£12k Bill!

CKhalvashi

Steve, it would appear that you've settled with the firm, and this 'invoice' isn't worth the paper it's written on.

It may be worth contacting the broker concerned (it's their reputation after all) or asking the solicitor to justify this bill, sending proof of your settlement with the broker with this (copy of the letter and cheque stub should be ok)

Others will be able to advise further.

dunstonh

not once was I told that there was the slightest risk to me by these solicitors

That is a failure on their part that would need to be raised.

then just a couple of days prior to the court case being heard, Lorrells sent me a letter stating that the case was unlikely to succeed and were therefore dropping the case

This is the ugly side of claims via courts. They would have known before submitting the case to the court that it had little chance of success. However, they were hoping the mortgage broker's insurers would settle the case out of court as the cheaper option. Very ugly.

I totally understand why the mortgage broker had to instruct a solicitor once legal proceedings began and I do not blame the Mortgage broker at all

I do feel sorry for the mortgage broker. Small firms being terrorised by fake complaints using legal action in an attempt to distort money from them is a disgrace. Morally, why did you do this to them?

hey wrote " I accept your claim was driven by what your claims firm led you to believe and understand that you went ahead with what you thought was a legitimate claim even though , with hindsight, you should have contacted us with any concerns first. Your apology is fully accepted and with the nominal amount of £500 towards our expenses accepted, I confirm the matter is now closed"

That appears to be an acceptance of you no longer pursuing the case.

Whilst I understand that the broker's solicitor has costs, all I ever did in this case was to be advised that this case and claim was being brought against the broker, due to the fact that I had been sold the wrong mortgage etc and I was advised on a number of occasions, by Lorrells, whom not once informed me of any risk to me financially, in fact they assured me on many occasions, that the insurance taken out by Lorrells would cover any costs involved in the matter and it seems to me that once the case was dropped by Lorrells, back in September and then in December 2014, when I was informed that the insurance would not pay out that Lorrells distanced themselves and have cease to act for me, which is something I did not know, until I received the court order this week and so it seems they are getting out and now leaving me to face the consequences!

Yes, you were scammed. However, you agreed to it. For all their wrongdoing, you went along with it. However, if the mortgage broker has accepted £500 as terms of settlement of their costs then I am not sure how the solicitor can ask you for costs. Maybe magpiecottage can expand on that point.

Has there been any correspondence since the agreed settlement to suggest the claims company is starting it up again?
Did the settlement from the adviser say £500 plus costs? Or was the £500 the agreement with the expectation that the insurance would cover costs but as that never happened, they then get passed back to you?

will be seeking legal advice tomorrow as well as contacting the financial ombudsman service,

You dont want to be contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service. They are an independent arbiter of complaints about the advice given for those that used the free of charge FCA regulated complaints process but disagree with the complaint response. You did not use that service and therefore have no right of access to the FOS. Plus, by taking legal action which has now been settled, that trumps the FOS. It is the legal ombudsman that you need to contact as it is Plus, a local solicitor.

magpiecottage

Okay

First of all, call the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0800 023 4567 and explain that following a complaint to the broker they charged you £500 for it and have now their solicitors have sent a demand for £12,583.

You also need to complain to both Lorrells and Mortgage Audits.

I am guessing that Mortgage Audits is this firm on the claims regulation register. Did they cold call you - and, if so, when?

antrobus

magpiecottage wrote: »

....I am guessing that Mortgage Audits is this firm on the claims regulation register. Did they cold call you - and, if so, when?

Mortgage Audits Limited no 07534794 is a different company to Personal Reclaims Limited no 06760146. Both exist at the moment, although there is a proposal to strike off Mortgage Audits Ltd.

However, both companies have the same registered address, and both companies are owned and managed by the same Mr and Mrs Marshall.

If that's any help.

Nearlyold

magpiecottage wrote: »

Okay

First of all, call the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0800 023 4567 and explain that following a complaint to the broker they charged you £500 for it and have now their solicitors have sent a demand for £12,583.
QUOTE]





I thought they commenced legal action against the broker which was then dropped when they realised they were not going to win - I assume they banked on the Broker settling before the court hearing but looks like their bluff was called. Do FOS have jurisdiction over court cost applications when the normal complaint route was not followed?

Voyager2002

magpiecottage wrote: »

Okay

First of all, call the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0800 023 4567 and explain that following a complaint to the broker they charged you £500 for it and have now their solicitors have sent a demand for £12,583.

You also need to complain to both Lorrells and Mortgage Audits.

I am guessing that Mortgage Audits is this firm on the claims regulation register. Did they cold call you - and, if so, when?

No.

Dunstonh has already explained why the FOS is unable to help you now.

Your best option is to see a local solicitor and perhaps to contact the Legal Services Ombudsman.

CKhalvashi

Voyager2002 wrote: »

No.

Dunstonh has already explained why the FOS is unable to help you now.

Your best option is to see a local solicitor and perhaps to contact the Legal Services Ombudsman.

However IMO this is a separate complaint to the first and should be treated as such.

I'm assuming that MC has the same thought on this.

magpiecottage

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Dunstonh has already explained why the FOS is unable to help you now.

FOS would decide whether it has jurisdiction or not (and it is free to ask).

I think a complaint against Lorrells - and if necessary to the Legal Ombudsman - would be likely to succeed (and literally only cost a pound or two in the first instance).

However, we do need to know whether the CMC cold called and, if possible, who it was.

magpiecottage

I suggest the following e-mail with a subject "Complaint" is sent to [EMAIL="enquiries@lorrells.com"]enquiries@lorrells.com[/EMAIL].

Note that the bits in [square brackets] need you to sort out.

Also note the comments at the end are not supposed to be in the e-mail! Here goes:



On or about [date] I received an unsolicited telephone call from your agent Mortgage Audits offering to check if my mortgage was missold which was subsequently referred to you.

I have now learned that the Solicitors Regulation Authority prohibits you from accepting business obtained via cold calls, including those obtained by claims management companies whose own regulator has prohibited them from passing on to solicitors.

I demand that you explain to me why you chose to ignore your regulator's rules and why you dealt with a CMC which broke its regulator's rules in order to get me to sign up to your services.

It has also been explained to me that, if I had concerns about my mortgage, I was entitled, under the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, to raise them with my mortgage broker direct and, if necessary, refer them to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In addition, it has explained to me that this would be free to me.

I demand to know why neither your, nor your agent Mortgage Audits explained this to me.

It has also been explained to me that, if the route of a complaint under the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority had been used, the broker would not be able to charge me for it - even if I did not receive any compensation but, if I attempted legal action, I might face a bill from the mortgage broker.

When I asked you about this possibility beforehand, you told me that it was covered by insurance.
I demand that you explain to me why this was not explained to me.

When you decided to abort the legal action against the broker in my name, I received a bill from the broker.

You then told me that the insurance policy to meet such claims would not cover it. I demand to know why you lied to me previously and said it would.

It is now quite clear to me that the only misselling has been done by Lorrells (both directly and via your agent Mortgage Audits).

When I received the demand, you simply washed your hands of the matter and left me on my own.

I have so far attempted to resolve the matter with the broker direct with a payment of £500 but have now received a demand for a further £12,583.

This has caused me enormous distress and I have no means of repaying it.

However, I have now learned that I am entitled to make a complaint to you at no cost to myself and, if you do not provide me with a satisfactory response within eight weeks, I can take it to the Legal Ombudsman.

I therefore demand:

1) That you address the demand for £12,583 at your own expense.

2) That you get the £500 already paid back - or you reimburse me yourselves for it.

3) That you compensate me properly for the considerable distress and inconvenience that have been caused to me by you and your agent, Mortgage Audits.

[Name and address details]


Don't forget to keep a copy of the e-mail in a handy place. If you do not get a satisfactory response you will need to send it to the Legal Ombudsman.

Whether they pay up themselves or attempt to fight it is, in theory, their decision. However, I doubt they would be able to fight it to a resolution in eight weeks and it would be done in your name, so the distress would continue.

So, unless you have an offer that will clearly resolve the matter permanently by the end of May, I would go to the Ombudsman.

jamesd

magpiecottage wrote: »

You also need to complain to both Lorrells and Mortgage Audits.

With regard to Lorrells, is this a matter that at this stage the Solicitors Regulation Authority would be interested in, rather than waiting until later in the complaints process? I'm concerned that their practices may involve ongoing detriment to other consumers that needs to be stopped as soon as practical.