WIBU to submit a formal complaint to the solicitors

[2U2]

I'll try and keep this brief folks. To summarise:

• Pregnant with #2 and wanted to get a will put together. Contacted local solicitors firm that was highly recommended and made an appointment.

• Will was drafted with local solicitor, who also suggested I should get a lasting power of attorney - agreed to this and waited for the initial invoice and draft will to be posted as agreed.

• Waited three weeks for draft to materialise, nothing. Contacted the solicitors who then sent a copy, we made another appointment to finalise, complete the lasting power of attorney and sign the wills.

• Invoice arrives with an additional £400 charge on top, no breakdown of where this has come from. The now final will is also incorrect in as far as it's missing the amendments we made at the last appointment.

• Contact made to query the additional £400 charge and lack of changes to the draft. No response for three weeks. I make a follow up phonecall, told to expect a response by Monday. I send a further email on the Friday...

• Today I receive a call saying that the additional charge is for a health lasting power of attorney, which was never discussed but given that I did sign it (presuming it was part of the LPA as discussed) I need to pay it. The will is wrong but I can go back in to the office and get a new copy this week.

• Prior to settling the invoice this evening. I thought I best check that my trustees had received their paperwork/signed it/returned it etc. Unsurprisingly they haven't receive any correspondence either, so the will is still incomplete....

YABU - You signed it, pay the full invoice and quit whingeing

YANBU - Grounds for a complaint

I thought when you engage a solicitor they are supposed to lay out their fees clearly in advance and if you ask for additional things they should confirm the cost before incurring the fees

As did I. The initial invoice/pricing was £400 less than what the final invoice states. I raised this and essentially was told that given it had been drafted and signed by me I'd still be charged for it.

At no point was I aware that it was additional to the lasting power of attorney that I'd agreed to and seen the price of.

Complain. Law firms have to have a proper complaints procedure, so this will be signposted. Also don't pay until they've fully completed the will or it will never get done.

I had similar, got nowhere with their complaints procedure until I went to the Legal Ombudsman and they reacted very quickly, cancelling the extra bill

If a lawyer "upsells" and adds an additional service they are under an obligation to give you a quote and timescale for the additional work.

Check the original client care letter to see what it says about when they will invoice and the time to pay the bill.

If the Will still is not right and they have not completed registration of the LPA you sound within your rights to complain but I am not sure I would want the extra stress in your family circumstances - I would pay the bill less the £400 and explain why - I suspect they won't take it further and if you can't cope with the stress of threats of being sued pay up then - but I doubt they will want to start court action.

In future, try and make sure you use a Will solicitor who is a member of STEP.

Had you paid it prior to the ombudsmen or did you hold firm?

You're right, it does state that they'd quote should the price change. Although it also says I have 14 days from receiving the invoice to pay without incurring additional fees. That's well and truly gone given their lack of communication.

I refused to pay on the basis that they hadn’t warned me of the additional costs and they hadn’t worked to acceptable timescales. I had agreed the content of a letter and they included a deadline of four weeks for the person to respond. I discovered after five weeks that they hadn’t actually sent the letter. They then sent me another bill for receiving my call chasing them!