Probate Service have lost dads Will

[LostWill]

I posted the original Will to the Probate service on 8th Jan, it was signed for at their offices on 13th Jan. I’ve been chasing for the last 3 weeks only as I’ve not heard anything at all, no acknowledgement of receipt.
I was told it was currently taking 6 weeks to match up a scanned Will to the application and to wait. After the 6 weeks I’ve been calling weekly for an update, or just to know the case is being processed, for the last 3 weeks only to be told that they can’t find the Will and it’s possibly lost. This was the original Will by the way, as they requested. I have a photo copy of the Will.
They’ve asked me to wait another week and said I possibly will need to fill in a ‘lost Will form’ and when I’ve looked at this it’s not a form that says it’s lost in their office, it’s a firm to say the a Will has been lost by us, requesting evidence of witnesses (they’re dead!) and the last time it was seen.
There’s no accountability from them and it’s a nightmare trying to communicate by phone and we chat, and takes an hour each time!
Please can anyone advise on the best course of action??

Web chat - not we chat.

No, it is a form that says the will has been lost. It doesn't allocate blame. And it doesn't request evidence of witnesses, simply asks if they are available to give evidence, so you say no to that question.

Your best course of action is to complete the form and submit it with a copy of the will.

Thanks for the advice @prh47bridge,
It’s deeply disappointing and they can’t tell me what the next steps are after completing the form, or any likely timescales now.
To say they couldn’t have given less of a sh*! about the fact it’s lost in their premises is an understatement.

That's awful. At least it's acknowledged that they received it and you have a copy so it is capable of being sorted out.

They’ve not really acknowledged it @Mosaic123 I’ve told them that it’s been signed for at their business address and they’ve said they’ve no record of it.
I fear that this will now be treated as even lower priority, go to the back of the queue again, as it’s now a ‘lost Will’ case, rather than a simple case, with the original Will provided. Not helped as it’s do very difficult to speak to anyone there.

Oh no. That's not good. You have my sympathy.

I run a Will writing company and stopped recommending the PS storage service a few years ago, as so many of my clients were reporting major issues with it.

I now recommend a private storage service which is more expensive but fantastically efficient.

The PS one used to be very efficient, I’m not sure what happened there.

@Mumblechum0 thanks for your comment. I don’t know if I’ve been clear. My dad has died, so now we need to wind up his estate and sell his house etc. I’m an executor. I hadn’t asked them to store it, this was to apply for the Grant to deal with his estate. Sounds like they are pretty slack then if they have a reputation for losing crucial documents.
I’m very unhappy about it. I’ve raised a complaint on their website, but don’t hold much hope of a decent response.

@LostWill I am sorry for your loss. I am a solicitor specialising in estate administration...welcome to my life! Literally spend hours chasing the probate registry

Keep pushing OP. Make sure you label everything you send them with 'COMPLAINT'. The Probate Registry used to be fantastic and really efficient but the govt decided a couple of years ago that it needed 'updating' and since then it's been a catalogue of disasters. It may be worth contacting your MP about your case, too.

I’ve had another look at the lost Will form PA13, I’m extremely reluctant to complete this. The questions are along the lines of ‘when was the Will last seen’, ‘who held the original Will’, ‘what enquiries have you made to find the Will’. It’s entirely the wrong circumstances to complete this form, I had the Will, I completed the online application for private, posted the original Will as requested, they signed for it then it’s missing. The Probate Service have lost it in their office. If anyone should fill in this form it should be the private dept themselves.
I’ve had a generic holding response back from my complaint to say they’ll respond within 10 days.
I’m uncomfortable sending the PA13 form as firstly it’s doesn’t cover my circumstances and I fear my application will then fall into a ‘lower priority’ bracket, can anyone advise if this is likely?
Should I see the complaint out, and not complete the form?
Or should I pursue my complaint and email my MP?

anyone should go it’s not the

Private = probate

If you don't complete it, you won't get probate.

Those questions are perfectly reasonable. The will was last seen when you posted it to the Probate Registry. Regarding enquiries, you have evidence that it was delivered but the Probate Registry is now unable to find it. And I'm not sure what you see as inappropriate about asking who held the original will. That refers to where the will was at the time of death and is not affected by subsequent events.

It is entirely the right circumstances to complete this form. The will has been lost. It doesn't matter who lost it. You need to get probate using a copy of the will as the original is missing. That means you need to complete PA13. You can use question 15 to explain exactly what has happened.

You are in the same circumstances as if the will had been lost in the post (which is explicitly mentioned on PA13). In that situation it would still be you completing PA13, not Royal Mail.

Feel free to pursue your complaint but, unless the will turns up, you will have to complete PA13 and submit it with a fresh copy of the will.

Thanks @prh47bridge.
Do you know if a pa13 case treated with lower priority (longer timescales) than a ‘regular case’? As the essential document isn’t there? I have asked them on we chat but they couldn’t answer this. They wouldn’t even confirm if the copy Will would be good enough when I asked if I should send it. It’s like trying to communicate with a brick wall.

No idea. Sorry. I suspect there may be some additional checks but I don't know how long that will take. Everything is slow at the moment.

@LostWill I would complete it as @prh47bridge has suggested but send with a covering letter and your 16 digit reference if you have one yet.
If you kept a copy of the application I would also send that just for ease of reference.
They should be able to pair it up with whatever documents they have got.

Thanks for your responses, I’m just so horrendously pissed off about them losing it, I think they should just accept my scanned copy and get it looked at immediately.