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Warning over cowboy will-writers

10:00am Sunday 10th April 2011 in News

A ST HELENS law firm is urging people to be wary of cowboy will writers within the private will writing industry who have left many vulnerable people out of pocket.

Local firm Canter Levin and Berg support moves by The Law Society to regulate will writing and protect against writers who often have no legal qualifications or formal training in will drafting. Because many cowboy writers don’t possess the correct insurance, there is no way for disappointed people to recover their losses.

Many are attracted to the low cost and convenience of will writers who make home visits, expecting to pay between £40 and £60 for a will. Unfortunately there are often hidden clauses.

Canter Levin and Berg say that this is compared to an average total fee of between £90 and £110 charged by qualified lawyers who do not charge for storage.

Comments(9)

mikeperry109 says...
5:36pm Sun 10 Apr 11

And you try to get a solicitor to do this for the price CLB quote! It is the whole legal profession that needs regulation - at the moment they have a licence to print money, and consequently ordinary working class people are denied access to justice

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plain-truth says...
8:16am Mon 11 Apr 11

So what they are saying is .... any one charging a reasonable amount is a cowboy and should be avoided. Well they would say that, wouldn't they.

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domformula1 says...
3:26pm Mon 11 Apr 11

The legal profession is regulated half to death in actual fact. The cheap option's there if you want it, just don't complain when something goes wrong and the cowboy with a stand in the Hardshaw Centre is now selling mobile phone covers instead and isn't interested.... and you have no legal recourse against him.

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plain-truth says...
5:38pm Mon 11 Apr 11

Seen a fair few solicitors struck off over the last few years.......

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webman says...
8:55pm Tue 12 Apr 11

domformula1, you are spot on..You only get what you pay for.

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domformula1 says...
1:09pm Wed 13 Apr 11

plain-truth wrote:
Seen a fair few solicitors struck off over the last few years.......
Exactly my point, cowboys need to be struck on before they can get struck off. No one's saying solicitors are perfect, far from it, but at least they are regulated and face sanctions if they get things wrong. Better than your will written in five minutes or your pizza's free.

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papyt says...
5:52pm Wed 13 Apr 11

my dad did his own will from a kit he bought at W.H.SMITH years ago it cost £3 it is a legal document and had it looked at last year at the CAB to make sure it was up to date,you can still buy these kits,the trouble with solicitors everyone has a low opinion of them just look at motor insurance it has gone up by 40% this year mostly due to the ambulance chasing shysters,they are the same as estate agents in some cases money for old rope,most thing we assume need a solicitor for can be done by ourselves and are still legal.

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domformula1 says...
1:25pm Thu 14 Apr 11

You have to make your own mind up at the end of the day, but one thing I will tell you is insurance premiums will NEVER fall come what may, ambulance chasers or not. New rules designed to fix legal costs in personal injury cases and bring them down (designed by insurers) came in last year, the result? This year everyone's premiums went up on average 30%, what does that tell you?

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domformula1 says...
1:28pm Thu 14 Apr 11

saying that papyt, if your dad did do his own will and he's happy it's legal then good on him, nobody should be paying anybody good money for something they can do themselves

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