Will Pressure..

StiffeeSpamhead

Evening all.. long time reader etc..

..ok.. I'm writing this while a bit narked.. so apologies if it's a bit ranty!!

Me and the wife have just had some company round to write a will for £50 each.. pretty cheap.. .. it's straightforward.. everything goes to the other on death or to the kids if we both cop it..

..anyway.. I wasn't massively impressed with the bloke (made a joke about my wife's recent car accident for example!).. I wasn't sure with some of the things he said (executors cannot be family or someone who would benefit from the will? executors liable for all the costs even if the will didn't cover it? we can share our inheritance tax limit so our threshold is £650k- I'm sure that's not right! told us if we stored the will and it was marked with a paperclip it would be invalid.. said we'd be looking at approx. 5% of our estate being taken up with paying to execute the will etc..).. but I'm no legal expert and confess my mind has been elsewhere with work and stuff..

BUT.. £50 each didn't seem too bad..

until he got to the hard sell.. when he turned into a flippin' doorstep salesman who just kept on prodding until we gave in..

basically they have a protection plan (is this normal?!) which I felt he pushed us into signing @ a pretty big cost! we have the right to cancel and will be refunded the monies.. which we intent to do (he said it covered storage of the will and other vital documents, annual contact from company to see if will needs updating,updates to will, help/advice to us and family on death etc..).. but..

they also made us pay for the will up front - which I found unusual..

I'm unhappy with the service I received and would now like to cancel the whole thing.. the small print says they undertake to refund the money paid if we change our mind but that they reserve the right to charge for the advice given.. not that I was given the chance to read through this as he kept on pushing asking me what the problem was with me signing..

I have the guys mobile number - do I contact him directly and advise him that I intend to cancel the whole thing and complain about the treatment I received or do I wait until Monday morning and ring the central company? This company was recommended by a family member who when I spoke to them received a similar deal but without the hard-sell that we got!

If I have to go ahead with the wills only (because they want to hit us with big cancellation fees).. can this will be 'transferred' to any solicitor of our choice should we have to have a codicil written for the will?

I've also just found that I can store the bleeding thing with the HMCS when written as well rather than the £50 approx. per year he told us it was as well!!

I accept I was poorly prepared for this guys visit (compounded by heavily pregnant wife and me having a stressful job!).. but can't help think he was a bit economical with the truth in order to get a sale.. I'm an adult and he didn't physically force us to sign but I do feel we were pressured into signing and he did not explain the charges we may incur if we cancel the whole thing..

Am I alone in the experience and where do I stand in terms of my grievance?

All help, advice, smacks round the head because I'm a plank who's just re-read his union membership and found he can get a free will gratefully received!!

Emmzi

well most of what he said about executors is rubbish. the paper clip thing is also bollox. even if it is a great and binding will I think I'd run.

did he by any chance appoint his company as executors with a 3 or 4% fee??

run away.

either pay for a proper will at the solicitors or wait until november when you can get one on "will aid" where they do it for free and you donate the fee to charity.

smartpicture

I don't think ringing is the answer, you need to get it in writing that you want to cancel, immediately.

StiffeeSpamhead

Emmzi wrote: »

well most of what he said about executors is rubbish. the paper clip thing is also bollox. even if it is a great and binding will I think I'd run.

did he by any chance appoint his company as executors with a 3 or 4% fee??

run away.

either pay for a proper will at the solicitors or wait until november when you can get one on "will aid" where they do it for free and you donate the fee to charity.

well that's what this agreement covered.. it caps their fees @ 1% of the estate.. which seemed pretty good as he was quoting fees elsewhere of 3-5%... but I was unhappy on having to sign there and then and said so.. and he kept on pressuring until I gave in.. it's going to cost £3k in total for the agreement and then 1% of the estate upon death..

I can't work out if it's a good deal or if I've been mugged! The whole salesman routine has coloured my judgement plus I do feel he poured a bit of 'story-juice' on some of the figures and scenarios he quoted..

Fluffi

:eek: I'm shocked at the treatment you've received - you've been told a lot of rubbish!

Family members can be executors and this is very common. A widow can be the executor for her husbands estate and children are often executors of their parents will's.

Absolutely nothing stopping a beneficiary being executor either.

I've done all the paperwork for probate and dealt with an estate (close family member) it was not difficult and certainly not worth 5% of an estate! As the will was drawn up professionally in the first place - then getting probate granted so that the estate can be collected and then distributed is very straightforward.

Lots of people automatically get a solicitor to execute a will - who will charge huge fees for very little work. Generally its just a case of writing letters, cashing in cheques and maybe opening a bank account to hold all the monies until they've been collected if the estate is being divided out. It only costs is stamps, paper, envelopes, phone calls, travel costs to the closest probate registry and probate fees of approximately £100 if the estate is over £5000 and not passing directly to the spouse. (If the estate is under £5000 or going directly to the spouse then there is no fee - just a £1 for each grant of representation certificate)

Most solicitors will charge at least 1% of the estate and then for each telephone call/letters and it will end up costing thousands for something that will only cost at most a couple of hundred if done by someone you trust. (and that's a worse case scenario were you stay overnight because your executor lives in the middle of nowhere and stays overnight at a hotel before going to the probate registry!)

3k for a will and then 1% on death sounds very expensive to me!

BitterAndTwisted

You've been mugged. Write to them on Monday, send the letter by recorded delivery and withdraw.

You could have got better advice from a solicitor and it would only have cost you £100

Surfbabe

Cancel straightaway and name and shame.

We are just re-making our wills as its £100 for the two with a solicitor.

Errata

we have the right to cancel and will be refunded the monies

Cancel immediately. You have been mugged, but don't panic. All you have to do is make new will(s) with a solicitor this time, and they wil automatically supersede any and all previous ones.

mrcow

I feel sick reading that opening post.

I bet people are falling for this BS. Cancel in writing - call the company on Monday and ask for a fax number and then also send a copy recoreded delivery.

Also - call trading standings on Monday.

Practically every thing that you've said the guy has said to is completely incorrect.

If they try and charge for his "service" time - don't pay a penny - he's not given you any service whatsoever apart from spouted a load of lies and wasted "x" number of hours of your time.

StiffeeSpamhead

mrcow wrote: »

I feel sick reading that opening post.

I bet people are falling for this BS. Cancel in writing - call the company on Monday and ask for a fax number and then also send a copy recoreded delivery.

Also - call trading standings on Monday.

Practically every thing that you've said the guy has said to is completely incorrect.

If they try and charge for his "service" time - don't pay a penny - he's not given you any service whatsoever apart from spouted a load of lies and wasted "x" number of hours of your time.

Yeah I notice they say to write to the administrator but then don't say who that is.. it does say I have 7 days in which to cancel both the will and the protection agreement.. they've hidden in the bit about reserving the right to charge for the time in the small print.. trouble is we paid on a credit card.. my wife has called them to advise the card company that we want to cancel the payment (they've actually cancelled her card to ensure they don't take the money!!?!!) - we've also set-up a direct debit which we'll cancel..

What I feel terrible about is that my brother, wife and mum used these people (didn't mention the protection to us!), and paid out £2k in full during the visit.. they did this in Feb so I'm not sure they can get their money back! EDIT: Having spoken to my family they feel comfortable this was the right deal for them.

princeofpounds

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=5001133944&type=ONEOFFPAGE&site=210

some information on cooling off periods- so you might be able to
totally withdraw from the contract and not just cancel and incurring penalties or notice periods.

The office of fair trading can probably advise you on this and maybe CAB too, or Which? if you sign up.