ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

Former_MSE_Guy

Laura Whateley, money and consumer journalist for The Times, is investigating ITC Legal Services and their relationship with Barclays. She is interested to hear as many stories as possible about people's experience with ITC Legal Services, particularly the experience of those introduced to ITC by Barclays. If you would like to share your story please contact her on [EMAIL="laura.whateley@thetimes.co.uk"]laura.whateley@thetimes.co.uk[/EMAIL]

bob_binz

Phew, looks like we've had a close shave - so glad I took the time to check out this company, I'm sure so many people don't given the circumstances.

We had a visit from a rep last night after my wife closed her late mother's bank accounts and the bank (Barclays) offered to send somebody. My wife was interested in another angle than solicitor or self-driven. Guy came round and was very nice, but having read this post (well some of it, 27 pages is one long post!) I'm now really reluctant for my wife to give them the authorization. I did a quick Google for positive reviews (people are quicker to write bad things than good) but didn't find any - is it still the general consensus that this company is bad?

Having never dealt with probate before, where's the best place to start the process, for collecting information, registering for administration etc - is there a probate FAQ or similar? Oh, and there's no will, so we will have to follow intestacy rules - fortunately there's just wife and her brother. Presumably the process will be similar? If this is off-topic, please ignore - we just need to know what steps to take next if not using these guys.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for providing such a great forum post to help all of us unsuspecting bereaved.

BBz

portlandboy

Hi,

Sorry to hear of your situation, but glad that you were able to read this before you got involved with ITC
Yes, they are still just as bad as ever they were. Nothing has changed in the 4 plus years since I started this thread. People are still reporting exactly the same treatment and mis-management of cases. I also know of someone using another similar company in Bath who seem to be treating their customers in the same way - they have been lied to, fobbed off and never get to speak to the same case manager and it's taken 19 months so far (and that's WITH a will).
My suggestion would always be that you look at local, trusted solicitors before getting tangled up with any probate company but avoid ITC Legal Services (and Chorus Law - ITC's new company) at all costs. Local solicitors will give you an idea of the costs before you sign up so you can make an informed decision.
However, if you think that doing it yourself is the way you would like to go, there are people on here that I'm sure could help you through the process. It isn't as difficult or dangerous as SOME firms would like you to think.
Here are some good sites to look at regarding intestacy:
https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/overview
and:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/relationships_e/relationships_death_and_wills_e/who_can_inherit_if_there_is_no_will___the_rules_of_intestacy.htm
The latter site is the Citizens Advice Bureau. It may be a good place to visit if you have one locally to you, they are very helpful with this subject.
Hope that helps a bit.
Regards,

bob_binz

<snip>
Here are some good sites to look at regarding intestacy:
< link removed due to being new user >
and:
< link removed due to being new user >
The latter site is the Citizens Advice Bureau. It may be a good place to visit if you have one locally to you, they are very helpful with this subject.
Hope that helps a bit.


Wow, thanks for the prompt response and for the links, I'll head over right away. It's all very daunting, as I'm sure everyone on this thread knows. When I came across the thread and noticed it was from 2009, I thought things were sure to have got better, but still, nearly four years on, things are dreadful. On top of the stress of losing somebody close, people have to go through dealing with parasites. It's disgraceful really.

Thanks for maintaining this thread portlandboy (and all other contributors.) It's a valued resource, and well worthy of its top 3 place in Google's "ITC Probate" search term results list.

BBz

MSE_Investigator

POSTED ON BEHALF OF ITC:

"MSE have invited us to provide a statement, so we can address some of the concerns of forum members.



Firstly, we apologise to any ITC customers who have experienced inconvenience or problems when using our probate services. Our aim is to provide a first class service to every customer, but probate is a complex process and each case is unique. Sometimes unavoidable legal or technical issues lead to delays and complications, including additional costs, which are beyond our control.



However we recognise that, in the past, we may not have always communicated this effectively. To address this, we have introduced a number of changes to improve the experience of our customers. Today, each customer has a dedicated case manager who oversees the whole probate process, providing a single point of contact. We have recently surveyed our customers and 86% are happy with our service and would recommend us to others.



Where we can recognise the cases discussed on this forum, we believe that some refer to issues dating back months or even years, and we have tried to resolve them with the individuals concerned and will keep trying to do so.



However, if any customer has a question or concern about any aspect of ITC’s service, we do want to hear from you and want to resolve it as quickly as we can. Once we have your name and your case number, we can quickly identify if there have been errors or misunderstandings, as we keep copies of all correspondence and record all phone calls.



To get in touch, please email your name and case number to smsupport@itc.co.uk and our customer service team will contact you as soon as possible.



Thank you"