Being billed by an immigration consultant for work not agreed to

biscuitcr12

I was wondering if someone could help me to understand where I stand regarding an invoice I have just received from an immigration consultancy company.

The immigration company in question offers a free consultation to determine whether you are eligible to emigrate to a specific country and then if you are they ask you to sign a retainer with them in order to go ahead with the application.

I called them and enquired about eligibility and there were a few issues that they needed to look into because of my circumstances but I took this to be included in the initial free consultation as I was not told otherwise. They asked for a deposit of £150 from me upon confirmation at their end that I could indeed emigrate. I then received a retainer to sign to engage the consultancy solicitors to put forward my visa application.

I did not sign or return the retainer and decided not to go ahead with the application. I contacted the company and thanked them for their time but that I would not be requiring their services after all. I understood that the deposit was lost.

Today I received an invoice from them for £450 minus the initial deposit stating that they had had to do extra work in order to discover whether I was eligible for a visa and they are now viewing what they did as a first stage visa lodgement and as such I owe them the money.

I haven't signed anything and at no point was I made aware that anything that they were doing was beyond the initial exploratory consultation and that I would be charged if I didn't go ahead.

I have called them and told them that they haven't provided any back up to support this charge and at no time did they say that I would be charged if I didn't go ahead.

If I don't pay it in 14 days they say they are going to send it to debt collection and I am worried about it but don't see why I should pay for something i didn't agree to!

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.