Exhorbitant Solicitor Fee for little/no work

mushy_pea

Hi,
Basically, i have split up with my ex, and seeing as we are finding it hard to be amicable, thought i would look into mediation so that we could sort some of our differences out and not affect the children.
I approached a solicitors who have a recommended mediation services.
Upon calling them up, i was advised that there would be a 'willingness test' whereby each party either agreed or disagreed to mediation, and then we would go in for an assessment at a cost of £60, and take it from there, depending on what the mediator thought our needs were.
Anyway, ex recieved a letter and called them up and told them no, he wasn't willing to attend.
I then recieve an invoice for £72!! This seems extortionate as no work has been done apart from the secretary sending out a letter to us both. I was even told the mediator/solicitor was away last week.

Sorry for the long length, i guess what i really want to know is, is this fair when no work has been done? And if not, what can i do about it?

Please help.

hcb42

what was agreed when you took the initial advice?

sounds like you have been charged the fee, plus VAT already to me.

Tom_Jones

Most solicitors charge at least £30 for a letter so that would equate to £60 plus VAT

I would say the charge is reasonable

arcon5

Well.. I wouldn't consider £60+vat to be reasonable, but yes it does sound about right to me also.

malkie76

Actually sounds cheap for a solicitors letter.
We're obviously all in the wrong careers!

mushy_pea

Thanks for your swift replies.

I was under the impression that i would be charged £60 for the privilege of an assessment meeting and not his secretary writing a letter to my ex. It just seems so much considering as literally all he has done is sign his name on the bill! Nice work when you can get it!

Guess it's not covered by legal aid either as i think i might be eligible for that now as i've only gone back to work part time.

Oh well, thanks anyway guys.

pcombo

Well solicitors are hardly going to work for free.

Hintza

Sounds very cheap to me. I thought they charged £150 - £250 per letter.

Equaliser123

Hintza wrote: »

Sounds very cheap to me. I thought they charged £150 - £250 per letter.

No. Most work on the basis of an hourly charge rather than a cost per letter.

halibut2209

Go to the CAB. If you are entitled to legal aid, then you may well get some help for it. The Mrs and I almost separated early this year and we had the initial mediation assessment. Didn't have to pay.

heretolearn_2

but they HAVE worked for you

a) they held a discussion with you about what to do and you instructed them accordingly
b) they then sent letters to you both
c) they had someone managing the process so that the right action was taken when the replies came in, either start organising the meeting or contacting you to inform you that it wasn't going to happen.

This all took staff time and the firm's resources and it's fair for them to invoice you for it.