Solicitor falsely accused me of blackmail and identity fraud – what can I do?

[PoisedPearlHelper]

Hi everyone,
I’m feeling extremely distressed and could really use some advice.
A solicitor I approached just to witness a deed poll (literally a 10-minute job) has now written me a formal letter accusing me of identity fraud and blackmail, all because I left a Google review and asked for £150 compensation for the poor service I received.
To be clear:

• I turned up to the appointment on time, waited over an hour past the scheduled slot without apology, and was treated incredibly rudely throughout.
• The “identity fraud” claim appears to be based on my use of a perfectly valid house name (e.g., “The Croft”) in the deed poll, which is how my address appears on HMRC letters and utility bills.
• I corrected a typo on the deed by hand with their permission before it was witnessed.
• I later went to an independent solicitor who confirmed everything was fine and properly re-witnessed the deed poll.

Despite this, I received an aggressive letter warning me I would "hear from enforcement agencies," and treating my Google review + complaint as a criminal blackmail attempt. It’s left me shaken. I’ve now written a response asking them to:

• Retract the accusations
• Destroy my ID documents unless legally required
• Justify their data handling under UK GDPR
• Comply with the law around AML and GDPR disclosures

I’ve said if they don’t comply by 19 August, I’ll report them to the SRA, ICO and Legal Ombudsman. What else can I do to protect myself? Has anyone else experienced this kind of intimidation from a solicitor? Is it worth actually taking this to the police under harassment laws, or am I overreacting? I have a paper trail and am confident I’ve done nothing wrong, but I’m worried this could escalate or damage my name. Any legal or practical advice much appreciated – even just solidarity would help. This has genuinely shaken me. Thanks so much,

But they are linking the 150 pounds with the bad review, not the legal ombudsman bit.

This is what I'm confused about, I mean fair enough asking for a refund if you paid for a service but the £150 seems pulled out of nowhere.

I once paid £800 for a solicitor’s time and a letter that genuinely would have failed at A level - convoluted, poorly argued, poor grasp of the legal evidence. I managed to get £400 refund. But I never set foot outside the Legal 500 again.

If you didn’t pay them why are you asking for money?

You really want 150 for wasting two hours of your time?

Did they bill you?

Why have you valued your time at £150? Compensation is for financial loss. It looks as though you sent that complaint before you went to see another solicitor to have it done, so you weren’t asking for the cost of going elsewhere.
But, even if you did ask for the cost for going elsewhere, why would they have to pay for that? If you didn’t pay them to start with?
You haven’t lost anything; you only paid for the service once, which you’d have to do anyway. So you can’t ask them to pay for it.

And emotional damages

It’s funny how all the people who suspect that the solicitors may have acted improperly by writing the letter in the terms that they did are actually solicitors. Because we understand the professional standards and complaint procedures and we know that there are many out there who being our profession into disrepute.

Emotional damages 😂

Lol just let it go. You are far too tightly wound up about this.

Actually reading this you didn’t blackmail them. You said you would complain if you didn’t receive a written response NOT that you would complain if they didn’t pay you. So I think that really has saved you. Still a really weird way to go about it (I assume chat GPT has led you astray!). In future if you’re not happy with the service you should ask for a refund of the service rather than random compensation figure.

How are you emotionally damaged?

😂😂😂 get a grip honestly! OP literally said in her OP that she would report them to SRA 😂😂😂 She doesn’t need you, pages in, to suggest SRA 😂😂😂🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

So you had a frustrating appointment - that you didn't pay for - then you got your issue sorted with another firm. Now you want £150 for emotional damage from the original company. And you wonder why they sent you that letter.

I don’t think you can be compensated for emotional damage.
only actual costs that you’ve lost out on- lost work hours, extra travel, that sort of thing. The idea is to be put in the position you were in prior to the incident.

No she didn’t. She requested compensation but her wording is that unless she receives a RESPONSE she will be complaining without further notice. That’s not blackmail (unless requesting a response could be considered blackmail?). But the £150 request and the complaint threat are not linked in her email.

To your original question, OP, yes I think you are over-reacting massively (and have done throughout). I can't understand why you've got so het up over the original service.

Firstly, I'd agree that asking them for £150 for your time, is just random. You haven't proven any loss at all and a solicitor simply won't pay out for that. It's hard to see what your actual loss is for this, given you didn't pay the first solicitor anything. I can't really comment on what their evidence is to link that request with the bad review, but I can see why they think it's a threatening.

Putting a bad review also unnecessary.

What you should have done, after your original appointment, was written to the firm itself, possibly the senior partner, and expressed your unhappiness at the level of service you received.

Your second letter to the solicitors firm is also over the top. What exactly have they done which warrants a referral to the ICO or the SRA?

And why on earth would you file a SAR? What are you actually hoping to achieve from this?

It just seems you've become completely obsessed with this (and I have seen your other thread).

I can't tell if you're serious, but the UK isn't like the US.

In order to claim for "emotional damages" there have to be evidence of significant psychological injury like PTSD, anxiety or depression resulting in pain/suffering or mental anguish (which also has to be proven with medical evidence).

There are two threads on this?

I’m sure I’ve seen this on here before. Years ago. A solicitor bullying someone over a review or complaint.

Assuming all is as it seems, you should be able to leave an honest review of a service without fear of repercussions.

Look. The point is that there are lots and lots of people out there like OP who make crazy complaints and have unrealistic expectations. That is the nature of the general public. But solicitors have a duty to treat them politely and not to intimidate or threaten. Obviously we only have OP’s word for what the letter said, but the regulator could take a view and explain to her if it was reasonable or not.

What emotional damage? How old are you?

You’ve humiliated yourself using ChatGPT and demanding compensation (for nothing) instead of just emailing feedback to the firm like a normal person.

yep https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/legal_matters/5382719-is-my-letter-legally-blackmail-under-english-law

I don't think the review is the problem, OP is demanding they pay her £150 for her "wasted time" or she is going to escalate things further.

It doesn't sound like she paid them in any way, so really what is she bothering with all this for? She didn't receive the service she wanted, she didn't pay and she left a negative review.. that is where it should have been left.. why would anyone in their right mind escalate it further than that then claim "emotional damages".

Oh come on @PoisedPearlHelper 😂

I am waiting for the "it has triggered me" post now

but seriously in the letter, I just put down hours wasted