I have been trying to get hold of him all day but none of his employees seem to know his direct line number....

portlandboy

Cerredwen wrote: »

Just re-read that. To clarify:

Officially ITC are registered to Heron House, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Officially Independent Trust Corporation are registered to Cotswold Business village, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucester.

However, The Law Society has a page called 'Find a Solicitor' and lists one office and one solicitor at Independent Trust Corporation, Heron House, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Therefore ITC and Independent Trust Corporation are one and the same company, registered with the Law Society as a Solicitor. Surely they are therefore answerable to the Legal Ombudsman?

I think that you will find that when you sign a contract with "ITC Legal Services", even if they are part of the same group of companies as Independent Trust Corporation, your contract is with ITC Legal Services only. That is simply more proof of just how close to the legal parameters this company works. They are, at present, unregulated because ITC Legal Services do not claim to be solicitors. It is only the way that they portray themselves.

kjduct

well I am in the sad situation of having to deal with losing my brother in Feb this year, only to find the probate company my parents are gone with is ITC....
I wanted us to complete things as a family but as usual by the sounds of it Barclays recommended them and my Dad believed there waffle and committed himself straight away, I think my brothers case is as straight forward as possible he died single with no will and with no dependents and my mum is nominated beneficiary, is this as straight forward as it seems it to me....?
we are now coming in to the 6 month mark which I suppose is the start of were we expected things to happen but now I have found this thread and a few others with little positive to say about ITC I want to show it to my parents but they are having trouble dealing with my brother passing with out telling them the people that are dealing with his are incompetent...
Today I asked my father to give permission to ITC for me to have direct contact with them, so at least I can find out how bad they are dragging there feet, at the moment my brothers case has been sent to HMRC for them to assess inheritance, this has been 4 weeks so far, and we are being told we must find the funds to pay this before anything is released to ITC...

Got to say I am worried at the mo but I think they have not let us down yet...? unless you can tell me different?
any advice about my situation or the correct things to say to ITC would be greatly received
Thanks!!

portlandboy

kjduct wrote: »

...Today I asked my father to give permission to ITC for me to have direct contact with them, so at least I can find out how bad they are dragging there feet, at the moment my brothers case has been sent to HMRC for them to assess inheritance, this has been 4 weeks so far, and we are being told we must find the funds to pay this before anything is released to ITC...

Note to self...When posting, remember to stay within the "forum rules" to avoid complaints from "certain parties"...

Firstly, who is asking you for money? Secondly, what are they charging you for? All the costs of granting probate and administering the estate are usually taken from the deceased's estate before you receive the remaining money. Has anyone from HMRC sent you a bill?

6 months is probably the minimum that a case would take to go through probate. ITC will more than likely take at least twice that time because they are either incompetent or they purposely slow things down. I think that you are probably right to ask your father to allow you direct contact withITC over the case. They need to be scrutinised, questioned and houndedat every point of the proceedings. Sadly, as the case is so far in, it is going to be a matter of waiting. Ever watched paint dry? I can't offer any other advice but I guess that John Pierpoint (another poster of this thread) might be able to add to this, as he seems more "up" on the tax side of things.
Good luck.

John_Pierpoint

kjduct wrote: »

well I am in the sad situation of having to deal with losing my brother in Feb this year, only to find the probate company my parents are gone with is ITC....
I wanted us to complete things as a family but as usual by the sounds of it Barclays recommended them and my Dad believed there waffle and committed himself straight away, I think my brothers case is as straight forward as possible he died single with no will and with no dependants and my mum is nominated beneficiary, is this as straight forward as it seems it to me....?

[FONT=&quot]I am confused:
Is dad not you brother's genetic father? Are mum and dad not married and dad not quoted on your brother's birth certificate?
As there is no will, your brother has died intestate and there is no executor. You brother cannot have "nominated" anyone to receive his estate, with the exceptions of joint ownership of assets accounts and money in trust (eg his pension scheme/death in service benefits and perhaps a life insurance policy).

Having no will does make things more difficult - a will appoints an executor at the moment of death; administrator(s) has to be given letters of administration when they are in a position to account to the court for their behaviour - perhaps you and dad would be suitable?

If ITC are to hold your hand through this process, obviously they will charge you for the privilege.
I was in this situation when my dad unexpectedly fell off his perch 45 years ago - so I am a bit rusty on the procedures
Investing 20 quid buying the three "Which?" books from Amazon would probably explain the process at least as well as ITC could. I agree that after 6 months ITC should be in a position to present the details of a simple estate to the court (and the tax man)BUT it can take government departments several weeks/months to process perfectly valid forms.[/FONT]


we are now coming in to the 6 month mark which I suppose is the start of were we expected things to happen but now I have found this thread and a few others with little positive to say about ITC I want to show it to my parents but they are having trouble dealing with my brother passing with out telling them the people that are dealing with his are incompetent...
Today I asked my father to give permission to ITC for me to have direct contact with them, so at least I can find out how bad they are dragging their feet, at the moment my brother's case has been sent to HMRC for them to assess inheritance, this has been 4 weeks so far, and we are being told we must find the funds to pay this before anything is released to ITC...

Got to say I am worried at the mo but I think they have not let us down yet...? unless you can tell me different?
any advice about my situation or the correct things to say to ITC would be greatly received
Thanks!!

I take it that your brother was not in "a legal relationship" with anyone else?
As nobody is yet legally responsible for brother's estate, this might be an opportunity for taking over the estate yourselves?

my brother's case has been sent to HMRC - Are they interested? Isn't this just the normal formality for modest estates? Or are they talking about reclaiming a modest amount of income tax because you brother failed to die on the 5th of April? Has ITC got any legal authority to do this yet?
You need to present a statement of affairs on here for your brother, if some of the experts on here are to comment sensibly, has he left more than a net £325,000 ?!?.

kjduct

Thanks for advice and info,

This is the thing, I only know as much as I have put on my post really as my parents are not keeping me in the loop at all so I have to occasionally ask questions but of course they think I money grabbing, when the fact is im in a decent amount of debt with the wolves at the door....
as soon as I ask there tone changes and I get the brush off "there's nothing we can do it takes ages etc etc"

My brother was single at time of death, his house has been sold pending probate, (I wasnt even told this....) I believe it to be about £350,000 but dont know how much equity was in it or if there was an insurance against it or if he had life insurance, he had a pension or 2 and his only debt was to credit card which was insured against, I was told my mum had been "nominated" by my dad but he may have ment by my parents..??

As far as I know ITC have control of my brothers estate (power of attorney?) and they have sent the paperwork off but they have not disclosed any figures to family (unless im being kept out of loop, very possible!) my parents know im !!!!! with money so I sort of understand but I just want to resolve my debt if there is anyway at all possible..

ITC paperwork waffle states about helping you out but they have pretty much said my parents have to stump up inheritance tax or the process stops..?

thanks again to anyone that comments as its a very difficult time at the moment.