SSB Law - failed cavity wall insulation claims - anyone in the same boat?

OldPunk

SSB Law of Sheffield filed for administration on Monday 27/11/23 with debts of £48m arising from borrowing hugely to fund a failed gamble into taking up cases for homeowner compensation for damp problems resulting from incorrectly installed cavity wall insulation, with the big sell to sign up being that this was guaranteed to be on the basis of  'no win, no fee'. In our case, after 3 years of surveyor visits, inspections, innumerable 'please sign this form and return it to us' type emails, in March of this year, we were informed that my mother's case was being dropped as it wasn't strong enough to take to court with a realistic chance of a win and that that was the end of the matter. This certainly isn't proving the case as there are now 1000s of claimants who have been issued with Notices of Enforcement (after SSB Law failed to pay what they owed to insurers by the given deadline) and are now facing demands for £1000s with threats of bailiff visits. In the case of my 77 year old mother who has never owed a penny to anyone in her life, she was landed last week with a Notice of Enforcement for £18000 to be paid by 30/11/23. Today I completed a N244 form which, if approved, buys her 'breathing space' as the case is set aside for 60 days, though of course that's no solution, merely a deferral. 
I have contacted my local MP over this and have become a member of a WhatsApp group of people in the same position as my mother. This case really needs to be brought to the attention of ANYONE who will listen as there are a lot of people not only feeling immense stress and anxiety over this, but also potentially financial ruin. If anyone has any ideas where to turn in order to get the story of this disgraceful situation caused by SSB Law given the exposure it deserves it would be much appreciated and needless to say, any advice on how to best deal with this would be highly welcome.

BJV

Wow I am so sorry for your mum and hope she is ok.  As well all the many people out there who will be affected. I am sure someone will be along soon with some good ideas.  

born_again

 (after SSB Law failed to pay what they owed to insurers by the given deadline)

Do you have proof this was paid to the SSB Law of Sheffield?

If you do it maybe a way out in court. As that should place the debt back with the failed company & the insurance co back to being a creditor of SSB Law of Sheffield.


https://www.ssblaw.co.uk/
SSB Group are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Authorisation number 654321. Governed by the laws of England and Wales

Maybe have a word with SRA.

Interesting website is still up & running.

OldPunk

If I understand correctly, I have evidence from the courts that SSB Law failed to pay £18000 to the Royal & Sun Alliance insurance company by their specified deadline of 30.10.23 which has now resulted in Royal & Sun who are pursuing my Mum for the money by 30.11.23 or face a visit from the bailiffs. 
Today, my Mum, forever cool as a cucumber who has always taken everything in her stride with a shrug and a smile, was visibly shaking whilst filling out one of the forms.

GrumpyDil

Just a question but won't this need to have gone to court for a notice of enforcement to have been issued? 

OldPunk

GrumpyDil said:

Just a question but won't this need to have gone to court for a notice of enforcement to have been issued? 

One would have thought that there surely must be certain legal requirements to be satisfied at each stage of the process, but all I know is that as the demand by Royal & Sun Alliance made to SSB Ltd for payment of £18000 was not paid by the deadline that Royal & Sun are now pursuing the individual, in this case my Mum, to recover what I see are tantamount to SSB Ltd's gambling debts and it stinks.

wesolicitors

This is so concerning for everyone involved.  

I'm a lawyer who is familiar with the SSB situation and have expertise in sorting out these sort of complaints.  

Firstly, you ought to check whether or not SSB arranged legal expenses insurance to cover you should the case be lost.  If they did, then contact the insurer to see if they will pay any liabilities in connection with your case. 

If the legal expense insurance does not cover you then you will most likely have a case against SSB itself.  Even if SSB go into administration, they will have insurance that covers them for negligence.  That cover remains in place and will pay out notwithstanding any financial concerns about SSB. 

You might also want to consider contacting the Legal Ombudsman who might be able to assist with resolving your case.

Your best option is to contact a solicitor specialising in professional negligence.  They will be able to assist with all of the above.  Organisations such as the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association or the Law Society will be able to assist with finding a specialist lawyer.   

Concerned098

16.2. The qualifying insurers are Elite Insurance Company Limited whose address is Newton Chambers, Newton Business Park,
Isaac Newton Way, Grantham NG31 9RT. This insurance covers our firm in England and Wales and extends to acts or
omissions wherever in the world they may occur.

dailypray

ANOTHER SSB LAW VICTIM!!

SSB Law company has given me the biggest shock of my life when I received an enforcement letter through the post asking me to pay over £15000.

These people came knocking to my house telling me I shouldn’t have had cavity wall insulation in a terraced house and they entered me into a No Win No Fee agreement and advised me that they have an ATE insurance which would cover the defendants costs in the event the claim was unsucessful or if they advsied to discontinue.

They sent their expert surveyor to examine inside the walls with their devices and said there is a lot of damp in wall and I will have a strong claim, 3 years had past and they then claimed they lost the report and sent another surveyor to come and this time they said i don't have much damp inside my walls and told me I need to discontinue the case due to insufficient evidence. 

I still stayed calm and said ok thinking since it’s a no win no fee the matter will stop here but then I received this enforcement letter. 

I found out they've got a CCJ on me. They hid all the collection letters from me (that the claimant would have been sending them) and the only thing I got was high court enforcement letter. The claim handler at first was saying the finance director is aware and they are waiting for funds to come in and  that they will pay before the enforcement deadline, they surpassed that deadline and didn’t even attempt to liaise with the enforcement agency like they said they will. 

I will now have enforcement agents at my door ready to take my car and house goods. These people should be locked up, they obviously filling their pockets and getting ready for administration as seen on the news. We need to sue these corrupted people.

There are many people who have been SSB’s victims. Thousands are now likely to be owing tens of thousands of pounds in costs from defendants because they have discontinued so many cases. I am now part of a WhatsApp group that are all victims of SSB LAW. I have complaint to the company house they are registered to. I have reported them to Legal ombudsman, SRA, The Law Society and sent an email to my Local MP.

I have applied for N244 and managed to get the writ of control stayed which pauses the enforcement action till the 8th December when I have a hearing at the court. Then the judge will decide if the judgement needs to be set aside. You guys also have an option to ring CAB and get breathing space for 60 days.

Concerned098

Concerned098 said:

16.2. The qualifying insurers are Elite Insurance Company Limited whose address is Newton Chambers, Newton Business Park,
Isaac Newton Way, Grantham NG31 9RT. This insurance covers our firm in England and Wales and extends to acts or
omissions wherever in the world they may occur.

Actually that seems to be an old insurer who now appears to be in administration- check your terms of business for the up to date insurer 

Installer99

Dear OldPunk

I am very sorry for the distress your mother is going through at this time.  I would like to offer a different perspective on this mess.  I work for an insulation company which has been defending these false cavity wall insulation claims for several years.  Like your mother, it has been a very distressing time for the staff fighting these claims and worrying about the amounts involved and the impact on the family business.  The difference is, we didn’t choose to be involved, we haven’t done anything wrong, and we didn’t choose to sue anybody.  We are a decent company just insulating peoples homes to make them warmer.  None of the claimants suing us contacted us to say they were concerned about damp in their properties and whether it could be caused by defective cavity wall insulation.  If they had, we would have responded, sent out a surveyor (for free) and if there were any defective areas, we would have remediated them.  We also work with a company that specialises in damp and mould treatment and we could have advised on how to improve any issues.  But that is the point isn’t it and the problem with the claims culture of today.  People do not stop and think about the merits of the case – someone knocks at your door and says they can get you £50k or £60k or some ridiculous sum, and you just sign the paperwork.  Yes SSB Law is a horrific business with highly dubious business practices, and I hope the directors are held accountable.  But shouldn’t some responsibility be held on the part of the claimant?  We have one case where we have been awarded £13,000 in costs by the court, for the claimant to pay us.  We have paid out £26,000 to our solicitors in defending the case.  Is it not fair for the claimant to pay half of the costs – or why should we suffer them all?  I just think people should think before they sign up to one of these claims scams, be it cavity wall insulation or diesel claims or japanese knotweed or whatever.  In the case of your 77 year old mother, I assume she obtained advice from family or someone before signing all the legal documents – perhaps they should pay the court costs for her, then pursue a claim against SSB or their insurers or the SRA.