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Solicitor has made yet another mistake and won't change it!

xxdeebeexx
Posts: 1,964 Forumite


Hi, I am right at the end of all the paper work to get compensation for an accident that my son had 5 years ago.
The other party have accepted liability.
I have just worked out the 'out of pocket expenses' and the solicitor has typed it out and sent it to me to sign.
On the first set of papers there were a lot of mistakes - son's age, adding up, values included twice, values missed out all together...
I asked for the mistakes to be corrected and new doccuments have been sent to me. There are still mistakes - different ones from before !
The mistake that I am most upset about is the milage to the Dental Hospital where DS went for treatment.
The journey consisted of
1) A round car trip to school to collect him
b) A drive to the train station
c) a return train journey and
d) a drive from the station back home.
Over the course of 14 hospital appointments we travelled over 183 miles by car.
The solicitor has lumped these miles together and has put down
14 return trips to school = 183 miles
This is absolute rubbish and clearly wrong but she expects me to "get on with it" and sign the doccuments any way.
The other party will see quite clearly that this milage is wrong and will then surely, question my honesty about other issues.
I have asked her to change the wording to :-
14 trips to dental hospital by car and train
Train Fare total £xxx
Car journey total 183 miles = £xxxx
but she won't!
The solicitor is quite fed up with me as this case has taken a long time (they have been working on the case for about 3.5 years) It's not worth much to the firm ( DS's claim will be about £20,000)
I clearly irritate her.
This is the second time she has tried to pressurise me into doing something that I felt uncomfortable with.
(The first time was awful! DS1 needed to have a brace fitted before the dental repairs could be completed. She had forgotten to add the cost of the brace to the figures she sent to the other party. She pressurised me to encourage DS to have the offending tooth filed down and capped as it would be cheaper than a brace!)
Please give me some advice on how I can stand up to her or let me know that I am being daft about the wording and that it doesn't really matter.
dx
The other party have accepted liability.
I have just worked out the 'out of pocket expenses' and the solicitor has typed it out and sent it to me to sign.
On the first set of papers there were a lot of mistakes - son's age, adding up, values included twice, values missed out all together...
I asked for the mistakes to be corrected and new doccuments have been sent to me. There are still mistakes - different ones from before !
The mistake that I am most upset about is the milage to the Dental Hospital where DS went for treatment.
The journey consisted of
1) A round car trip to school to collect him
b) A drive to the train station
c) a return train journey and
d) a drive from the station back home.
Over the course of 14 hospital appointments we travelled over 183 miles by car.
The solicitor has lumped these miles together and has put down
14 return trips to school = 183 miles
This is absolute rubbish and clearly wrong but she expects me to "get on with it" and sign the doccuments any way.
The other party will see quite clearly that this milage is wrong and will then surely, question my honesty about other issues.
I have asked her to change the wording to :-
14 trips to dental hospital by car and train
Train Fare total £xxx
Car journey total 183 miles = £xxxx
but she won't!
The solicitor is quite fed up with me as this case has taken a long time (they have been working on the case for about 3.5 years) It's not worth much to the firm ( DS's claim will be about £20,000)
I clearly irritate her.
This is the second time she has tried to pressurise me into doing something that I felt uncomfortable with.
(The first time was awful! DS1 needed to have a brace fitted before the dental repairs could be completed. She had forgotten to add the cost of the brace to the figures she sent to the other party. She pressurised me to encourage DS to have the offending tooth filed down and capped as it would be cheaper than a brace!)
Please give me some advice on how I can stand up to her or let me know that I am being daft about the wording and that it doesn't really matter.
dx
0
Comments
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Write to the solicitor by recorded delivery asking her to change the erroneous wording. Or switch to a different solicitor within the practice or elsewhere.Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0
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You will probably find that it is not a solicitor but a paralegal who is dealing with your claim, who will be supervised by a solicitor. They are still offering you a service, therefore you are entitled to a duty of care.
Ask for the supervising manager and set out what you want, or you will sue for breach of duty.
Remember you instruct them to gain the outcome you desire, not the other way around."A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." George Bernard Shaw:p0 -
if you are unhappy with your present legal advisors then you are entitled to change them.
be prepared to complain about them to thier governing body - as they may try to make you pay for the work they have done for you so far. But, giving false information on legal documents is not going to go in their favour...........I do hope you have kept everything?
if so, then change solicitors - there are good ones out there!0 -
yes it is more than likely a paralegal doing the work but that is not necessarily a bad thing, they have to train up and working on cases is the best/quickest way to do that. All the work is (should) be overseen by a solicitor.
if you aren't happy with the firm you are entitled to change firms, as another poster has said you instruct them not the other way round, nothing gets a firm into action like the threat of losing a client and in any case everything in your case needs to be correct to the "t" so I think you should continue to stand your ground in that respect.0 -
Take a big red pen to the document, cross out the text which is wrong and write "error by <name of solicitor>" and add in the correct text. Then initial the alteration and sign. Send it off and forget about it.
Probably you will find that they are too embarrassed to send it to the other side, so you get it back corrected to sign again. But if you don't, it is good enough to go to the other side.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
xxdeebeexx wrote: »The solicitor is quite fed up with me as this case has taken a long time (they have been working on the case for about 3.5 years) It's not worth much to the firm ( DS's claim will be about £20,000)
I clearly irritate her.
This is her job. If she were a professional, looking out for the best interests of her clients, you wouldn't be made to feel as you are.
Regardless of how much this case is worth to the firm she should be handling it to the best of her ability. I doubt very much she is a partner in the firm. If this is how she handles the smaller cases how can she ever be expected to be trusted with much bigger cases. Her career will stand still if she conducts herself in this way.
Complain to her and insist her mistakes are corrected. If she is rude in any way or refuses to make the adjustments then complain to her boss. I feel really upset on your behalf because you have enough to cope with right now fighting for your child, without having to tolerate inadequates like her.The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own, no apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.0 -
Ask her to change it and if she refuses, ask if there is a reaon why. If there is no legitimate reason why and she continues to refuse to change it, ask to speak to the head of her department about it or whoever is responsible for that area of work. Speak to them about it. If nothing gets resolved, ask for their complaints procedure (that normally triggers some action to appease clients).0
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As PP has suggested, I would print it off, make the changes manually, take a copy of the amended version for myself, and then sign and send back.Mortgage when started: £330,995
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Arthur C. Clarke0 -
I recently had an issue with the solicitors who did my conveyancing 5 years ago. Without boring anyone with the details, they made a mistake, that cost me money and I needed some documents in order to claim the money back. They screwed me about for 2 weeks out of a 4 week deadline for the docs and nothing happened until I enquired about their official complaints procedure and that I had consulted the Solicitors Regulatory Authority website. The documents were located that same day- it was an amazing coincidence!
The SRA say to follow the individual solicitors official complaints procedure before you can raise anything with them anyway, so maybe enquire about what you would need to do to make a formal complaint? This might work better with the actual solicitor rather than a paralegal as well.
Maybe save this if the other suggestions still don't work, but certainly put the wind up the one I was having an issue with.
Hope you get them sorted out.0 -
Thank you for the replies. I have emailed the solicitor and repeated that I am unable to sign until the corrections are made.
I will wait to see what she does
dx0
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