Unqualified Will Writers

By admin | Published: January 24, 2012

The Nightmare of Unregulated, Uninsured, Unqualified Will Writers

Law Society President, Robert Heslett, says: “Solicitors know so many cases of people who have turned to them for help after being left with what can only be described as nightmare wills by will writers, many of which are not worth the paper they are written on. This is a widespread trend. We hear many stories of unregulated, uninsured will writers misleading too many people as to their supposed but absent expertise.

“What is most worrying is that their victims are often unaware that their will writers are not regulated, nor is there any mechanism for complaint. As the will writer is not insured, there is no means of redress if things go wrong.”

The public can be mislead because they use the word ‘legal’ in their advertisements despite the fact they are not legally qualified.

The Law Society research found that some will writers were advertising low cost wills, but that in reality the customer was given a much larger bill at the end of the process.

In some cases, will writers were appointing themselves as executors and offering related legal services for which they were not trained or regulated, such as powers of attorney, obtaining probate, conveyancing and even tax advice, at an additional cost.

Other cases involved the will writing company being wound up and disappearing with all of their clients’ will documents, or family members being left out of a will against the wishes of the client.

Robert Heslett says: “There may be rare instances when the solicitors get it wrong, but the difference between a solicitor and a will writer is that they are legally trained, robustly regulated and are covered by indemnity insurance, which provides recompense to clients. Most will writers are not insured.”

The Law Society’s findings come soon after the publication of the Lord Hunt review of regulation of legal services. Lord Hunt’s findings included concerns raised by what he referred to as a “fringe legal market” in will writing, probate and claims handling, which exposed the public to a growing risk. The Law Society reminds everyone to use a solicitor. Whatever your question they are qualified to answer.

Robert Heslett adds: “Sadly, the feedback the Law Society has received from solicitors who are sorting out the mistakes left by will writers is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Anyone wishing to write a will should seek the services of a solicitor, otherwise they risk a will which reflects nothing of their wishes. We also urge anyone who has used a will writer to check the accuracy and suitability of their will with a solicitor before it is too late and they leave their loved ones with unnecessary problems.”

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Government have pledged to get a grip on the compensation culture

By admin | Published: January 24, 2012

The government have pledged to get a grip on the compensation culture surrounding personal injury claims.

Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said the current situation was “rotten” and action was needed to increase transparency and reduce costs.

Critics say insurers are getting paid for referring details of people involved in accidents to personal injury lawyers without permission. This frequently happens when the Insrue4rs invite Solicitors to joint their panel – for a cost. It also has the effect of persuading many people that they do not have the choice to instruct their own Solicitor. They do – at all times.

Insurers have promised to work with ministers to reform the system.

Labour MP Jack Straw has been putting pressure on the government to take action over referral fees, which he says are a “scandal” and should be banned.

The former Labour minister has spoken out about the issue which he says is contributing to a spike in the cost of motor insurance – despite the fact that the number of road accidents involving personal injury has fallen sharply.

He has claimed insurance firms were “complicit” in the referral practice and that other organisations – including some police forces – were also selling on commercial information to facilitate claims which were often entirely trivial. The explosion of ‘claims management companies’ who are NOT Solicitors has resulted in a huge amount of claims, not all the compensation claims are genuine.

Referral Fees may go Underground

”Critically the minister has failed to tackle at all the scandal of referral fees paid all along the chain”

Jack Straw Labour MP

Mr Straw has also criticised what he said was the high-pressure tactics of legal firms who handle personal injury claims, claiming a constituent was inundated by calls and texts urging him to claim compensation after an accident, despite being uninjured and having not given permission to be contacted.

Mr. Straw seemed to ignore the fact however that this high pressure ‘sales’ is not from Solicitors but claims management companies. In order to survive and compete many Solicitors have had to adopt their tactics. If the Government did away with ‘referral’ fees the situation would probably resolve itself.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Djanogly said referral fees were a symptom of a “rotten” compensation culture but that many of the features of the current system had come into being under the last government.

“In 1999, claimant costs represented 56% of damages but by 2010 claimant costs represented 142% of damages,” he told MPs.

The government would study the findings of a recent Legal Services Board study into the matter, he added.

“We are looking at referral fees in the context of the reforms as a whole,” he said. “We will look carefully at all of these issues.”

Most Solicitors are in favour of the ban and hope it will hopefully get rid of the ‘claims culture’ which has tarnished the profession.

However, there already seems to be a ‘watering down’ of the ban and most Solicitors are of the opinion they will continue to exist under the guise of ‘administration fees’ or something similar. Also the very big claims management companies, National Accident Helpline and Underdog are unlikely to disappear which makes most lawyers think that the ban is not going to happen in reality.

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