No win no fee firm - regarding inheritance a family member unlawfully spent

[Lyn k]

Apologies if not in correct forum this is my first post 

 

I recently won a case with no win no fee regarding inheritance a family member unlawfully spent

 

its a long story

I couldn’t afford to pursue myself as In no financial postition to do so.

 

it all became very complicated

we had to do mediation and a barrister was present

 

I was awarded a grand sum of £70k to settle out of court to which i agreed

I found the whole situation distressing and wanted it done

 

I've received a letter from the Solicitors

after their fees etc I will receive £20k

 

I’ve been advised this is wrong and got a breakdown of costs which does seem a tad ridiculous upon how much can they these firms charge

 

Breakdown of some costs

 first of all £175.00 per letter

then £225 .00

then £250.00

all plus vat

 

emails £250.00 per email to both parties

 

barrister was £10k plus vat for as far as I can see 4 hours at mediation

 

can I dispute these charges or are they the norm for no win no fee lawyers.

thank you 

[dx100uk]

the use of NWNF ambulance chasers is always extortionate with very little available redress.

you  signed up to them because you though it was so complex.

its not, most legal issues can be done by yourself with a little research and for free.

 

not sure where you can go with this and if there is any redress....

you'd certainly have to carefully read the T&C's you signed upto with the contract...however you did that?

 

dx

 

 

[BankFodder]

It does seem extraordinarily high. I believe that there is some mechanism by which you can have the bill scrutinised and independently assessed. I'm not sure how this happens though.

It seems very extraordinary that they charge £175 for a letter and £250 for an email. Which firm of solicitors is this?

[honeybee13]

Getting a breakdown of the costs sounds like a good idea.

 

Once you have that you can complain to the firm and if you aren't happy after that, you can go to the legal ombudsman. Here's a link to the regulator for lawyers.

 

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

 

HB

[BazzaS]

Did they warn (as part of the mediation settlement) that you weren’t going to be recovering your costs from the other side?

[SuperVillain]

OP,

 

maybe this will help - https://www.gov.uk/challenge-solicitors-bill

 

I didn’t know you could apply for a detailed assessment of your own solicitors bill.

 

Generally speaking - what were you told at the outset. Did you sign a Client Services Agreement (contract) and did it set out the hourly rates of the lawyers working on your case?

 

The flat fee of £175 per letter seems ridiculous.