Hi I will try keep this short and in bullet points but any advice would be grateful. I bought a ford focus 3 years ago from a ford garage for 12 -13k as a used car and only 1400 miles on it. 1 year later (after having a child) we decided to get a bigger car and went to a local dealership to trade in for another car at 10K. the dealership said they could not give us the money we needed for the car because it was an "IMPORT" so it was valued at less money. When we bought the car we did not know it was an import. I decided to ring ford to query this who said it isn't an import and said i had to ring our finance company?! I spoke with the finance company who argued it wasn't an import also and the log book didn't state it was an import so it had been valued correctly. As you can tell it left me in a cathch 22, the new dealer had de valued the car and the finance would not. To cut a long story short the car was an "IMPORT" from Guernsey, the finance company came to some agreement with the dealership and i got my new car. My query where i need advice is: Did i just get fobbed off and i should have argued abit more? Did i over pay on my monthly payments for a year or so when i had the ford because it was an import? I am now wanting to change for another car (another child) so want to clear this up before i do. Thanks in advance for any advice. Sdev

I have a dispute with a mobile phone company which failed to change my payments to DD from a new bank account. I didn't refuse/fail to pay, they stupidly failed to collect. I was forced to switch to another provider as I needed a working service. They have now posted adverse data to Equifax. Somebody some months ago mentioned a Solicitor who specializes in claims for "damage to credit reputation". Can somebody please point me in the direction of this Solicitor? Many thanks -- Arthur

Hi all, I hope someone can help. I'm not going to go into the full details of this but in short last August the police attended my home following, (what they claim), calls from members of my family with concerns for my welfare. I refused to speak to them, or let them in. About 5 hours later fully armed police burst in through the door, (both front and back door was locked), and found me in the bedroom in a heavily sedated state. The crux of this is that in my complaint to the police the findings state that forced entry to my home was used because I was in the process of a suicide attempt. However they could not have possibly known this as I didn't tell them. In fact I told nobody. After speaking to my family I find that nobody called the police as nobody had any reason to worry about me. So the police lied when they said they were there to do this welfare check. They were there to arrest me over an assault allegation but didn't tell me this at the time. I only found this out 2 days later when I was released from hospital. On the face of it, I have a case; the police lied about their reasons for attending my home, they lied on the reasons why they forced entry, they used excessive force by using firearms officers, they had no warrant for my arrest and no warrant to enter my home. The problem I'm having is finding a solicitor who will take the case and it seems nobody will touch it. I suspect it's because there's a lot of work there and it's not a simple accident or excessive force matter, it's a lot more complicated. Can anyone help me find a decent solicitor or if not, offer some guidance on how I would take matters to court myself and sue the police? They were out of order big time and the final report from the inspector who investigated my complaint is a complete joke. There are plenty of contradictions in the conclusion letter along with many things skipped over or just ignored. Thanks

Hi, As part of a house renovation I had to have a sprinkler installed in my house to comply with Building Regs. I contracted a sprinkler company to do this in June 2015. They told me it would be installed as I neared the end of my renovation so it was done on the 30th November 2015. Unfortunately the following morning after the installation I came into the house (we are not living on site) to find water on my kitchen floor (their pipe connection to the mains water was under my kitchen sink) and in half of my living room (open plan room). I immediately contacted the sprinkler company but since that event they have not been responding to my e-mails or phone call bar one e-mail to say that they do not accepting liability for the cost of damages. I issued a claim against them via he MCOL on the 5th February 2016 for £4.5k. Their deadline to reply was the 24th February 2016. I did not hear from them. I e-mailed the court after this date to see if they had received a response and they replied to say no response had been received. On the 8th March 2016 I called the court about what to do and they told me that I could enter a judgment against them. After the call I completed the form to enter judgment and it was issued on the 9th March 2016. Yesterday, 11th March 2016, I received an e-mail from their solicitor with the below: "Please find attached a copy, by way of service, of the Acknowledgment of Service that we have today filed at the County Court Business Centre. So that we take full instructions from our insured and insurer clients please confirm whether you are agreeable to our client having an extension to file and serve their Defence to your claim. In accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules, t he parties are permitted to agree an additional 28 days for service of a Defence without the Court's permission. Please confirm whether you can agree to our client serving their Defence by 4pm on 5th April so that we may notify the Court accordingly." Can anyone explain what this letter means? If Judgment has already been issued then what is this letter for and why would I want to give them an extension to file a Defence when they should have submitted or acknowledged the claim when it was first issued to them? Any views and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I'm usually happy to ignore letters from debt collectors but this one seems to be more definitive in its terminology. Do you think I should I make the CCA request to Robinson Way? I've never contacted them before. TIA!

Hello guys, I hope the brains here can help me please. I am executor for my aunt, with another family member and a partner from the firm of lawyers who drew up the will and were nominated as executors with us. The papers have been submitted to the probate office by the lawyers and they have now submitted an interim invoice for over £5000 to us as executors. I had, perhaps naively, assumed that the bill would be due after probate was granted and the assets were distributed. Would we normally be expected to pay a bill ourselves at this stage? Do we have the authority to say that the lawyer can take the fees from the estate assets? We have incurred expenses personally on behalf of the estate that haven't been paid so far and now they seem to be asking us for money. This doesn't seem right. What do the experts think please? HB

Im in Scotland. I have sold my house, the sale date is Fri 29th Apr. I asked my solicitor how soon i will get my money. They told me 5 working days. The money needs to clear blah blah, I can get it in 3 working days if the other solicitor agrees to use a different type of payment, which of course involves a fee. Does this sound normal. I desperately need this money to go and find myself accommodation. Im shocked why it takes so long. Can you guys advise please.

This feels a little awful as my mother is alive and kicking albeit in her 90s but I have never dealt with a will - everything was in joint names when my father died so there was no "estate". There will be little when my mother does "go home" as she delightfully describes it but I would rather sort it out liaising with my brother to ensure there are no debts! (He is abroad) I have just read an article which says you do not need to use the solicitor named as the executor but feel I know so little about this and wonder where I would start. I wonder if someone could help just so I know the first steps and am not anxious when (she says she will live to 103) we get to this point.

Hello, 6 months ago i called the council to report a road fault and they said that we live on a private road which was the first i had known about it. I asked a few neighbours and they didnt know that either, apart from one who purchased their house 5 years ago . They had said that their solicitor had made them aware. We have tried to get the council to adopt the road but they have quoted silly money to get it up to spec and i am in no financial position to afford this. There are 10 houses in the street and we all chipped in to get the bit of tarmac repaired which was under £200 by a local guy. The council say that the kerbs are not to spec. We bought our current house 8 years ago and were not informed that the house was on a private road and would not have bought the house knowing this. Surely this is something our lawyers / surveyors should have picked up on ? The houses were built in 1972 Any advice? Thanks

Dear all, I was involved in a car insurance claim and had been told to discontinue my claim by the solicitor. From the letter solicitor sent me, I found few points of my solicitor's statement are wrong. For example, (1) they claimed I did not go to GP but I went, I took the Gp record and sent to solicitor,(2) the specialist who examined me recommended physiotherapy for me but the solicitor did not follow and did not refer me to physiotherapy, and the other party picked on this (3) car repair invoice is £700 but they put £850, although I had 2 quotations I went for the cheaper one which include parts (expensive quotation includes no part). The Solicitor by mistake claims for the higher quote not the cheaper as I sent the invoice to him.The other party is now picking on it. the solicitor do not admit they had made mistake. They just said the other party picking on why one quote has part and one no part. my argument is that I dont know why one use parts and one did not require, my decision was I had to repair as cheap as possible. All these false statement effects my claim and now the other side claiming this is fraud. The solicitor had told me I have less than 50% chance of winning and it's better to drop the case. They required me to give them a quick decision. The court hearing date is soon and I am not in a good position. I want to complaint about them before the hearing day. Can I complaint negligent on the solicitors? What is the best way forward for me?

Will make this brief as possible any help or advice would be appreciated. September 2015 daughter leaves job at bank call centre. October 20th 2015 she receives final pay owed. November 20th and 30th daughter receives letter from overpaid salaries team requesting the return of £390.66 overpayment daughter foolishly ignores letters. December 22nd 2015 My daughter receives letter from solicitors instructing her of the banks passing of debt to be recovered to them. Threat of court action and interest charges, legal costs and court fees will be applied if it goes to court, and all the usual threats that gets included in these letters. December 24th 2015 Daughter comes clean about letters and overpayment to mum and me. Mum agreed to loan her the money to clear debt. 24th December 2015, Daughter contacts solicitors payment line while mum listens to call as well, payment approved and reference number given to my daughter, thought that was it all sorted. November 2015 Daughter contacted by banks pension dept as to refunding her contributions made, as she had not completed full year with them, Daughter sends paper work back with details of how refund to be returned Sum of £299 minus tax and NI. Pension refund misses pay date in December so after phone calls made by my daughter was informed it be more likely to be received in Jan 2016 payroll date, No money received by my daughter on 20/01/16 pay date. January 21st 2016 daughter contacts payroll dept to find out why money has not been paid in, as it was a 0845 number phone bill shows time and date and length of call on land line. She was informed on that day and over the phone that the money was not being repaid to her as it was being used as part payment for outstanding debt, a debt that was as far as all were concerned had been cleared, oh how wrong we were. Not once during the phone call did the bank mention that they had informed my daughter by letter or email or phone prior to this date that they were going to recover the money by this means in fact no further correspondence was received from the bank since November. January 21st 2016 A phone call made to solicitors to find out why bank not received the payment, was told by the operative that money had missed there payment date when they pay the creditors. Not once during the phone call on 24th Dec did the operative make clear to my daughter that this would happen or that they would not contact the bank as to the debt being collected. Are they legally allowed to do this, my daughter and myself are at a complete loss as to why this kind of behaviour is allowed to go on. As of me posting this thread no money has been returned to my daughter or any explanation by both companies has been offered should I contact the head office board members and SRA with complaints about this or will I be wasting my time. Thank you for reading the thread.

Hi, I was wondering whether it is common practice or indeed mandatory for fee costings to be declared upfront when contact is first made with a solicitor. Thanking you.

Hi. Can any one offer some comments please. I suffer from a disability and the solicitors in question new about this how ever they still failed to make reasonable adjustments as indicated in my medical reports. In short the solicitors have kept £10,700 from a settlement of around £15,000 and neither the solicitors or my legal insurers will tell me why? I engaged a firm of solicitors last year ( Doyle Clayton) to assist in a dispute for disability discrimination. I had originally instructed a different law firm and the bulk of my case up to completion of the ET1 and disclosure to the other party had already been completed. I changed solicitors because I needed a local solicitor who I could talk to face to face because of my disability. The solicitors were fully aware I have difficulty reading and writing. In the eventuality I never met the solicitors face to face because the company reached a settlement with me shortly after engaging the solicitor. There were about four letters of offer of settlement before the company and I agreed to the amount of settlement. The solicitors drafted the compromise agreement. In total I estimate that the solicitors probably did less then 10 hours work as the whole case was already set out and I had already had a pre tribunal hearing with the previous solicitors. During the short time I engaged the solicitors they never sent me any estimate of costs, agreed to work within the terms of my legal insurers and never mentioned to me until after the event that I would be liable for any money or that they would recover that money from my settlement. I have now found out that they negotiated with my legal insurers to change the standard terms of engagement so that I would be liable for any charges my insurers found unreasonable. My insurers say they have had the companies final bill independently assessed and will not pay any amount the assers feel is unreasonable. Till today I have not had any details from the solicitors of what their final bill was, how it was made up or any details from my legal insurers on what they are willing to pay or how the solicitor charges were assessed. The solicitors have not responded to my complaint through their complaints procedure and have not provided me with any of the information I have requested. Thanks

I've got a letter from a solicitor re instruction from their client (cabot) to start proceedings against me because I failed to agree a reasonable payment arrangement. I've ignored their 'clients' recent letters as 3 years ago I had cause to check with Experian etc and found someone had used my name at an address unknown to me for credit with a catalogue company. I contacted Experian who put a note of dispute on my file and advised it was likely identity fraud related and contacted cabot and the catalogue company and other credit agencies. The catalogue company refused to remove it and requested I contact them which I did. I have email copy proof. The catalogue company wanted address proof of residency at the time by way of a document like a bank statement, council tax, utility bill etc in return for removing the issue from the credit agencies which I said I was reluctant to provide personal documentation given this was already a case of identity fraud! I gave them my address and said they could write to me and provided an email address at the time (a .ltd one which only a ltd co can own) and my phone number and the ltd company name and suggested they check at companies house records for contact directors addresses. These show the information they seek as it also shows any changes of address of which I have never made. Didn't hear anything then in last 6 months or probably more I got the occasional letter from cabot and I think another company at one point and now this. If someone could please suggest the best way to proceed, it's worrying and makes me a bit cross too. I don't think the catalogue even had my address until I provided it and it would seem to me that my information is being passed around without my consent. I was surprised Experian couldn't remove the claim either but only add a note. I also don't know which of these three to deal with and again am concerned about responding to anyone really as it seems to just give them all something else to build on! I like to say I'll start charging them if I've to deal with it any further! Really appreciate a knowledgeable persons input on this. Thanks Mrs Robinson

Hi, I took a company to court and the day before the hearing their solicitor called and agreed a settlement sum. He then wrote to the court to say we had settled. The next day before the hearing we signed a consent order (myself and the third party solicitor). I went to the hearing and the judge put through an order as per the consent. The third party did not pay and despite chasing their solicitor he always said "I'm waiting further instructions". During the claim I did not speak or deal with any of the third party, only their solicitor. The company went into liquidation some 6 months later and I am not getting any payment (nothing left liquidator says). Can I sue the third party solicitor as he signed the consent order and I believed his client will pay? Solicitor says this was not an undertaking, just following instructions. Thanks.

Hello, Earlier this month, I was arrested in Central London for drink driving. I had attended my cousin's wedding reception near the Old Bailey and as is typical of the limited parking options in the city, after a tedious and lengthy search for parking places, I eventually managed to park my car a considerable distance away from the venue and walked to the event. Later that night when there were parking spaces available at the venue, I went to get my car so I could park it there. As it happened, and not being that familiar with that part of town, I ended up taking a wrong turn and in no time at all got lost and was struggling to find my way back. Unfortunately, I got stopped by the police, was breathalysed at the scene and ended up spending the night in a police cell, having been charged for drink driving. My reading by the way was 75mg. I had never been in any trouble with the law until this incident. I now have a court hearing in just over a week's time and I'm desperate for advice on whether it is worth seeking a private solicitor or simply use the services of the duty solicitor on the day. Secondly, if the general recommendation is for me to employ the services of a private solicitor, could anyone recommend some solicitors who aren't too expensive to use? Finally, what sort of punishment can I expect to receive for my offence if found guilty? Thank you.

Hi sorry to bother here. I am new to here and I need urgent advice regarding a letter sent by my husband. Can someone kindly help me to start a new thread as follows: Husband send letter using solicitor for his intention to divorce: Hi I am a girl of 23 years old from Bangladesh. Five months ago I got married to a guy who is a student in London, UK but Bangladeshi national. He is on student visa in UK. The marriage was arranged by my family and my husband family. We have talked and seen several times before marriage and he was very nice to me. In one point of marriage arrangement process his family asked for huge money (£11,000 equivalent to BDT 14,000,000) from my family to get married. At that point I refused to get married to him. However then my husband called me and told me he never asked me for money and his family was mistaken and he started talking me sweet and nice. I fall in trap of him and agreed to get married. We then got married with a huge function at Dhaka. I then stayed with him few days and he then left Bangladesh to come to London. After he came to London he was okay with me for few days. However then I found he started contacting me less. At this point his brother in law demanding money from my family again for £11,000 ( BDT 14,000.00). However my family could not afford to pay the money. At that point his sister was getting married and they started asking us money for her everyday, my parents borrowed money from one our family friend for £1,500 (BDT 2,000,000) and paid to them. However they still asking money from me. At that time I was almost suicidal and however with my family support i was okay. My husband was keeping in touch with me at that time but only once a week or once in 2weeks and he always started arguing with me for everything. He started saying that I am not smart etc. etc. and started mentally torturing me. Last month I uploaded our wedding picture in my facebook and then he become very rude to me and said that he will divorce me if I do not take off the picture from facebook. I then got totally shocked and cried. As I was scared I took off the picture. After that my husband and his family started abusing me saying that I am not smart enough etc to be his wife while he married me after seeing me everything. Please note I am smart and graduate from well known university in Bangladesh. Anyway his brother in law never stopped demanding money and we could not provide them money as we do not have that much money. My husband then almost stopped calling me and he only used to call me if I ever call him. I think he only used to pick the call to find if money has been arranged. Now yesterday I received a letter written by my husband which was sent by a London solicitor. He wrote ' I write to inform you that our relationship as wife is formally terminated. The reason he has given saying that he has no love for me and also he says that I hide my past history to him. Please note I was married once 7 years ago which I got divorced 7 years ago. My husband and his family knew all these very well and we have told them everything before we got married. Now I can see that they are denying everything. As he has sent me a this letter, can you kindly advise what should I do now, please?

Hi Just looking for a little advice from anyone out there, My family has just moved out of a property rented for 2 years. The landlady has via her solicitor sent a letter claiming that we did not clean, meaning she spent £70 on professional cleaners. She also claims we have ruined the new carpets she put down at the beginning of the tenancy and not maintained the garden. She is looking to keep our deposit (£550) and then some to rectify the issues. Now we're not entirely stupid, we took photos when we moved in and photo and video footage when we moved out, so we can can confidently dispute her claims. The problem is that we feel at a disadvantage dealing with her solicitor, they have legal training and are obviously looking after their client. We have replied to the first letter letting them know we disagree and informing them that we have photos etc to back our position up. The solicitor has asked, quite abruptly, for us to send them copies so they can advise their client fully. Are we doing the right thing sending them the evidence? On the surface there doesn't seem in any harm in this, but we just don't know, it's all very confusing and stressful. It also appears from our search on the Deposit Protection Service that only £500 of the £550 deposit was protected, we asked the the solicitors about this in the letter and asked for the deposit ID, but they failed to mention any of this in the reply. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hi, first, apologies if this is in the wrong place. I've received a letter from a solicitors firm who have been instructed by a DCA to collect a debt. (Independent law firm; have checked). I did write to the DCA to offer a payment plan but evidently they've ignored me. I wish to put the same offer to the solicitors, but only in relation to the original debt - not to include the £170 fees they've added on. I presume that they have done this in anticipation of taking the case to court - as I don't wish it to get to that stage (and hopefully it wouldn't), so I wouldn't need to pay the legal fees they've put on top? (If someone could clarify that I'm ok to do this). Also, if they ignored me too or felt that my offer wasn't reasonable and still took it to court for judgment, would the court make me pay more than what I would also offer to them on the claim form? Thank you Amy

Got a high invoice from him and would like to know if I can get it looked at by some other legal body? Years ago you used to be able to get an invoice "taxed" but don't know if this is still available, I've complained to the solicitor but he's a senior partner, so I got nowhere! Thanks

Hi Guys Long story short, in January we got a repo order suspended on our house for arrears including fees of £9,500. I have just received notice that my lender has asked for this to be actioned again and I am awaiting a date for eviction from the court. The original agreement was CMP + £200 which totalled £1156.07pm. Last month I could only pay £530 towards my mortgage (May) and have informed them that I shall be paying this months (June) plus the balance by the 16th but this appears to have fallen on deaf ears. The mortgage details are; Lender: Mortgage Resolution Limited Type: Interest Only Rate: Fixed @ 9.51% until 08/10 Monthly CP: 956.07 Towards arrears: 200.00 What should I do? 1 When the notice arrives put in an N244 on what grounds? 2 Apply to my council for a MRS (wife is 6 months pregnant) 3 Ask the lender for a reduction in interest rates? 4 Resign myself to the fact that as this will be the third time at court I have no chance at all? Family details: 2 kids, 3rd on way, in receipt of WTC incl CTC of £920pm and wife earns £500-£600pm (fully declared). I am on DLA (lower rate). Thanks in advance

Hello - I made appointments with 4 solicitors for free advice about my divorce, one of them carried on chatting away after the the free alloted time. She didn't mention I was going into paid time, and now I have received a bill for £135. So far I have seen 6 solictors on this basis and all have outlined what they can offer me, and given free advice. But this one solicitor decided to charge me. Is there anything I can do?

Oh well, here we go again, just when youve sorted one family member out, another one has problems! My daughter and her husband parted last year. Both went to respective solicitors regarding a divorce. She has now got a letter from her ex's solicitor instigating divorce proceedings and demanding she pay £500 towards their costs. Well as far as Im concerned they can demand all they want. She has never entered into any contract or agreement of any description with them - she has her own solicitor. Now we all know how dodgy ( and persistent) a solicitor can be. So a question here folks - I intend to draft a letter totally denying any agreement between them and my daughter ( easy enough) but I dont really expect them to roll over and go away. So in that letter I intend to include a "further charges" clause for my time and effort should I have to continue writing to them. Does anyone have an idea of what those charges could be, ie, is their a recognised amount? Im also wondering if a complaints letter to their relevant authority regarding a demand for money through sheer speculation and without any lawful reason could drop them in it?

Hello ill try giving you the basics My employment commenced on 18.2.13 as a field sales consultant. I have been in the same industry with my previous employer so in essence move across to the competition The Director of the new company was more than happy for me to provide him with details for some clients i had previously visited and bring them across to his company. Working for the company was ok until September 2014 when i was required to drive further and further each month. Somedays my 1st appointment was 180 miles away and my mileage increased from 700 per week to 1200 per week, which was exhausting. Over the christmas break i decided enough was enough and to hand my notice in, I did so on 5.1.15. The Director was very arsey with me and told me he was not happy to pay me 3 weeks leave. I started working for myself doing the same job 27.1.15, Today i received a letter from their solicitor with notice of intended legal action for breach of my contract as i have contacted some previous clients (these clients never agreed to do business with my ex-employer), it does not state in my contract i cant contact clients, nor in the letter received to confirm my resignation, But they are saying there are restrictive covenants in the company handbook. I was not aware of a company handbook and have never been offered it to read! As i work from home, Head office is 84 miles away and is only visited for 5 hours every 3 months for a team meeting. the convenience in a nutshell are apparantly - must not work for a competitor in a 10 mile radius/operate in the same geographic area (which is 180mile radius) - not to solicit current, past or prospective clients - not to poach employees. they are claiming i have contacted clients of which some i have and some i haven't contacted, that i have done business with a few and they want financial compensation for the same. If i was aware of the alleged restrictive covenants, then i maybe would have acted a bit differently, but as they are not part of my basic 4 page contract, i have never read them or signed to agree to them. Can they do this? They are also saying it is company trade secret information - when the information can be obtained from yellow pages and google. All of our competitors call the same database system and again information can easily be obtained from there. solicitor letter says my contract started 14.2.13 but i actually started and signed my contract on the 18.2.13. any advice greatly appreciated as they want a reply as a matter of urgency

Hi, A few months ago I sold my house. It had a charging order attached, worth £2000 ( for a ccj on a credit card). I informed the solicitor that was dealing with the sale and sent them details of who they had to pay, (Nat West). There was enough equity to pay for this. The house sale went through without a hitch but I did notice that the charging order was not itemised on the final sale of house statement that the solicitor sent me. Now, a few months down the line, the solicitor has contacted me to say they made a mistake and did not pay the charging order and can I send them £xxx to clear it. The problem is I can't now pay the full amount. What should I do? I want to clear the debt and am thinking to ask that a payment plan is set up for £xx per month till the debt is paid. Will the bank accept this? And what is the solicitor's role in this now, seeing as they have made the mistake? Should I make a complaint? And what happens to my credit record? Sorry for all the questions!!! Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers, BAE