I am part way through a claim for Psychological damage in the workplace, which is being funded via a CFA. I have seen one expert witness, whose report was very favourable to me, with regard to the cause of my mental health. The defendants have now requested that I see an expert witness appointed by themselves, which is due to take place shortly, and I am happy to do so. The mental health team, who have been working with me for the last 3 years, are confident that the 2nd expert witness will not find an alternative reason for my illness, either via my medical notes or discussion with myself. I was rather surprised to receive a letter from my solicitor, suggesting that he makes an offer to the defendants under Section 36. This offer would be for 60% of the lowest amount which I would be likely to be awarded if successful in Court. At this stage, I had not anticipated that we would be offering a low settlement figure, as my solicitor had indicated that we have a strong case, with paperwork and witness statements from colleagues to evidence what happened. My own thinking is that it is better to wait a couple of weeks for the 2nd expert witness report, as this is likely to strengthen our case. As this case is funded via CFA, do I have to agree with the action proposed by my solicitor, or risk losing the CFA funding? Thank you.

I received a letter from HL Solicitor on 8th October demanding eighty pounds for a car that I owned well over a year ago . I sent HL Solicitor a copy of a letter which I had from DVLA confirming as of 20th March 2013 I was no longer the recorded keeper of that car , I was advised by HL that the letter would be passed onto DVLA and to wait for a reply , I have telephoned HL Solicitor several times now and despite their message that they answer their calls within three minutes and they will be with me in momments to deal with things in a stress free way I have been waiting up to 15 minutes for their so called highly trained staff to pick up the phone . Last night HL Solicitor advised me that in fact they are not solicitors but are in fact a debt recovery company , they are unable to tell me if the fine is for not taxing the car or not putting a sorn on the car even though it had two months tax left when sold and HL now say DVLA have changed their minds two weeks ago and you now have to appeal direct to DVLA and not though HL , when I asked if they thought it might be a good idea to actually tell people this they replied " oh sorry " I have been told by HL that DVLA have sent a lot of these letters out which have all been appealed so I have now written to DVLA as well and emailed watchdog as I am sure that a new law was passed that debt collectors cannot call themselves solicitors ..

I really dont know where to start here but i will try and explain as best i can. The main reason for the post is to find out if the repossession is legal which is only the tip of the iceberg here. A financial adviser is contacted to source funding for a small residential development. The adviser contacts a company who happen to be a broker. The broker sources funding from a lender and charges £1,000 app fee. The application is made to LENDER which was successful, no issues. The name of the company at the top of the facility Letter is lets say "The Lender" There is no address or contact information of any kind within the contract other than the name of the company at the top. As the contract was to release the funding in stages, the first stage was released and work carried out to complete all underbuilding work. Not further funding was released after this due to the lenders demands outwith the contract. One thing led to another and the issue was unable to be resolved. The lender decided it was time to both serve a calling up notice and subsequently a court writ to repossess the partially developed land. This is where things start to open up and i find out who is who The issue is that the pursuer is a Limited Company, the same Limited company that the broker was a trading name of, effectively what this guy is saying is, the broker and "The Lender" were both trading names of the Limited Company- How was i to know that when the Financial Adviser requested £1,000 app fee payable to the lender and also there would be a £1,500 fee payable to the broker for sourcing the lender? Effectively it now looks like the Director of the limited company not only charged me to find the lender but HE was the Lender. Now, to make things clear. The Limited company using the two so called trading names had a Consumer Credit License (Legal Formation: Body Corporate) (Nature of Business- Mortgage Broker) (Category-Credit Brokerage) this is very clear from OFT. "The Lender" also had their own CCL as a separate entity,(Legal Formation: Partnership) (Nature of Business-Mortgages) (Category- Credit Brokerage and Consumer Credit) this is very clear from OFT. "The Lender" from the mass of information i found out about them has been a Partnership company for many years but the Limited company who is pursuing the repossession has only been set up for over a year. I am of the thinking that, as nothing mentioned in the contract about a trading name of the Limited Company (which would be a breach of the Companies Act) if it were the case. The limited company did not hold any CCL to be a lender. The Partnership was established at least 10 years prior to the Limited Company being set up, and most importantly, there will be litigation against the lender for breaching the contract it is simply a move to limit the liabilities to the Limited Company that seemingly does not much in the way of liquid funds. Another slight twist is that, the broker and lender have no association whatsoever with the Limited company now they are now trading names of two other Limited companies this guy has set up and the CCL status of all companies is that they are Mortgage Broker NO MORE BEING A LENDER! Again, just to add a little spice. the three individuals who own the Partnership/Limited companies have between them Dissolved over 40 companies within the last 8 years or so. Should it not be "The Lender" named within the contract pursuing repossession. Should i be suing a company not named on the contract and also unauthorised to lend? As i mentioned, this is the tip of the iceberg, Thanks in advance

In 2010, my local Council issued an ASBO against me because I had a dispute with a neighbour. My barrister tried but in vain to raise in Court that the Council had failed to follow its own procedures when the asbo was applied for. When Council's apply for an asbo they need to meet certain criteria which they failed to do so. Before an asbo is issued, you are supposed to receive a verbal warning, then a written warning, then you are asked to sign behaviour contracts; I was never sent no warnings etc etc. Does this make the asbo legal? The asbo has since expired without me breaching it; need I say more!! However the said neighbour prior to the asbo being issued, had been arrested for death threat which she denied of course, and before then I had also suffered threats of violence, and harassment. I was repeatedly refused the right to make statements, and so was my partner. I have also raised concern that some of the evidence used to obtain the asbo was not 100%; the complainant had lied on at least 4 statements, had lied during their section4a interview. The police dont want to know. I cost me £7000 to defend this joke of an asbo and I therefore want to seek if I can sue for damages. Does anyone know of any good solicitor who can do this on a no win no fee basis. Thanks!!

Can anyone help please. I received a letter from a company that's has solicitors at the end of its title. the registered number OC343261. The letter arrived at my address on 19/05/14 letter dated 14/05/14. I called to enquire what it was about, left an answer machine message as no one available to take call etc. It states relating to Npower Ltd. I have no idea what this is about. I called them today - they say all they can give me is the account number, I have until 28/05/14 to return the court claim form. the letter states the court will serve the claim form upon me shortly, after arguing for an extension of deadline date given that the court form has not arrived, they agreed a further 7 days. I explained I have not received request for payment I have no knowledge of the debt or what its referring to. They said they sent a letter to me in March - this is untrue. They have now said the original debt of £80 is now £186 with costs and interest. The letter says do not contact our client, contact us if you have any queries - they cant answer my queries. I asked why have they still sent this to court when I called and left answer machine message, they said the apologised and cant explain why because all messages are picked up? I gave full reference numbers and contact information What can I do next? I am prepared to pay in instalments if they can explain to me what the debt is for. The problem is I moved out of my property for 2 years and rented it out. This debt might be relating to tenants etc or final bill before I moved out?? I returned to the property in February 2014. My job doesn't allow me to have CCJ, I need to avoid this - what can I do, please can anyone help Thanks Metty

Hi recieved a letter today from redstone saying that due to an administrative error information about my mortgage account was sent to a private indivdual by email on the 3 August. I have had a lot of trouble with restone and recieved no help from these people in hard times , is there anything I can do regarding there error ? many thanks

I got a call from a company claiming to be solicitors (Clinch Solicitors) dealing in personal injury claims. The guy knew that i had had a minor accident 2 years ago (and I was at fault), the date of the accident and that I had my wife and son in the car with me at the time. He said my wife and son were allocated a payment for discomfort as they were with me in the car and if they don't claim it, after 2.5 years (3 weeks from now), the insurance company will claim it back. Now I am totally confused why my insurer at the time did not tell me about this!!! At one hand I do not mind having some extra money but I am scared if this company could cause any sort of damage (financial) by taking DOB details for example. I have explained to the guy that at the time of accident, no one was injured but he insisted the payments are for the discomfort caused by the accident to the passengers i had in the car at the time. Can anyone please help advise what to do. Should I go on and allow them to claim the money or is there any risk in doing so for me and my wife?

Hi South West trains are threatening to take me to magistrates court for fare evasion and I'd like to hire the best solicitor possible who specialises in these types of cases. Does such a thing exist? Does anyone have any recommendations? Any help appreciated. Thanks Steve

Hi everyone, i've been a reader of the forums for a while and not being knowledgeable enough to help most others, never registered. Strange one this and possibly in the wrong forum but here goes ... In July 2012 i was stopped for speeding, in contested it and had my day in court in March 2013, though I engaged the services of a motoring lawyer. The CPS presented no evidence, as given the circumstances of the allegation they couldn't possibly have any! I had traveled from Glasgow to Preston and a local traffic bobby didn't even turn up! So the case was dismissed. I was awarded a Defence Costs Order so that i could reclaim some of my expenses. Fast forward to today and i'm still chasing my lawyer for costs. I have no idea if they have even put in a claim to National Taxing Team (though I have an email from March 2013 saying they have), and despite phone calls and recorded delivery letters i feel i'm being strung along with "i'll call you back" and "can you give us more details" all information they should already have about me and the case! I suppose my question is how do i get this firm to tell me whats going on, who do i speak to about firing off some threatening letters or who could i engage to start the process of suing this solicitor for information and/or monies due to me!?

Well those famous people at IND and Hegarty LLP are really proving their worth. Today i've also received a summons for Northamtpton County Court for a claim they have on a debt originally from a loan amount from Capital One of which was passed onto Robinson Way some 4 years ago. Robinson Way couldn't provide me with the appropriate evidence of a mutually signed agreement having followed the process outlined from the very good members within CAG. Looking around on the forum, there seems to be a lot of information given in lots of threads which is causing me a little confusion of where to start to reply to the initial court action notice. Would someone who has experience of communicating with the court and Hegarty's, kindly bulletpoint the actions I need to take at this early stage in order to keep on top of the process and try to highlight to the court that the action IND take has to be reviewed without them giving time to communicate with me in written form.. Many thanks for everyone's co-operation at this early stage. Regards Keith

hi guys, i recently sent off a template letter to restons solicitors regarding an old o2 account telling them my o2 account that has been passed to them is now statute barred. they have responded with a letter stating the account was opened on or around 21 june 2005 and a credit in the sum of £8.50 was made on the 8th june 2008. i am 100% sure no payments were made then, i have no proof, but by the wording of their letter (the on or around 21 june 2005) neither have they. they are now asking me to complete a financial statement and return within 2 weeks or legal proceedings will commence. have i opened a can of worms here?? i am guessing i can ask for proof that the credit was made and that i made it? any help please friends and thank you for reading.

Hi all, My bank (Abbey) began repossession hearings against us (£4500 arrears), we pay £727 per month. Attended court 3 weeks ago and Abbey representative failed to show. Sat in front of the judge on my own and he ordered that "the matter be adjourned generally with liberty to restore", also advised that we make a written offer to the bank to clear the arrears (which we did immediatley). Bank wrote back and stated they would continue with repossesion claiming that they HAD attended and the judgement was made in their favour. I rang the court and asked how this could be, woman was not helpful, said she couldn't check and besides, the judgement had not yet been written out as they were "overworked". Advised that I wait a few days for the written order in the post. Waited 1 week and still nothing. Called the court again and explained the urgency (20th June deadline!) She confirmed the case had been adjourned! And faxed me copy of the judgement to that effect. So I thought I had a case for malpractice against the bank, until I received a SECOND judgement letter on Saturday ordering the repossession!!! Same Claim Number, different Judge. What should I do given that I now only have 2 days to sort this out? Can anybody help!!!!!

Hi All I'm hoping that someone has used a good litigation solicitor that they highly recommend. I need to commence court proceedings against the house builder of a new property I purchased as I've had constant problems with the boiler and they have not bothered to respond to my last email. It has cost a small fortune to sort out the problems but I want to get good advice before filing a claim. Your help would be much appreciated as this has dragged on for a little while now.

Hi, not sure if im posting this in the right place so I apologise if not. I was involved in a car accident last Aug which was not my fault (i was hit from behind whilst stationary) the third party admitted liability and the claim went ahead. Unfortunately though I suffered a personal injury for which I had to have physio. The solicitors instructed to do deal with my claim for personal injury where contacted by my own insurer, (luckily i have Legal Expenses on my policy). Anyhow after a number of months an offer of compensation was made by the third party in January this year, and I was advised to accept the offer by the solicitors as they felt that it was a good offer, so this is what I did. On the 13th Jan I was told by my solicitors that they were waiting for a cheque from the third party and as soon as they had this, they would forward it on to me. I was also told that the total cost of my claim was £2,940.00 with £440.00 payable to the physio people for my treatment, so I would receive a cheque for approx £2,500.00 through the post. Then on the 23rd Jan I received a cheque for £2,940.00 attached to a letter saying..."we are pleased to enclose a cheque in the sum of £2,940.00 in full and final settlement of your claim. This sum represents settlement on a 100% basis. As terms of settlement have been agreed with the other party, your claim cannot be re-pened at a later date".......so I took it from that, that the £440.00 for the physio had now been sorted, and therefore I received a cheque in settlement on a 100% basis (as the letter read). However as I was still a bit sceptical and because I didn't want any come back at a later date, I rang my solicitors the very same day that I received the cheque (23rd Jan). After quoting my personal ref no, I was put through to the claim handler that had been dealing with my claim. I acknowledged receipt of the cheque, and then said that I was just double checking to see if there was anything else that I needed to do now.....I was told that there wasn't and that the cheque represents full and final settlement. I then asked if I was ok to go ahead and pay the cheque into my bank account and I was told yes, so the next day thats what I did. Then today 12th Feb, I received a phone call from my solicitor asking me to send a cheque back to them for £440.00 as I had received this in error and this was payment for my physio. I told them, but I have a letter saying that the cheque id received was in full and final payment and represented settlement on a 100% basis. I also mentioned that I had rung the same day and it was confirmed to me that this was correct and I could go ahead and pay the cheque in the bank. My claim handler said, "yes I recall our conversation on the telephone but I didnt realise that you had received the wrong amount until later, and so you need to send us a cheque for £440.00 in payment of the physio treatment that you received". I said that I no longer have that sort of money, as it was used to pay debts off and pay bills and I dont think its fair to expect me to return that sort of money when the mistake is clearly theirs and not mine. I have a letter saying that the £2,940.00 is in full and final settlement and represents settlement on a 100% basis AND the same day that I received the cheque I even rang and asked them to confirm that this was correct and I was told that it was. The claim handler said, "in that case then I will have to speak to my manager and I will be in touch later. That was 12.02 this afternoon and since then ive heard nothing. My question is, can they do this?? Issue a cheque, with all the confirmation that comes with that, AND then confirm again on the phone.......then nearly a month later, ring up out of the blue and say.....er sorry but the cheque you received is incorrect and you need to return us some of the money because we've made a mistake. Surely someone would check this things before they are sent out, also I have a unique ref no, so when I rang that day, surely the claim handler should of noticed then, that the cheque id received was wrong. How am i supposed to know these things! I get a cheque through the post with a letter attached to it saying that this cheque is full and final settlement based on a 100% basis, so as far as im concerned thats it!!. BUT to make sure I even ring up and its confirmed again over the phone!. I dont have that sort of money, im out of work and the cheque was used in paying off debts and bills. Can anybody please advise me where I stand on this? Can they really make me hand this money back, even though I haven't got it and its there error.

Small Claims Court - No address for the defendant Hello, I have recently moved into a property. In the past 3 months the cellar hasflooded 7 times (each time 200+L water are removed), we have sufficientevidence that the vendor did not disclose any historic flooding, records ofeach flood, quotes to repair the issue and an independent flood reportoutlining it as an historic issue. Unfortunately the firm that carried out thehomebuyers report did not report flood issues, rather covering their back byindicating that it was dry and dark in cellar so a judgement could not be made. We have been advised that we have a very strong case against the vendor andshould begin proceeding for a small claims (for the adjustment in value of theproperty if we had been informed prior to purchase i.e. the cost of fixing theissue). The only problem is we do not have any address for the vendors. We haveasked for it via email and their solicitors but they have blocked both avenues.We have tried the electoral role but no joy. Can anyone recommend any alternative methods for finding someone's newaddress? I would be eternally grateful! Thanks Keith

Hi, I have recently sent a cca request to a solicitor working on behalf of a dca and received an immediate reply that they were unable to deal with the request and returned the £1 postal order because the ccj claim has already been issued, I also forwarded a copy of this letter to Northampton court , please let me know where I stand with this one The debt in question has been dormant since 2008 Many thanks

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me please. We had a CCJ obtained against us in 2009 I believe it was and at the time I had a small baby so I didn't contest. We pay £2 a month and have been regularly making these payments. In January this year we had a letter saying they (DG) were going to obtain a charging order against our property which we want to avoid at all costs. We rang them and apparently they hadn't received a monthly payment we said we had paid it and they asked us to send them a copy of the paid cheque from our bank which we did. In the meantime we received a court transfer notification saying the case was transferred to Kings Lynn. I rang and was told not to worry that the account was put on hold pending them receiving the payment proof. Didn't think anything of it but today received a Notice of Change of Solicitors from one DG to a different division within DG. (Different address). It just smells of something but they haven't written for anything else. Should we be worried?

Hi I currently have had a negligence claim issued against the structual engineer and the surveyor of my property, as a result of their negligence i have not been able to sell my property with out work being done to rectify the problem. I contacted a no win no fee solicitor and they have taken the case on, an expert witness has agreed there is negligence however it has been decided that both engineer and surveyor are liable. As a result they have now served the claim form against both and I received the following email on friday. what I am having trouble understanding is why the CFA I signed in 2011 does not cover the barristers success fee and as a result I have to pay a maximum 25% of the money i recover from one defendant to them. My paperwork says that it is reclaimed from the otherside. Also, they are asking me to consider making an offer to settle it early however i do not know exactly what the claim is worth as the claim was made for the amount for fixing the problem, plus £1000 for loss of enjoyment plus damages (which I have no idea what this includes or refers to) The house has also lost value since I attempted to sell it in 2010 so i will lose out there too. There is also other costs such as accomodation whilst works are completed which they have asked me to give a cost of. The reason i have posted this is because I am now concerned that my solicitor might be looking for the easiest option and rather than looking after my best interests and getting me what I deserve. I would like advice on whether this is how these claims usually proceed and could i be losing out if I make an offer? Is there anything I can ask the solicitor to ensure that are acting in my best interests? Is the explanation on the CFA in the email correct? Thanks for any help/advice given. Email from solicitor I am writing to update you in relation to your claim. As you are aware, I served the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim in Decemberl ast year on both --------. I am pleased to confirm that both Defendants have instructed solicitors; These are both firms I have dealt with on many occasions, as they often act for professional indemnity insurers. I have spoken to the solicitors at both firms dealing with the claim. As you may recall, it was necessary to issue a protective Claim Form in August last year in order to avoid your claim becoming statute barred. I delayed service of the court papers until such time as we had obtained expert evidence, as it was not entirely clear when the claim was issued whether liability rested with either or both Defendants. In Professional Negligence Claims, there is a protocol which the Courts require the parties to follow which, amongst other things, sets various time limits by which certain stages of the litigation process have to be carried out. Ordinarily, a Letter of Claim is sent to the Defendant(s)following which they have 21 days to acknowledge the Letter of Claim and thereafter 3 months from the date of the Letter of Acknowledgement to provide their formal response known as the Letter of Response, in which they need to state whether they accept or deny liability. It is not uncommon, and it is the case here, that we have had to issue protective court proceedings before the Letter of Claim has been sent. Accordingly, the way that this is dealt with is to stay theproceedings to enable the Protocol to be complied with, i.e. a Letter of Claim sent and a Letter of Response provided by the Defendant. In light ofthis, having spoken to the Defendants’ solicitors, we have agreed a stay of approximately 3 months to 2014 so effectively, the court proceedings are now “on hold” to allow the Protocol to be complied with. However, interestingly, when I mentioned to solicitors that I would shortly prepare a Letter of Claim, they were of the view that all the information they needed was in the Particulars of Claim therefore, it was not necessary to repeat this information in the Letter of Claim (as it will obviously increase legal costs). Instead, solicitor hasasked me to provide any documentation in my possession by way of disclosure so that they can assess the merits of your claim. They made the point thatbecause the alleged negligence took place so long ago, their client is of the view that they are unlikely to have retained any paperwork and so they are really reliant on your documentation. The courts positively encourage early disclosure of documentation and certainly, if the Letter of Claim had been drafted before court proceedings were issued,I would have provided thisi nformation with the Letter of Claim. Accordingly, I will now go through the paperwork that you provided to me (it is not particularly voluminous) and I will provide a copy of any documents, which are disclosable to solicitors. They then intend to review the paperwork and they can utilise the period of the stay in which to do so. I mentioned to solicitors that solicitors had confirmed they did not require a Letter of Claim. However, they did not give me a substantive response at that time whether they were prepared to take the same view, and so I will write to them shortly to establish whether they simply wish me to provide disclosure of the same documents provided to and simply rely on your case as pleaded in the Particulars of Claim. In the meantime, I indicated on a without prejudice basis to solicitors (I did not unfortunately have the same conversation with solicitors as the solicitor was rushing to leave the office before the Christmas break and so the focus was on agreeing the Consent Order) that early settlement of this claim would be preferable before legal costs increase. As I am sure you will appreciate, it would be easy for legal costs to escalate and become disproportionate to the value of the claim,particularly as there are a total of 3 sets of solicitors involved in this matter. I therefore suggest that you consider putting in an early offer of settlement at this stage. We have quantified your claim to the extent of the cost of the rectification works and a nominal amount for stress and inconvenience but there are other elements of your claim that still require quantification. For example, you mention that you would need to be out of your property for up to 8 weeks whilst remedial works are carried out. Are you able to provide me with an indication of what your likely costs of accommodation would be during that time? Once we have a better idea ofthe total value of your claim, you will need to consider the level of offer that you wish me to put forward on your behalf. The idea is to put forward an offer that will hopefully be seen as commercially attractive to the Defendants and as such, you have to be seen in making the offer to be conceding some ground on the full amount that you are claiming. The offer is without prejudice and is made for the purposes of negotiating settlement only; the Court would not be shown the offer during a trial when they are determining what damages to award you if you have succeeded on the issue of liability. The offer made would be done so as what is known as a Part 36 Offer. The advantage of making a Part 36 Offer is that it can provide costs protection. Once we have a figure in mind, I will explain to you in greater detail the implications in relation to costs of making a Part 36 Offer. In considering what level of offer to make, I would also like to remind you that your barrister does have concerns about the quotations you provided, which I share. I appreciate that when we have previouslyspoken, you have stated that the works required will not form any betterment of your property but I still think that this could be the subject of some attack and so this needs to be reflected in any offer that you consider putting forward. In making the offer, I would also be suggesting to the Defendants (as I will be putting the offer to both of them) that liability is apportioned on a 50:50 basis. Obviously, once the Defendants havereviewed the papers, they may be of the view that one party has greater liability than the other on a percentage basis or alternatively, one or both Defendants may deny liability entirely but if that is the case, it does not necessarily mean that they will not look to settle the matter commercially. At the end of the day, if, for example, the offer you put forward was £, it is much more attractive to a Defendant to know that they would actually only be paying £ each. Finally, I need to explain a funding issue with you. As you are aware, you entered into a Conditional Fee Agreement with this firm,which covered your claim against and was worded so that it covered any other Defendant related to the matter. In light of this, your CFA with this firm covers your claim against both defendants, which is obviously advantageous to you, as it became apparent very close to limitation that may potentially have some liability in this matter. However, I have been contacted by your barrister, and she has looked at the wording of her Conditional Fee Agreement and it covers the claim against one only. This means that the CFA does not cover the work that she has carried out in relation to , albeit that they are inexorably linked. Her clerk has therefore just sent to me another CFA for this firm to enter into with Counsel, which covers the claim against . The second Conditional Fee Agreement covers all work that Counsel had carried out on or after December 2013 (which isthe date that she drafted the Particulars of Claim) in relation to Group. However, in April of this year, some sweeping reforms, called the Jackson reforms, took place and the basis of Conditional Fee Agreements changed at that time. Prior to 1st April 2013, parties entering into a Conditional Fee Agreement were able to charge the Defendant (in the event that the claim was successful) a success fee in addition to their base costs. Post 1st April, the solicitor/barrister entering into a Conditional Fee Agreement is no longer able to recover a success fee from the Defendant and instead is entitled to recover up to 25% of the settlement or judgement sum awarded to the Claimant. This means that in the event that I recoverdamages for you, whilst I will recover my costs, disbursements and success feefrom the Defendants and Counsel will recover her fees and success fee from the Defendant, the extent to which she will be able to recover her fees in this way only extends to , as that is the Defendant covered by the original CFA that Counsel entered into. In respect of Counsel’s fees relating to work carried out in respect of after 6th December, Counsel would still be able to claim her base costs from but would be able to charge you up to 25% of your damages under the new regime. Whilst this is the technicality’s of the new regime’s CFA, I have spoken to Counsel and she had indicated that she would be prepared to take a pragmatic view on theproportion of your damages that she would actually seek to recover from you. Would you please confirm that you are happy for me to enterinto the second CFA with Counsel.

Hi All, I'm looking for a solicitor who specialises in the Sale of Goods Act for Car Purchase. I have already tried to fight the car dealer (major problem 20 weeks after car was purchased) and got no where. Trading Standards gave me wrong advice after they were handed the complaint from Consumer Helpline. I got OFT evidence and challenged them. They backed down and said I was correct, then he rang me back and said the law is based on a book by Cowan Ervine, so i wouldn't win as I am not a professional, I don't know what I am talking about, where as the dealer is a car mechanic. CAB have been good since this, but I need someone with headed paper. there is also many other things. CAB think we were miss-sold the car due to not being given the full information about various points. There has been a replacement engine installed, but Log Book still says old engine number, and the replacement engine is presenting itself as an engine from a scrapyard according to other garages. Garages will not touch it as they know nothing about the engine. the replacement engine came with no details to even verify the mileage on it which he told us it had. He never gave us the new engine number. Even the receipt states the old engine number. The car is an 08, currently sitting on SORN, can't go anywhere, and now because of all of this, has just ran out of MOT also. The car is on a personal loan, not credit. Was paid for by cash and debit card. All of the information the CAB and Consumer Helpline is excellent, they have thought of far more things than we had even ever considered and built a case. But apparently they have taken advice from the local Trading Standards, the same ones that gave me the wrong information and deliberately directed me into the wrong direction. need help please Thanks

I wish I used this site before letting my solicitor think I had a case..... hes a break down on what has happen to me.... In 2003 I had just finished university and started a job, and my parents divorced and i was on my fathers side when all that was sorted he decided he wanted to live abroad so he went off to cyprus put tried to sell the house to me to raise aa much extra money has he could as he already had his mums will and auntie money, he got and extra £20000 on the house, but the problem was the financial advisor at the couldnt get me a sole mortgage as i didnt have enough wage slips so the solution was to put in my name and his name .... BIG MISTAKE and all over the years he always assured me the house was mine even told the whole family and friends etc and i believed him. Then 10 years later he comes back into the UK lived at mine for 7 months, in those 7 months found out he had blown all his money in cyprus and has come back in financial trouble... so in the 7 months he had got himself on benefits and manged to get a council bungalow, I helped him move etc being a great son, then 2 weeks later I got a letter from his solicitor forcing the sale of the House was SO Shocked couldnt believe my eyes, I tried to be reasonable offered him £20000 which is all i could raise by remortgaging So I went to citizen advise for legal info and they gave me a list of solicitors and I chose one that said I had a case as hes not paid a penny for 10 years toward mortgage and home improvements which totaled £70,000, in the previous years i had lodgers etc to help me with mortgage, anyway it went from solicitor to solicitor statement after statement i was paying for my solicitor and my dad was on legal aid, we went to a directional hearing and finally settled before it went to court (civil court) there was £100000 positive equity and we settled on £47000 with my fathers legal fees to be negotiated as it turns out his legal bill is a whooping £20000, I was gob smacked as mine was only £3600 how on earth that possible ???? I had to re mortgage to a buy to let to raise this £47000 by the way, really wanted to keep the house as i had done alot of work to make it my ideal home. my solicitor who I can no longer afford as im a gardener and my summers savings that get me through the winter is all gone, has asked my fathers solicitor for a breakdown of costs and im inform they have employed a 3rd party to check the figure for a percentage fee which ive yet to recieve, want to get myself prepared as im a newbie and any help will be greatful many thanks in advance JP

We have been selling our house (due to mortgage problems) we had a sale lined up and this fell through. We very quickly got another offer on our property and believed we would go through this with the same solicitors. Today we had a letter from our solicitors saying that they were also acting on behalf of our buyers, but the buyers were using another branch in a different area. I also remember that my buyer said she worked for a firm of solicitors when she came round to view our house. Do I stay with this same firm? Is it right that they take on the buyer knowing they all ready have the vendor? They say that any conflict of interest then the firm would discontinue working for us both and refer us to other solicitors. They would then not charge for work carried out by this firm although would obviously have a financial interest in the sale going through Any help would be appreciated Thanks Chris

My works solicitor has offered 500 to settle case yeh right! i have asked for 20k! haha anyway hes not budging ....... tribunal is in one weeks time can they wait until the last day to settle? surely the court will blast them for the amount of work they put in just for there solicitor to "wait" knowing fine well they wanted to settle. Can they wait until the last day?

Dear CAG, Can anyone help me out here. My son has been issued a court order for reposession, yes there are rent arrears but this was not the only reason why he is being evicted, the landlord wants his property back to sell I think. Anyway the council advised my son that he has to wait to go to court and then wait till the bailiffs come to evict him, only then he would be classed as homeless. Well today he went to the homeless persons unit and they told him basicially he is not priority and not guaranteed or words to that effect be housed. Apart from all this is the court cost and other fees from the letting agents solicitors which all mount up to about £800, my son is unemployed so I guess because i stood as gaurantor they will come to me for the money. What gets me if he knew he was not going to be housed by the council why would someone be it anyone get taken to court and cost themselves £800 only to be told to naff off. He has been on the bidding list for three years now and nothing yet Barking & dagenham has housed all the immigrants and no doubt illegal immigrants. God I feel like screeming can anyone tell me what to do and if this is justice on people that have been born in this country and and went to school and have no where to live. Please can someone help me out here. Mashmallow

Hi all.... Without going into all the gory details, I'm in the process of trying to settle a "no win/no fee" personal injury claim (instigated by my insurance company) I've been farmed out to a solicitors who are frankly vile and do business in a way that puts me in mind of a mafia. They've lied to me about certain facts on numerous occasions and are now aggressively perusing my authorization to proceed with the claim. I'm having someone look into it at the moment, as I can smell a very large rat with some of what's been going on and I'm not prepared to sign my name to anything until I'm 100% sure it's legit. I received a letter on Saturday morning in which it's announced that the solicitor is sending an "agent" out to my home on Monday to collect my signature and instructions they require. I am not happy about this at all, and to my mind if someone comes to my door to make me sign something, I would therefore be acting under duress. I also don't yield to bully-boy tactics and all this goes again towards me thinking something is very wrong with whatever they are doing. I know that the law states debt collectors can't visit my home without permission. I'm also under the assumption the only people who can set foot within my property lines are postal workers, people asking for directions or people who are asked by invitation. Does an "agent" working on behalf of a solicitors firm have any different kind of rights to visit my home? I would very much like to know my rights and have the facts to hand should this person call on me this Monday and this seemed like the right place to ask. If anyone could give me some advice, I would be very grateful. Thanks for reading.

This is my first post on the forum and hope someone could advise. The solicitor acting for credit card company replied that s78 CCA requests only apply to running-credit accounts but my account was no longer a running credit account as their client served a Default Notice pursuant to s87(1) of the CCA 1974 and I failed to remedy the breach which led to the account being terminated. Is the solicitor correct in saying that s78 does not apply in this case and allow 7 days to discharge debt or else will issue county court proceedings without further notice. They added that they have the right to exhibit their correspondence in the event I file a spurious defence to the claim. Can someone help me with a response to their letter and would a Subject Access Request be appropriate as a reply I am uncertain if signed credit card agreement is enforceable as it was previously a House of Fraser store card that is now Santander from November 2007.