Not sure if this is the right place to post but here goes.
A firm of solicitors asked my husband to supply an appliance to a person who has carers looking after him and the solicitors manage his affairs. They asked for it to be done urgently. It was and he forwarded them his bill. They did not pay him but a week or so later he died. This was several weeks ago and he sent them a reminder. Now they have come back and said they cannot pay him as they have no funds to do so and it could take about 12 weeks to sort out. They also ask us to confirm that we will not press for payment.
Obviously hubby has had to pay for this appliance from the wholesaler which was getting on for £400 and as a self employed person (and at this difficult time) he needs paying back.
We have emailed to say we need paying now but is there anything else we can do? Thanks
Did the person who died leave an estate, ie money-house-posessions?.
Winding up a “estate” takes time, first of all a valuation has to take place of everything the dead person owned then sold.
Before that even it is a question of if he left a will or died “intestate” (no will left). Then things get more complicated which could envolve finding out if there are any relatives . This could take more time and might have a priority claim against the estate.
I think you may well have to wait some time before you can get your money back.
Only thing I can think of is if the solicitors are asking not to press for payment write to them and say they have 14 days to sort out payment or then you will have to consider taking legal advice.
However even this can be tricky as one solicitor won’t go up against another “old pals act and in same club” type of thing
If you can prove the “appliance” was purchased by yourself and on loan then I can see no reason why you can’t claim it back
It all depends on what was agreed in writing when the purchase was made. Not knowing what the appliance was I don’t know if it has any used retail value
[FONT=“Arial Black”] Of course not being in the legal profession I can only put my thoughts on here and have no legal bearing
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OH forgot if the solicitors are not named as executors in a will, they will make first claim to cover their costs. This would include their hourly rate (usually well over £100 per hr)and postage travel etc
If they are named executors then they can only claim out of pocket expenses such as postage -travel and the like but not for their time
Always pays to make a will clearly statkng your wishes. This could include if you wanted to be cremated or buried- body parts left - who you want to be executors to your will- who you want money left to who gets left what (ie car house),
Married couples get left everything to each other anyway.
You may want to leave money to a hospice or charity or devided among family.
Sure as eggs is eggs human voltures will be hovering aroung trying to grab the best pickings of the deceased. Seen it too many times
Due to the small amount owed, go through the small claims court (you can do it online).
Before you do that, send an official typed or printed letter to the solicitors who handled the man’s affairs. Obviously make it clear that you understand that it is a difficult time for all but with that being said you need to make it clear in the letter that your husband carried out the work in good faith because the solicitors said it was urgent.
The solicitors will use stalling tactics in preventing you from getting your money in a timely fashion because the solicitors will try and get the money from the man’s estate. Do not fall for this. The contract is between your husband and the solicitors, NOT your husband and the deceased man. Therefore the solicitors should pay your husband out of their own money and then subsequently recover the money from the deceased man’s estate. The solicitors requested the appliance, not the deceased man, therefore a contract exists between your husband and the solicitors.
If the solicitors try to play hard ball by sending you legal jargon letters, ignore them. Just take them to the small claims court.
I am not a solicitor or any legal professional and this is not legal advice.
EDIT: Just out of interest, the bill your husband sent, was it made out to the solicitors in name or was it in the name of the deceased man c/o the solicitors? because if the bill is in the deceased man’s name then unfortunately in that situation you become what’s known as a ‘creditor’ which would also mean you are tied to the strings of however long it takes for the solicitors to wind down the man’s estate.
EDIT 2: (yeah I know I keep on thinking of things)
As you have not been paid, the appliance is still your property and the solicitors would not be allowed to sell it off as part of the mans estate or to dispose of it. If the appliance can still be used by somebody else, send a request to the solicitors that you wish to retrieve your property.
When you have had to deal with local council and their bailiffs, debtors, creditors and solicitors over the years as I have (I wasn’t always good ), you learn a thing or too
This government website about how to make a claim in court is perfect for those who want to get their money.
EDIT: When a person is ever in doubt, they must always get advise from a qualified legal professional OR go to Citizens Advice https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Thank you all for your advice. Using bits of it I emailed the solicitor and said had they paid their bill on time we would not be in this position. I also said we had already paid for the appliance and would NOT be agreeing to their request to confirm we would not press for payment.
We received an email today to say they would be paying us in the next few days. They said it was an unfortunate breakdown in communication in their offices and they didn’t realise the bill had not been paid as soon as they received it. Funny that because they requested the job was done urgently which it was and they were sent the bill straight away which was some time before their client died.
The solicitors were probably hoping that you would feel intimidated and back down to their requests. Because you didn’t back down and stood your ground, they knew they were dealing with someone who would take the matter further if the issue was not resolved amicably.
Hopefully they will honour what they said in the email.
