Solicitor demanding extra money after final bill settled

ontheroad1970

If you go to the motoring section, you'll see that Fred doesn't like ombudsmen very much.  

TBagpuss

Retireby40 said:

Solicitors are scum of the earth. Every penny they can extract they do. They recieve money and hold on to it not telling you until you actually say....x told me they sent money to you that I overpaid and then they say oh yes. We will forward it onto you once everything is done despite already paying for what they had to do. They keep the money sitting in their accounts building interest and give you it last second.

They also have many "oversights". If I have an oversight I have to pay the extra. However when a solicitor has an oversight or makes a mistake I still have to pay extra. It's no wonder they are so lacklustre with their work when even when they make a mistake it doesnt cost them.

It sounds as though you have had a bad experience with a solicitor, however, as with most professions, the majority are conscientious people doing the best job they can. (there are of course non-solicitors who offer legal work, such as cheap conveyancers and will-writers, who are not regulated as tightly and don't have the same level of professional oversight or the same level of requirements for training and professional conduct - while some of them are nevertheless competent, that is not true of all. Unfortunately a lot of people do not distinguish between solicitors and non-solicitors  when they have a bad experience) 

 Solicitors are also one of the most highly regulated professions in the country and so if they genuinely do a poor job you have effective ways of dealing with that and getting redress. 

My experience is that solicitors don't normally charge if they are correcting their own errors although if course if they have to do extra work because of an oversight by their client I can't understand why anyone would expect that to be free - you wouldn't expect someone else to pay for your mistakes in other fields of work, surely? 

OP, if the amount charges is more than your were originally quotes then unless you were told that the quote had changed you should not have to pay the extra over the amount of the original quote. Solicitors should keep costs under review and tell you if their original estimate changes, but do check the original letters you had, and any updates, to see if what they are charging is consistent with the original quote (for instance, the total amount might be higher if it includes disbursements (e.g. court fees, search fees, stamp duty) which are not part of the solicitors costs but simply payments they have passed on on your behalf to third parties

Retireby40

TBagpuss said:

Retireby40 said:

Solicitors are scum of the earth. Every penny they can extract they do. They recieve money and hold on to it not telling you until you actually say....x told me they sent money to you that I overpaid and then they say oh yes. We will forward it onto you once everything is done despite already paying for what they had to do. They keep the money sitting in their accounts building interest and give you it last second.

They also have many "oversights". If I have an oversight I have to pay the extra. However when a solicitor has an oversight or makes a mistake I still have to pay extra. It's no wonder they are so lacklustre with their work when even when they make a mistake it doesnt cost them.

It sounds as though you have had a bad experience with a solicitor, however, as with most professions, the majority are conscientious people doing the best job they can. (there are of course non-solicitors who offer legal work, such as cheap conveyancers and will-writers, who are not regulated as tightly and don't have the same level of professional oversight or the same level of requirements for training and professional conduct - while some of them are nevertheless competent, that is not true of all. Unfortunately a lot of people do not distinguish between solicitors and non-solicitors  when they have a bad experience) 

 Solicitors are also one of the most highly regulated professions in the country and so if they genuinely do a poor job you have effective ways of dealing with that and getting redress. 

My experience is that solicitors don't normally charge if they are correcting their own errors although if course if they have to do extra work because of an oversight by their client I can't understand why anyone would expect that to be free - you wouldn't expect someone else to pay for your mistakes in other fields of work, surely? 

OP, if the amount charges is more than your were originally quotes then unless you were told that the quote had changed you should not have to pay the extra over the amount of the original quote. Solicitors should keep costs under review and tell you if their original estimate changes, but do check the original letters you had, and any updates, to see if what they are charging is consistent with the original quote (for instance, the total amount might be higher if it includes disbursements (e.g. court fees, search fees, stamp duty) which are not part of the solicitors costs but simply payments they have passed on on your behalf to third parties

The solicitors i have been dealing with are slow, they dont even know the proper rules/regulations of other organisations they deal with and they get documents and just send them on without looking at them and seeing if all is right. 

Told me and other half to get 2 signatures as witnesses for something. Nowhere did it say 2 each. I sent said document to solicitor. They sent it on the land registry. Land registry send it back saying they needed and always have needed 2 signatures each. Solicitor contacts me 3 months later saying they need more signatures.

They are also very very reluctant to release funds when you have already paid them for services. I assume the bigger the fee they are getting the more careful they are with their work. 

They also refuse to answer questions where they have to actually say in words they made a mistake or got something wrong. They talk around the point and apology but never hold their hands up and say we didnt know something. Typical solicitor though. Happy to point out small print to me but not their own issues.

SteveWade

Retireby40 said:

TBagpuss said:

Retireby40 said:

Solicitors are scum of the earth. Every penny they can extract they do. They recieve money and hold on to it not telling you until you actually say....x told me they sent money to you that I overpaid and then they say oh yes. We will forward it onto you once everything is done despite already paying for what they had to do. They keep the money sitting in their accounts building interest and give you it last second.

They also have many "oversights". If I have an oversight I have to pay the extra. However when a solicitor has an oversight or makes a mistake I still have to pay extra. It's no wonder they are so lacklustre with their work when even when they make a mistake it doesnt cost them.

It sounds as though you have had a bad experience with a solicitor, however, as with most professions, the majority are conscientious people doing the best job they can. (there are of course non-solicitors who offer legal work, such as cheap conveyancers and will-writers, who are not regulated as tightly and don't have the same level of professional oversight or the same level of requirements for training and professional conduct - while some of them are nevertheless competent, that is not true of all. Unfortunately a lot of people do not distinguish between solicitors and non-solicitors  when they have a bad experience) 

 Solicitors are also one of the most highly regulated professions in the country and so if they genuinely do a poor job you have effective ways of dealing with that and getting redress. 

My experience is that solicitors don't normally charge if they are correcting their own errors although if course if they have to do extra work because of an oversight by their client I can't understand why anyone would expect that to be free - you wouldn't expect someone else to pay for your mistakes in other fields of work, surely? 

OP, if the amount charges is more than your were originally quotes then unless you were told that the quote had changed you should not have to pay the extra over the amount of the original quote. Solicitors should keep costs under review and tell you if their original estimate changes, but do check the original letters you had, and any updates, to see if what they are charging is consistent with the original quote (for instance, the total amount might be higher if it includes disbursements (e.g. court fees, search fees, stamp duty) which are not part of the solicitors costs but simply payments they have passed on on your behalf to third parties

The solicitors i have been dealing with are slow, they dont even know the proper rules/regulations of other organisations they deal with and they get documents and just send them on without looking at them and seeing if all is right. 

Told me and other half to get 2 signatures as witnesses for something. Nowhere did it say 2 each. I sent said document to solicitor. They sent it on the land registry. Land registry send it back saying they needed and always have needed 2 signatures each. Solicitor contacts me 3 months later saying they need more signatures.

They are also very very reluctant to release funds when you have already paid them for services. I assume the bigger the fee they are getting the more careful they are with their work. 

They also refuse to answer questions where they have to actually say in words they made a mistake or got something wrong. They talk around the point and apology but never hold their hands up and say we didnt know something. Typical solicitor though. Happy to point out small print to me but not their own issues.

Solicitors are regulated (by the SRA) and any client can report their solicitors to them if they feel genuinely aggrieved

The SRA are very harsh on solicitors who display any form of dishonesty