Ever changing solicitors bill - HELP!

[Blinkin73]

Well as I predicted I heard back from my solicitor yesterday. This is what they wrote

"Having checked my letter of 19 April 2013, you will see that I say, ‘…up to the 29 November 2012 etc’. If you look in the first three invoices numbered 15618, 16259 and 18655, the total time spent within the invoices is up to the 29 November 2012 – as stated in my covering letter with the invoice numbered 18655.

When calculating the total from start to finish for your case in respect of legal costs, I worked out the total time that was recorded on the Firm’s system by adding all time within the three invoices for the discount. I then added a 20% discount to the time spent on your matter. Please note that the discount wasn’t applied to the total of each bill because we weren’t giving a 20% discount on VAT. We calculate VAT on top of whatever the figure is that we are charging for time spent on your matter.

I am grateful to you for the payments that you have made by cheque. I don’t have a record of the cheque that you refer to as being uncashed. Had I received it, it would have been cashed, since we always appreciate being paid. I am sorry to note that invoice number 19008 wasn’t received by you earlier than the 10 August 2013. I can only conclude that it might have gone astray in the post.

The invoice sent to you by Ms Curd was sent from a different office and the error was corrected when I saw the invoice having asked for a copy so that I could do a Statement of Account for you (enclosed with last letter to you).

Thank you for your cheque in the sum of £978.91 as I appreciate that you are trying to finalise payment of the money that you owe to Menneer Shuttleworth, Solicitors.

The figures that I have sent to you in respect of the Statement of Account enclosed with my last letter are correct, and I have been very careful to try to explain them within the Statement of Account more clearly.

The best that I can suggest is that if you have any further queries, you telephone Angie Perkins (my Secretary) and make an appointment to come and see me. I am prepared to sit with you and go through the figures within the invoices to explain the breakdown of costs in person.

I can assure you that the balance you owe the Firm, once your cheque has cleared, is £1,052.40. I have deducted the latest payment from you from the balance on the last Statement of Account sent to you. I enclose an updated Statement for your records.

If you have any further queries about the money, please would you come and me as I think this will save some time trying to explain the figures through correspondence."

The account they sent me

Date

Invoice No.

Description

Ledger Account

Monies paid in by you

Balance

23/11/11

15618

Invoice

£1,014.00

 

 

£1,014.00

 

 

5/12/11

 

 

Payment by you

 

 

£1,014.00

£0.00

 

 

8/3/11

16259

Invoice

£1,170.00

 

 

£1,170.00

 

 

19/4/13

18655

20% discount on work in progress within invoices 15618 and 16259 within this invoice

 

 

(£436.80)

 

 

£733.20

19/4/13

18655

Total time within invoice

£6,728.04

 

 

£7,461.24

19/4/13

18655

20% discount on work in progress within invoice 18655

(£1,345.61)

 

 

£6,115.63

13/5/13

 

 

Payment by you

 

 

£4,500.00

£1,615.63

 

 

13/6/13

19008

Invoice to include 20% discount

£1,192.44

 

 

£2,808.07

 

 

6/8/13

 

 

Payment by you

 

 

£563.23

£2,244.84

7/8/13

19008 Credit note

 

 

(£213.53)

 

 

£2,031.31

 

 

12/8/13

 

 

Monies paid in by your

(£978.91)

 

 

£1,052.40

 

 

So, I paid the first bill as stated, the second invoice was sent to me and was unpaid. I then recieved the third invoice but it didnt state the £6700 figure just that the bill was up to 29th November, that the orignal figure was £5600 odd, then deductions of 20% for first and second bill, then added 20% VAT = a bill for %= £5000+ which I paid in two parts, then the third bill which I paid.

 

I dont need them to explain the figures to me. They are incorrect. Now what?

[steampowered]

I think you should go in and see her. You are much more likely to achieve some sort of compromise in person than through letters.

[raydetinu]

I would also suggest you have a meeting to discuss this.

I gather they are asking for an additional £1052?!!

I would certainly like to see their records of when and who did the work , and check that it ties in with what you would expect them to be doing that work and their output ( court, preparing papers etc.).

I am sure you are not happy with this late development and they will have justify this additional sum and why they did not communicate this to you earlier.

Take it back to the ombudsman if at all unsure.

[Blinkin73]

Dear All,

 

Sorry to be a pain but....

 

Since my last post I did nothing and hoped that the solicitors would feel too ashamed to pursue me. To go in and meet them would require me to take half a day's precious annual leave. This seemed to be the case until mid December 2013 when they "found" a cheque for £500 that I had hand delivered to them and they'd later strongly denied ever receiving, as alluded to in post 26. Upon locating the cheque they wrote to me again asking if they could and cash it and use it against the debt i owed. I'd cancelled the cheque so ignored them. I have just received another letter advising that the debt has been passed to their debt collection service and I will now be paying interest on it.

 

Further, the amount they are claiming is not the £1052.40 as stated in their letter and shown via the spread sheet they forwarded me but £1170.00 ie invoice 16259. Even by their calculations I dont owe this. I cant believe their continued incompetence!

 

Whilst I understand that I will have to pay something or rather given that they wont let the matter lie, can I still request a detailed breakdown of the entire costings, because if they cant come up with a correct figure themselves, how can I trust that all my previous bills were calculated correctly.

 

I will also be complaining to the firm about the reaonableness of presenting me with what looked like a full and final bill of such magnitude when they hadnt kept me informed of the cost, asking them to explian why the costs were well excess of the £8000 they verbally informed me, how it was that this amountwas not included in my final bill and why the additional amount they want from me keeps changing?

[steampowered]

If you want to make a complaint about this you should get the Legal Ombudsman process rolling. You need to read up on the procedure for doing this. If it rolls on much longer it will be too late.

[Blinkin73]

Thanks for replying steampowered.

 

I've talked with my family and it appears that between the remnants of my overdraft facility and what they can lend me. I can pay the bill, whichever of the three I now have ( I received a further letter today which has increases the total by a few quid due to interest). Should I pay the latest bill in full and complain them, giving them 8 weeks before I complain to the Ombudsman? However they answer my complaint, I cant see me being happy. I cant think of any excuse as to why they cant add up my final final bill correctly, why they didnt add this amount to my first final bill so I could have taken it in to account when arranging finance, why they overcharged me on a bill andsubsequently sent me a credit note andhow they managed to lose a cheque for £500 for over 4 months arter strongly denying they'd ever received it. And this is all after I've already complained about them to the Ombudsman.

[steampowered]

Just get your complaint to them in writing, clearly outlining the aspects you are not satisfied with, ASAP.

 

Realistically once you pay money you aren't going to get it back, so it is best to reach some sort of arrangement before making payment. Although obviously the risk of this approach is paying extra interest due to the delay caused.

[Blinkin73]

Whatever I do, I imagine they will still expect me to pay the full whack. I appreciate that the law and morality are seperate issues but it seems that the legal profession dont have any regard for morals. Thats why im in this situation. Believing I was insured, and thinking that they would make some money, they deliberately refused to respond to the other party who then issued proceedings against me but I was only insured to initiate proceedings. They didnt care about the pressure the whole thing put me under (being harrassed and physically threatened by the other party) all they thought about was making money. They didnt offer to reduce their fees given the situation but hey, they're £8000 better off and Im £100000 down. Still Im so very glad that I never pursued a legal career when I finished my law degree, I wouldnt be able to treat people the way that they do. Will consruct a complaint letter this evening which I would be very grateful if you could peruse and give advice on. Its so very hard not to feel emotional about all this.

[Blinkin73]

How does this read

 

COMPLAINT

 

 

 

 

To whom it may concern,

 

 

Sadly once again I am forced to write and complain about the standard of service provided by your firm.

 

 

Shortly following the outcome of the Legal Ombudsman a bill was sent to me stating

 

 

"I am able to confirm that the amount due in respect of the bills for November 2011 and March 2012 totals £1747.20 including VAT, but rather than part paying those two invoices, the very same discount is included within the rest of the time spent on your matter within the enclosed bill numbered 18655 as shown under the sub-total and marked as "20% discount on the previous invoices to include VAT"


 


This means up to the 29th November 2012, the total from start to finish of your case in respect of legal costs is £5063.23, taking into account the discount offered to you by the firm"

 

 

Believing this to be the full and final amount owed, having not been kept up to date in respect of the costs prior to the conclusion of the Court case, I made arrangements to secure the funds and paid in two parts, one being a cheque for £4500 in April 2013 and shortly afterwards a further cheque for the final amount in May. Both cheques were hand delivered personally by me though I was told that the latter cheque had not been received and I had to write a further cheque in August 2013, though it would appear that your firm has now found that cheque. This is after you wrote to me to advise

“

“

I d

on’t have a record of the cheque that you refer to as being uncashed. Had I received it, it would have been cashed, since we always appreciate being paid.”

 

 

 

 

Having paid that bill I was surprised when a further invoice dated 16th July arrived for over £1734.43. I raised this as an issue with your firm and it appears that it was an error.

 

 

On the 9th August a letter was sent purporting to be a schedule of invoices sent and payments received and included a credit note for a bill I had yet to receive. The schedule was incorrect as I highlighted at the time and made no sense. This confidently stated that I owed £1052.40 which I disputed at the time.

 

 

I further bill was sent on 11th August for other work related to the case. The letter confidently stated that the amount had been reduced by 20% as suggested by the Legal Ombudsman when it clearly had not and I used the credit note which was sent to me to part pay this on 11th August . I would also like to highlight that I was informed that the bill had originally been sent to me on 13th June 2013 when it had in fact not been as clearly demonstrated by the accompanying letter. I was later advised that

 

 

“

I am sorry to note that invoice number 19008 wasn’t received by you earlier than the 10 August 2013. I can only conclude that it might have gone astray in the post.”

 

 

I have now received letters dated 26th March advising that I owe £1171.00 and £1292.22 respectively due to interest being charged and that the cheque I hand delivered last year but was disputed has now turned up and you intend to cash it.I cancelled that cheque when your firm “lost” it last year. All in all I am very unhappy with the level of service you have provided once again.

 

 

 

If you still believe that I owe monies please could you advise on the following

 

 

1. why was I not invoiced for the full amount in 2013 following the outcome of the Legal Ombudsman.
   
2. Why does the letter accompanying the invoice following the Legal Ombudsman's decision appear as though it was for the full amount owed apart from the subsequent related matter
   
3. Why is this bill so high. Could you confirm the rate I was charged by the locum solicitor per hour.
   
4. Why was I not informed of the costs throughout the case
   
5. Why does the schedule of invoices and payments made not relate to the invoices sent and payments I made
   
6. Why does the amount you seem to think I owe keep changing
   
7. Why is interest being charged when you have failed to be consistent or clear in explaining what you think I owe you
   
8. How does a cheque for such a substantial amount go missing
   
9. Why is it that even in respect of the bill for subsequent matters the amount invoiced was incorrect
   

 

 

 

Whilst I havent before queried any invoices sent, I now have very little faith in simple calculations being made correctly by yourselves, I would very much like to see the narratives for all invoices. I realise that I am supposed to have requested them within three months of the invoices being issued but until recently I had no reason to doubt that they were incorrect. I am aware that you will still be holding copies of this information and therefore trust that you will forward them asap.

 

 

For the sake of clarity, please could you confirm what you believe I owe you and why as soon as possible.

 

 

Regards