ITC Legal Services - Avoid Them

angrygirlie

I am so sorry to hear that you too are another 'victim' of ITC Legal Services. You must make a complaint and go straight to the top people (the CEO and the Chairman) The names of these 'business men' are on the ITC website (that also misleads the client into what kind of service you are going to receive.) You have to make as much noise as possible but I truly understand how emotionally exhausting it is when you are dealing with bereavement, believe, I have had so much unecessary pain and anguish from this company when they were dealing with my mum's estate. This is the last thing that one needs at such a difficult time. May I ask how you heard about ITC?

angrygirlie

lifesabeach1111

Hi angrygirlie, we heard about ITC from a booklet that was put in with state pension forms, from bereavement council we had no idea where to start on the probate procedure and as it was in with state pension papers we thought it would be a good company (how wrong we were) Our mum and dad died within 9 months of each other so the thought of having all the legal side and the house sale done for us seemed very temping.They put across such a good spiel on the home visit.(about the only thing they did do good) so we went with them.I feel we have done most of the work over the 13 months and the over £4,000 we are going to have to pay them seems money down the drain. This has been the worst year of my life and they are not even worth half of that.
I will write to them and will update the forum if i get anything back.

HawkinsBoots

My 'dealings' with ITC has been going on for 18 months and there is still no resolution. I have taken my case to the Trading Standards as I was mis-sold their 'fixed price' service, a fixed priced service that gives their customers peace of mind at a difficult time apparently! Unfortunately there T&C's say, to paraphrase, we can charge what we want!

I hate the fact that they hold onto the estate, 'ramp up' their charges and then perform a style of blackmail to get their fees paid (ie if you don't agree you go through their 'complaints' procedure, which is very, very slow, and can't get access to the estate unless you pay their fee). I wonder how many people have thought "what the heck, I hate them but I'll pay just so the rest of the estate is settled"?

I shall ensure that everyone I know, who has the misfortune of a loved one dying, never uses this company. I shall also be contacting all my local undertakers to relay my experiences with them so no one else has to suffer their 'service'.

lifesabeach1111

We have just been told we wont be paid out for at least another 6 weeks this means they have had the money from sale of the house since the 18 jan. My sister asked once again who gets the interest, this time she was told ITC get it and its all in the terms and conditions.from being told yesterday its in an interest free account. so they are going to hang this out as long as possible
just lies every time you ring them.

angrygirlie

lifesabeach1111 wrote: »

Hi angrygirlie, we heard about ITC from a booklet that was put in with state pension forms, from bereavement council we had no idea where to start on the probate procedure and as it was in with state pension papers we thought it would be a good company (how wrong we were) Our mum and dad died within 9 months of each other so the thought of having all the legal side and the house sale done for us seemed very temping.They put across such a good spiel on the home visit.(about the only thing they did do good) so we went with them.I feel we have done most of the work over the 13 months and the over £4,000 we are going to have to pay them seems money down the drain. This has been the worst year of my life and they are not even worth half of that.
I will write to them and will update the forum if i get anything back.

If the leaflet promoting ITC was from the Bereavement Council (and not the Bereavement Advice Centre which is already known as being financially supported by ITC and their leaflets are being removed from many local authority offices due to the 'links') then plese complain directly to them (or whoever was responsible for distributing the leaflets.) Let them know the immoral ethics and pratices that you have experianced and make the point that ITC are UNREGULATED. These leaflets have to be stopped being given out.

boldminer

I am in the midst of a lengthy complaint about the misrepresentation and appalling lack of communication from ITC. I have used their complaints procedure and was referred to the Customer complaints manager, which was ironic in that she was partly to blame in the first place. I will post the outcome of my complaint when it gets resolved but in the meantime has anyone had success in discussions with trading standards or a solicitor?
My solicitor says that I have strong case but that it is likely to be protracted and expensive.
toresponsible

portlandboy wrote: »

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.

angrygirlie

boldminer wrote: »

I am in the midst of a lengthy complaint about the misrepresentation and appalling lack of communication from ITC. I have used their complaints procedure and was referred to the Customer complaints manager, which was ironic in that she was partly to blame in the first place. I will post the outcome of my complaint when it gets resolved but in the meantime has anyone had success in discussions with trading standards or a solicitor?
My solicitor says that I have strong case but that it is likely to be protracted and expensive.
toresponsible

Action will be taken very very soon. Watch this space

boldminer

I am in the midst of a bitter and complicated dispute with ITC; I've complained to Martin Trees who referred me to the Customer Complaints manager; ironically she is one of the main culprits. I'll post the full story when and if I get a solution but in the meantime has anyone had any success from referring ITC to their own solicitor or Trading Standards. My solicitor says I have a strong case but the process would be protacted and expensive.

Baz_J

Hello all,

Just a quick update regards our dealings with ITC, which can be found on some earlier posts.

Mr Trees contacted my Girlfriend after we contacted them regards being unhappy with their service and Fees. He was very polite and well spoken and listened intently while we aired the problems we have encountered.

He said he would look into our particular case and would contact us within the hour to resolve any issues we had. We were also asked what he could do personally to leave us happy with their service/fees.

We went through all the problems we had found and informed him of the sudden appearance of many fees which had not been pointed out to us initially.

He went off for a few Hrs, then come back later that day as promised.

He then agreed to deduct over £1300 of the bill, the amended bill was received within a few days.

We personally are now very happy with the outcome, not just because of the deduction. More so the fact that he hopefully took on board the problems we had encountered and this may stop anyone having a similar problem.

Yes, it’s unfortunate that these problems arise, but I take my hat off to the Mr Trees for approaching us and putting up with some serious earache, then fixing the matter.

I think the moral of the story is to choose carefully when you need these types of legal services.

Best regards

portlandboy

Glad you had an outcome that you're happy with. Tree's response was EXACTLY the same to me too. I thought that he seemed genuinely concerned about the crappy way that ITC had operated throughout my case. That was a fair time ago now so I wonder what changes he did really make at that time, for you to have received the same shoddy treatment now? The real question should be "Would you recommend ITC to your own family when you look back at the heartache and lies that the company have given you over the course of your case?" I'm guessing that, like me you are just feeling relieved that your dealings with ITC are finally over. You may soon realize his words are just empty, well rehearsed lines from his CEO handbook. Keep watching this thread to see how little the complaints change.