To question solicitor’s bill.

[Orphlids]

I recently had cause to employ a solicitor to compose and send a letter relating to a family matter. When I initially spoke to the solicitor on the phone, I made sure I asked what the cost would be for the work, as money is so very tight at the moment. He told me it would be “no more than £100.” I was surprised it was so little, but thought he was giving us a good price as he has worked extensively for my mother in the past, and perhaps it was a bit of a favour.

He then emailed me a draft copy of the letter he had composed, and I replied asking for adjustments to be made to one paragraph. He made these adjustments, sent me the new draft, which I approved, and the letter was subsequently sent to the recipient.

I’ve just received the bill and it is for £260, which he has then discounted to £240. I’m afraid I have literally no experience at all in matters such as this, and am wondering if the adjustments made to the one paragraph could really account for such an increase from the initial sum of £100.

Is it possible he’s forgotten quoting me £100? Or is this the final cost I should have expected after the adjustments? I will query it if it’s possible he’s made an error, but if it all seems fine then I don’t want to seem ungrateful. I’m just feeling sick at the thought of trying to find the money, because things are so tight at the mo.

Any advice gratefully received. And apologies if this is in the wrong place - I couldn’t work out where to put it!

He should have sent you a service agreement before doing the work to make sure you agreed to his proposed costs.

We have to get signed agreements before billing anyone. You can’t just send clients a bill.

I work for a solicitors.

I would query it based on his initial quote to you.

@DixonD, thank you for replying. There was no service agreement, and nothing at all was said about additional costs at the time I asked for the adjustments. I wouldn’t have necessarily expected those adjustments to be done for free, but the increase in cost has left me a bit shocked. The solicitor is well established and comes highly recommended, so I assumed everything was done correctly.

No client engagement letter or terms of business?

Was your initial quote in writing?

If a billing matter is referred to the ombudsman then generally a 10% increase to any quote is the accepted threshold. But, it depends on the scope of the work quoted for and whether your request for amendments was outside of scope - all this stuff should be in your engagement letter!

Email him, ask why the cost has increased and why you didn’t receive a client care letter or terms of business and they’ll probably write off the extra. They’re in the wrong for failing to provide the client care letter as above.

If they don’t budge, copy in the head of department and the complaints partner if you really want to push the point!

I would charge 145 plus VAT
If everyone wants to get a legal qualification and work long hours for no reward then go ahead

@Japanesejazz

I would charge 145 plus VAT If everyone wants to get a legal qualification and work long hours for no reward then go ahead

Ha Japanese I do I'm a teacher however I don't think the OP was having a go at the rate other then it was a lot more than originally quoted for minimal work.

If you haven’t received a letter of engagement with fee proposal and a copy of their terms of business then they’re in breach of regulations.

Definitely query the bill - point out that you were initially quoted £100 and remind them that you didn’t receive a letter of engagement or TOB. They’ll probably agree to the original quote to avoid you reporting them to the law society for breaching their obligations.

YANBU to question the solicitors bill. It is 140% higher than the solicitor advised. There is no need for gratefulness as it is a business transaction. You are unlikely to have proceeded in doing business with them if they had quoted that price.

It would also be against your verbal contract to add on additional costs for the adjustments without advising you first and then you explicitly accepting.

You need to be firm here, he said no more than £100, so you need to hold him to that.