How to avoid being scammed by dodgy wills and probate firms
- Bad practices mean people lose money and buy the wrong deals
- Now a new probe from the CMA aims to crack down on shark-like companies
According to experts, more people are being scammed by dodgy wills, divorces and inheritance firms.
Now the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into these companies to root out bad practices.
The problem is that some dodgy companies operate in parts of the pension industry, much of which is unregulated.
According to the Legal Services Board, by 2021 there were 208,000 unregulated companies handling wills, trusts and probate matters worth £2 billion.
No lasting respect: Many companies that sell services such as writing wills and probate deeds mislead consumers, sell them duff products and make them overpay
Under UK law, you do not need to be a barrister to carry out certain legal activities.
For example, in England and Wales you don’t need to be a lawyer to draw up a will – although many lawyers do provide this service.
In most situations, it doesn’t matter or can be a good thing to be unregulated – for example, it allows people to save money by making their own will if they want to.
But in some cases it allows shark-like companies to rip off consumers, the regulator warns.
A CMA spokesperson said: ‘Alternative providers very often offer services that are innovative and convenient for the consumer, and can also be cheaper.
“But where they are not regulated, it becomes all the more important that normal consumer protection laws are followed and, if necessary, enforced.”
Sneaky tricks to watch out for
The CMA has noted several issues with some will, divorce, and probate writing companies:
Will write
- Consumers are misled by advertisements that offer an extremely low initial fee for advice, but do not say that the final bill can be much higher;
- Unfair contract wording that can lead to high costs for consumers and lead to improper wills being written;
- Selling under pressure and coercion from vulnerable customers.
Prepaid Inheritance Plans
- Pressure selling on the elderly and vulnerable;
- A lack of transparency about costs;
- Plans that do not do what they are intended to do;
- Consumers do not know whether their money is protected or not.
Online divorce agencies
- Misleading claims about how simple and cheap the process is;
- Bad service, including companies that make serious mistakes.
The CMA is also concerned that if a company stops trading, there is a risk that clients’ money or important documents, such as their wills, will be lost.
CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said, “These may not be frequent purchases, but they are life-changing.
“That’s why it’s so important that we do research so that people can confidently choose the right legal service for them – for divorce or probate or drafting a will.
“It is essential for businesses to get the basics right, including compliance with general consumer law that applies to all merchants. Customers must get a fair deal.’
The CMA wants to hear consumers’ experiences with writing wills, divorces, and estates, because it believes some are breaking the law.
You can contact the CMA: UnregulatedLegalServicesTeam@cma.gov.uk