Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.
J.A. writes: I answered an advertisement offering to prepare wills for £47. I ended up paying Town and Country Law Ltd £600 for wills for myself and my wife. I am still fuming about this. I complained, and also emailed the woman representative who came to our home, saying I was not happy. I feel I was bamboozled.
Tony Hetherington replies: The offer to draft wills for £47 was a foot in the door. The job of the representative was to get you and your wife – both in your mid-70s – to pay more.
You told me: ‘I do not recall her ever mentioning £47 wills. The visit was a bit of a whirlwind and a bit over our heads.’
Unregulated: No legal qualifications are needed to prepare the wills offered by Town and Country Law, and there is no regulator to complain to
The outcome, according to Town and Country Law, is that you instructed the firm to prepare not just the two wills but also four lasting powers of attorney, two for you and two for your wife.
You commented: ‘I did not ‘instruct’ anyone to prepare the LPA – it was suggested that I take them out.’
The firm denies receiving any complaint from you, but you have told me: ‘I did complain on the telephone and was told, “Well, you signed it”. I also sent an email saying that my head was spinning.’
Shamefully, no legal qualifications are needed to prepare the wills or similar documents offered by Town and Country Law, and there is no regulator to whom you can complain.
Here is one helpful description of the setup: ‘Legal services that are not provided by a solicitor are not regulated. Therefore, if anything goes wrong, whatever it is, it is very difficult to get your money back, and there are no agencies to help you.’
All true, but the man who said this was solicitor Jonathan De Vita – and he is no longer a solicitor. Several months ago, he was cleared of criminal fraud charges, but his South Humberside law firm was closed down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and he was kicked out of the legal profession.
A disciplinary tribunal found that his firm had massively overcharged clients, falsified business records, and used clients’ funds without their knowledge or permission.
De Vita had behaved dishonestly and his misconduct had been ‘deliberate, calculated, repeated and had continued over several years’.
The tribunal added that De Vita ‘had taken advantage of vulnerable people – much of the work was probate and beneficiaries and executors depended entirely on being able to trust the solicitors’. De Vita owes £143,456 in costs, so I asked the Solicitors Regulation Authority how much of this he had paid so far. The answer: ‘Not a penny.’
De Vita declared himself bankrupt, and his debts are still being scrutinised by his trustee in bankruptcy, outside his control. So, what does he do for a living now? He works for Town and Country Law, one of the unregulated legal service providers he used to tell people to avoid!
I asked De Vita whether he had changed his mind, if he stands by the advice he gave before he was struck off as a solicitor.
Without really answering the question, he told me: ‘Following a very difficult period in my life, I was acquitted. While that was the right decision, I have been taught some very valuable lessons and look forward to putting parts of my career, which I enormously regret, behind me.’
I also asked Town and Country Law director James Scotney whether he agreed with De Vita’s advice to use proper solicitors, and why clients should find De Vita trustworthy, given the scathing judgment issued by the tribunal that found he had taken advantage of vulnerable clients.
Scotney did not offer an answer to either question, De Vita is still at Town and Country Law, and the firm is still advertising wills for just £47.
With a lawyer now in 10 Downing Street, I wonder whether the need to regulate will-writing firms might move higher up the agenda. I do hope so.
Banking for kids in care
Ms K.H. writes: I reach out in desperation as a foster carer. NatWest has been a nightmare to deal with in opening accounts for foster children.
All carers are required by Social Services to open a bank account for children placed with them, and I have been trying for a year to open one for the young teenage girl placed with me.
Don’t bank on it: NatWest has been a nightmare to deal with in opening accounts for foster children
Tony Hetherington replies: You have banked with NatWest for over 15 years, so the bank knows you. But your first attempt to open an account for Julie (not her real name) was rejected because she did not have a passport.
You got Julie a passport and applied again. Then NatWest refused to recognise your fostering agreement. Next the bank rejected the local authority’s letter confirming that Julie would be with you at least until she reached 18.
After I contacted NatWest, the bank requested the fostering agreement again, and this time the bank accepted it.
There were also problems as the bank does not accept phone screenshots of documents and questioned whether the local authority’s letter provided sufficient evidence of the link between you and Julie.
However, Julie now has her NatWest account. All in all, it took a year to get this, though several months of the delay arose because of the time taken to get the passport. NatWest told me: ‘We apologise to Ms H for the delays in opening the account.’
If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
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