Received bill - over 5 yrs late

mf1 said:

I'm lost.

mf

Click to expand...

If you want to pick holes to make holes then I can understand you becoming lost.
I may have the equivalent amount of money in my account -but then again I may not. I have already said that I do not have the balancing statement to show the transfer-how more plainly can I say that ? I will also be contactin the bank. What relevance is the balance in my bank account to recieving an invoice over 5yrs late? This seems bad practice. Equally how can I know whether he still has the money in his account -5 yrs is a long time!

Thanks for all your posts -I was looking for some direction before contacting the sol. Thankfully the amount is only a few thousand (less than 10k)-so I am sure something can be ironed out through a meeting.

"I may have the equivalent amount of money in my account -but then again I may not. I have already said that I do not have the balancing statement to show the transfer-how more plainly can I say that ? "

Ummm.

It seems that you are having a Revenue audit. It seems that you contacted your solicitor for assistance - as you needed paperwork - which you yourself did not have. Because it got lost. In putting the paperwork together, on a transaction which occurred over 5 years, he thinks/says that you appear to owe him money.

Now while I agree that it is not great practice for a solicitor to have let this go for so long, I am just querying why clients should not themselves carry some ( considerable) degree of responsibility for their own financial affairs? It is a business after all.

You may feel that this is all very personal but it is an entirely anonymous Board so no-one has any idea who you are and its just a question of people answering your query trying to work out what actually happened and what the broader picture shows. It is not personal.

mf

There is too much sherlock holmes going on here....

Yes I had an audit for stamp duty-yes I contacted my solicitor to confirm dates and amounts paid. I gave this to the revenue and they asked less questions than I have been asked here!!!!

Had it not been that I contacted my solicitor to check dates and amounts paid, this would never have been invoiced to me. Is it a clients responsibility to be able to remember back over 5yrs ? I dont think it is. I believed I had settled my account with him at the time and at that point so did the solicitor.

Somewhat off topic but its been mentioned by two posters- the audit was instigated following something I reported to the Revenue in 2006.
As a result of info I provided them (on a major tax dodge) they wrote to me and informed me that I owed them tax under the stamp duties consoladation act. I told them I had no problem paying this to them and for them to issue a notice of assesment to me or my solicitor, so I could pay it. Despite sending in the contracts on two occasions, as requested-the notice of assesment was never issued. I was then audited this year for non payment of this unknown amount of tax.
So its not just private businesses that are bad at collecting money-but its ordinary guys like me that have to deal with the mess that ensues. Thankfully in this regard I have all the paperwork between me, my solicitor and the stamping office.

We are forever getting clients asking for accounts years after the event too. Nowadays we always send a balancing account and bill at the end of every transaction, and where there is a potential CGT charge we also send copy contracts and any other invoice ( such as auctioneers etc) that our client might need on closing. It's one of the most common requests. I don't have any problem with copying these things to clients, feel it is all part of the service. It is only annoying when the client or their accountant leaves it to the last minute and rings up in a panic needing it faxed to them immediately! We have to go and get the file out of archives and it takes a bit of time but I take the view that it's better to facilitate people where at all possible. After all repeat custom is very important.

I think that you should get the account first, then speak to your solicitor in person.

As far as I know, 2 years for non commercial by EU law.

Interestingly, I've just received an invoice from an estate agent who was trying to sell a house for me about 15 months ago. I just got a mail saying that while they were reviewing their books, they noticed this outstanding amount for advertising services.
I did receive and paid an invoice for advertising services prior to this, but this is out of the blue.
I've checked my records and have no record of authorising this advertising.
I've a notion that they've mixed me up with someone else (rather than that they're pulling a fast one)....
In any event, I'll be requesting ever scrap of documentation relating to this expense before even considering paying anything. Hugely shoddy performance!!