ITC Probate/Chorus Law/The Bereavemnt Advice Centre - All Rogues Together

hollydays

bod1467 wrote: »

Interesting ... I've seen TV ads for Quality Solicitors*. Now that I know they're in cahoots with LPC Law and Chorus Law that's a good reason to avoid them.

Perhaps this link needs to be made better known?

* Although anyone needing to put Quality (or similar words) in their name is of itself a good indication that they are anything but.

Quality Solicitors Organisation Ltd, New Walk House, 108 - 110 New Walk, Leicester LE1 7EA, Company No. 06616950

leshunt1964

Dear All,

Even though they are not regulated, I have taken some legal advice and a strong letter will be sent to the Directors very shortly.

I don't think Mr Grossman, Mr Trees, Mr McKerron will appreciate this letter.

portlandboy

leshunt1964 wrote: »

Dear All,

Even though they are not regulated, I have taken some legal advice and a strong letter will be sent to the Directors very shortly.

I don't think Mr Grossman, Mr Trees, Mr McKerron will appreciate this letter.

In my experience it will be like water off a duck's back.
I had a personal phone conversation with Martin Trees in which he assured me as a "fine and honest Yorkshireman" that he was most upset to hear that his company was causing so much extra grief to his slients and promised me as a "caring family man" that he would ensure it never happened again. That was in 2008 and it has not got any better since. I've even contacted Martin Trees through Facebook to ask him for a statement about his company and how they intend to improve things for their clients, but he didn't take up the offer. Nor did he reply to the message.
These CEO's have no care or interest in their clients, only in the profit they bring.
I'd be interested to know if you actually get a reply from any of them.

Lurker626

I worked for ITC not long after they really started about 2008 when there were no procedures in place, nobody knew what they were doing and the training was non existent so we were the blind leading the blind. I used to feel very sorry for the customers and the call centre (then became 'case managers') as the majority of cases were dealt with poorly and the timescales were awful. They then won a deal with Barclays to take over answering their deceased accounts phoneline (and therefore being able to sell ITC services) and they didnt have the staff to cope. People were promoted to team leaders purely because they had been working there longer than others and not because they had the relevant skills set. I then suffered bullying in the work place from my team leader with no training or support so quickly made an escape to save my sanity.

The turnover of staff was high and I dont think much has changed. Barely anyone I worked with are still there apart from a couple of directors.

The worst company I have ever worked for.

gladforthat

Hi all, i have registered here especialy to say thanks to all of you warning me of simplify/chorus law, i am just about to make a decision on wether to go for a local lawer or the `simplify` route, well guess it is a done-deal now, you may like know with some glee, because of your posts chorus law have lost a potential customer of which they would of been better off by £5figure sum.
Thanks.

portlandboy

gladforthat wrote: »

Hi all, i have registered here especialy to say thanks to all of you warning me of simplify/chorus law, i am just about to make a decision on wether to go for a local lawer or the `simplify` route, well guess it is a done-deal now, you may like know with some glee, because of your posts chorus law have lost a potential customer of which they would of been better off by £5figure sum.
Thanks.

What pleases me most is that you saw this thread and didn't get tangled up in 2-3 years of their games. So many people only look into the company after they realise things are already going wrong for them.

MothballsWallet

... and I appreciate this may not be fully relevant to this thread, but it might bring a smile to someone.

I've noticed that quite a few posters on this thread have mentioned that they were recommended this probate firm from Barclays Bank.

Well, that doesn't surprise me: I remember in 2001 when my wife came to this country and was able to work, we had to get her a UK bank account.

Out of the ones we visited (Natwest, Nationwide, Barclays, Halifax), Barclays were the only ones who claimed that the Home Office rules required them to see banking history records for anyone from outside the EU who wanted to open an account with them.

Now, I think this was total BS because the other 3 were more than happy to open an account for her without these records (Russian people generally don't always have bank accounts over there: after the fall of Communism, banks would open and then collapse at a regular pace).

So, yes, I wouldn't trust anything recommended by Barclays

leshunt1964

Lurker626 wrote: »

I worked for ITC not long after they really started about 2008 when there were no procedures in place, nobody knew what they were doing and the training was non existent so we were the blind leading the blind. I used to feel very sorry for the customers and the call centre (then became 'case managers') as the majority of cases were dealt with poorly and the timescales were awful. They then won a deal with Barclays to take over answering their deceased accounts phoneline (and therefore being able to sell ITC services) and they didnt have the staff to cope. People were promoted to team leaders purely because they had been working there longer than others and not because they had the relevant skills set. I then suffered bullying in the work place from my team leader with no training or support so quickly made an escape to save my sanity.

The turnover of staff was high and I dont think much has changed. Barely anyone I worked with are still there apart from a couple of directors.

The worst company I have ever worked for.

If you worked for the company maybe you could shed some light on the incompetent Team Managers and Senior Operational Managers there who come across very apologetic on the phone and then decide to change your Case Manager who is as useless as the last.

Also, it is blatantly obvious that Simplify has paid for there sites to be in the top results in Google Search.

:mad::mad::mad:

alright

Hi I have been going through probate with Chorus Law since June 2013 on my late mother's estate. I did not research them as they were recommended by Barclays Bank. I usually research everything, however when going through such a difficult time in our lives, myself and two younger brothers wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. In brief, they have miscalculated the IHT, I owened a buy to let property with my mother and my mother's share was not accounted for, they have lost documents, delayed almost everything. Then the last straw when I wanted them to hand over the remaining administration, they sent HMRC a letter that I shall be taking over the administration along with an 'updated' IHT calculation! They were nice enough to send me a copy of the letter, but not a copy if the 'updated IHT calculation'. I received a letter and invoice from HMRC and immediately phoned Chorus who said that their new calculation is correct. I told them via email that they were wrong and need to correct this and forwarded emails to support this. I informed them that not informing me of this was unethical ...lol apology. This weekend my husband and I as well as an aaccountant friend have gone through the accounts and our figures are very different from Chorus. We have also noted that they did not take into account all the funeral costs (my brothers and I had to travel abroad to bury our mother, as she passed away abroad).

Questions
At this stage what can we do? Can we report Chorus or at least threaten them to anyone?

My mother left her share of the buy to let property to one of my brothers, however the property has been left empty since her passing as it needs major renovation and we will not have any money until probate is over, so I have been paying the mortgage on top of my own. Can this be added as a deduction?

Help!

alright

Hi I have been going through probate with Chorus law since June 2013!

Our case is simple (so we thought), the beneficiaries are myself and siblings. We all live in the UK and there are no other beneficiaries. We have been in 'stage 4' of probate since August 2014 and are in debt up to our eyeballs. With maintaining two properties that we were left including our own we have come to the end of our tether and want to cancel the contract with them and ask for all our documentation to be handed back to us. They have delayed each stage, misplaced documents that we have sent and the icing on the cake was when they contacted HMRC behind our back and issued and updated IHT amount without informing us.

How easy is it to terminate our contract so that we can conclude things ourselves. The only thing remaining is to transfer the properties and pay the remainder of the inheritance tax deposit to HMRC. Any help will be appreciated. Is there a body that I can complain to?