Solicitor is chasing us for money

Mommyjones2012

We sold our house and bought a new one over a year ago, (Feb 2014), Weve just received a letter stating we owe £151.34. They said they entered this on our statement as a received sum by mistake, we have it in black and white that they received this money, and Tbh they had that much money off us, and gave us the left overs from the sale. I know its a small sum, but I don't want to pay them and hae them trying it on with another sum.
I need some advice, are we legally liable for the sum, even though our financial statement on completion has this sum as paid, and why has it taken them so long to notice this mistake?
If its their mistake surely they need to take the hit and not us?
Can anyone direct me to legislation or other places for advice, thanks

Landofwood

Do you owe it or not? Do the sums.

TrickyDicky101

Mistakes do happen and you wouldn't be complaining if they were sending a cheque for £150 to you, would you?

You need to determine whether you had actually paid that £151.34 or not - if not, then you do owe the money and should pay it over to them.

TravelBugHappy

generally speaking, yes you will still be liable for this - companies are legally allowed to correct their mistakes in this way.

amnblog

If you were going to go to war with a business who said you owed them money, which type of business are you most likely to have a problem getting the better of?

stator

As others have said the first step is to work out whether you did actually pay them the money or if it was just a mistake.
If it was a mistake I would be writing back offering a partial settlement, since it was their fault. However they are legally entitled to ask for it all.

Thrugelmir

Solicitors are the best debt collectors around.

Tbh they had that much money off us

Most of which had nothing to do with their fees. Just disbursements. Monies that they paid out on your behalf.

Let_Us_See

Mommyjones2012 wrote: »

If its their mistake surely they need to take the hit and not us? Can anyone direct me to legislation or other places for advice, thanks

At times I hate this sad 'money grabbing culture' in which we live.

stator

Let_Us_See wrote: »

At times I hate this sad 'money grabbing culture' in which we live.

It's not money grabbing. Expecting a company to bill you correctly is not unreasonable. If they make a mistake in your favour it's not unreasonable to expect them to write it off either. Decent companies who want to maintain a relationship with their customer do this all the time.
Just because the law allows them to come back and chase the money doesn't make it right.

VFR-Rider

stator wrote: »

Just because the law allows them to come back and chase the money doesn't make it right.

Debatable, but it does make it legal

amnblog

Surely a mistake should be rectified - that is the fair (and legal) way.


Why should a business 'write it off'?