Statutory Demand

Keep_pedalling

destype said:

The individual was named as the executor not the company. 

You need to take legal advice, but if she has skipped the country and has no assets in the UK retrieving the money is going to be difficult.

These cases are rare but this is the main reason the regulars on this board always recommend using a regulated solicitor when making a will, and where possible appoint the main beneficiaries as your executors.

fatbelly

destype said:

Can you tell me what an AJA s50 form is please? I can’t see it on a quick google search. Thanks. 

It's not a form. It's the legal basis of action against an executor

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/61/section/50

You need specialist advice if you are going down that route

Marcon

destype said:

Do you think the bankruptcy thing isn’t going to work? 

If she's left the country, she may no longer be within the jurisdiction of the British courts - not to mention you may not have a valid address for service - and she may have no assets in the UK, so pursuing her by any sort of legal action is likely to be a lost cause.

If she was an employee of the will writing company, then pursuing them is more likely to yield results, but without sight of any of the relevant documents it's impossible to be sure. A chat with your local Citizens Advice might be no bad thing.

Otherwise I go back to the suggestion in my earlier post - and I'll add an excellent journalist you might like to consider: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/columnist-1066279/Tony-Hetherington-Financial-Mail-Sunday.html

SaveSmartly12

Marcon, she owns it and on the companies website is down as a director. She is an extremely slippery person. The fact that they have been taking money from elderly people for years and haven’t been shut down yet shows how slippery this is. Is this fraud? I’m just wondering if we can get a fraud action line involved. I’ll certainly consider the journalist route although I don’t know enough about this route and the implications so might try other ways first. She does seem to be dealing with the executor duties herself as the rest of the employees seem to have no idea what is going on. I would like to shut this company down to stop them taking advantage or more people. 

Keep_pedalling

destype said:

Marcon, she owns it and on the companies website is down as a director. She is an extremely slippery person. The fact that they have been taking money from elderly people for years and haven’t been shut down yet shows how slippery this is. Is this fraud? I’m just wondering if we can get a fraud action line involved. I’ll certainly consider the journalist route although I don’t know enough about this route and the implications so might try other ways first. She does seem to be dealing with the executor duties herself as the rest of the employees seem to have no idea what is going on. I would like to shut this company down to stop them taking advantage or more people. 

Owning the company means she has assets in the UK which might be good news if she has done a bunk rather than just be out of the country temperarily.

Do not try to DIY this you need legal advice on how to proceed. It might just take one solicitors letter to resolve this. 

Marcon

Keep_pedalling said:

destype said:

Marcon, she owns it and on the companies website is down as a director. She is an extremely slippery person. The fact that they have been taking money from elderly people for years and haven’t been shut down yet shows how slippery this is. Is this fraud? I’m just wondering if we can get a fraud action line involved. I’ll certainly consider the journalist route although I don’t know enough about this route and the implications so might try other ways first. She does seem to be dealing with the executor duties herself as the rest of the employees seem to have no idea what is going on. I would like to shut this company down to stop them taking advantage or more people. 

Owning the company means she has assets in the UK which might be good news if she has done a bunk rather than just be out of the country temperarily.

Unfortunately that may not be the case. A look at the last accounts filed for the company might give OP a clue as to what assets the company has, which might be instructive - or not, given that anything could have happened since the last accounts were filed.

Marcon

destype said:

Marcon, she owns it and on the companies website is down as a director. She is an extremely slippery person. The fact that they have been taking money from elderly people for years and haven’t been shut down yet shows how slippery this is. Is this fraud? 

'Taking money from elderly people' isn't of itself fraud or a cause for shutting down a company. 

SaveSmartly12

Macron, there are google reviews where children of elderly parents have said they paid this company thousands for things that weren’t needed or services provided that weren’t correct. It also sounds like getting solicitors in to correct their work or get them to answer their emails has happened a lot. 

SaveSmartly12

Apologies, Marcon. 

Marcon

destype said:

Macron, there are google reviews where children of elderly parents have said they paid this company thousands for things that weren’t needed or services provided that weren’t correct. It also sounds like getting solicitors in to correct their work or get them to answer their emails has happened a lot. 

It isn't of itself actionable, since the people posting reviews aren't likely to be doing so in a way which would make them identifiable - and reviews aren't always fair or accurate, so no law enforcement agency would see them as a basis on which to proceed. 

However, they would all be grist to the mill of a financial journalist to encourage them to take your complaint further. I completely understand (and applaud) your hesitation to follow that route, but the likes of Tony Hetherington (have a look at some of his cases - and his impressive success rate) can't proceed without your written authority and won't name you publicly.