Received email letter before claim while travelling abroad

[jans12]

Request for guidance please. 

House purchase aborted  after12 months, Conveyancing Solicitor sends bill for 85% of fixed fee under 1k, I complain about bill amount as Conveyancer did not get the information I requested from sellers Solicitor  which caused the buying process to drag on 8 months longer than it should had I got the information I wanted, in this period I paid higher short term rent, my claim against him to counter his claim.

Solicitor takes 4 months to respond to my complaint, where he not really address my complaint just re bills me, I further complain and 3 months later I get email response from principal solicitor while I am travelling around Thailand, dismissing me quite aggressively and giving me 7 days to pay in full or he starts enforcement.

I respond and ask does he mean court proceedings and is he declining alternative dispute resolution as I also asked for that previously , the response is I have already answered your complaint, which does not really answer my question.

I then send email and give my Thai address for service and state I am not in the UK, I do not own property in the UK just sofa surfing there so cannot give a safe address for service and worried solicitor may rack up costs by applying for permission to serve out of Jurisdiction or send claim where I no longer live regardless. But my worst concern as he quite aggressive is he gets an order with a penal notice while I am abroad, and goes for committal proceedings for prison.

Any guidance on how I should handle this much appreciated      

[dx100uk]

not sure where you are getting half this info from.

penal notice...committal to prison??

in the UK debt is not a crime.

i think this solicitor is having you on about things he can and cannot do.

you are abroad he knows you are abroad, cant raise any court claims end of and to what point..

you have no UK assets ....in simple terms there in NOTHING he can do!!

ignore him

block and bounce all emails text, phonecalls etc.

sorry but he's taking you for a fool.

[Andyorch]

Welcome to the forum.

He should still comply with Pre Action Protocol before litigation and a Letter of claim...you have informed him you are no longer residing in the UK. Worst scenario he serves a claim on your last known address....default judgment but unable to execute it.

 

Not sure where you got the following idea from...

Quote

he quite aggressive is he gets an order with a penal notice while I am abroad, and goes for committal proceedings for prison.

 

Its a civil matter not criminal.

 

Andy

 

[jans12]

Hi thanks for your response, the penal notice concern is if he gets a ccj and requests an order for questioning in court under oath,  to find out where my money is and I do not turn up as I am abroad, it can be contempt of court, not sure how practical or if he would go so far for £850, or if he bluffing .

Perhaps I over think it.   

[Andyorch]

Quote

Perhaps I over think it.   

Absolutely 

[BazzaS]

30 minutes ago, jans12 said:

Hi thanks for your response, the penal notice concern is if he gets a ccj and requests an order for questioning in court under oath,  to find out where my money is and I do not turn up as I am abroad, it can be contempt of court, not sure how practical or if he would go so far for £850, or if he bluffing .

Perhaps I over think it.   

You do over think it.

That would be multiple bridges that’d need to be crossed

1) They get a CCJ

2) they get an order for questioning in court (which would be difficult if he’s already applied for service out of jurisdiction: and do they have an address for service?)

3) Contempt of court would be for “deliberately not turning up”, not “out of the country and didn’t know was expected to turn up”.

 

In terms of your initial query : have you had a final response to your complaint? I suspect so if the solicitor is talking about issuing a claim.

Does it mention your right to go to the Legal Ombudsman (LO) ?

I’d complain to the LO. Let the solicitor know you are escalating this to the LO and suggest they await the outcome of that before issuing their claim against you.

(Then if they do issue before the LO has reached their decision you ask the court to stay the case pending the LO’s decision which is binding on the solicitor).

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by BazzaS

[dx100uk]

ignore him.

 

dx