advice please

aweru123

Hi.

i need to find out if ive been really ripped off and over charged by a solicitor, but this whole area is deep & difficult.

I used a well known solicitor to defend me for a driving charge, and the costs came to over £4,450.

People seem to think this is a riddiculouse ammount and im really upset and embarrased about it. i really could actualy buy a new car with that nearly.
the company i work for has had to loan me the money.

im now in debt for months through this.

any advice? & is it normal for solicitors to charge £450 per hour in court and for other work too?

thanks.

dmg24

A solicitor with rights of audience, or a barrister, will cost £450 an hour (or more).

I would be very surprised if you had not been given a list of the rates prior to the sol acting on your behalf.

myrnahaz

You really need to check your contract - if you were given prior notice of the charges (which is usual, as DMG24 says) you will just have to pay.
Did you win the case?

tbs624

aweru123 wrote: »

Hi.

i need to find out if ive been really ripped off and over charged by a solicitor, but this whole area is deep & difficult.

I used a well known solicitor to defend me for a driving charge, and the costs came to over £4,450....
.

As the other posters have said, it is usual for you to know the solicitor's charges before you instruct him/her to act on your behalf. If you've used one of the "driving charge loophole" boys then you probably should have expected to pay top whack. With a driving charge you'd have to balance the representation costs against what it could cost you if your job depends on you having a current licence, and you're at risk of losing it.

You can write to the solicitor and ask for a full breakdown of the costs, if they have not been provided in sufficient details for you to follow. If s/he is from a larger firm, address your query to the Practice Manager.

Woby_Tide

and we can only hope for £4.5k that you won

aweru123

hi. thanks!

yes i didnt win but i didnt get any points added.

so i kept licence but couldnt claim costs.

yes the £4,000 was said at start after £470 consultation fee.

it is a lot but also i need my job/income & freedom..

guess you pay a lot for freedom these days.

lucky it was work loaned me the money... not shure what i would have done if not.

i initialy thought after hearing about reclaiming bank charges, ect.. (which i did) on the radio.. that there was also a crusade to help peoples driving licences against nasy scameras.. but it appears this is not yet happening & solicitors unfortunately arent out to put the world to rights.. just to make big money..

i assumed wrong