Negotiator, many thanks for your advice, it gave me the kick up the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language I needed...
So here's an update, rang the Solicitors office, was told that the solicitor in question is the only one who deals with payments, so I will have to wait for him to phone after his last consultation tomorrow, because he is in consultations until 7pm this evening.
So I suggested to my point of contact, give him this message:
a. This is very urgent, it would be in his best interest to return my call as it is clear to me that they are holding the entire amount of the settlement as a "lien" without my approval against their future costs.
b. I made the point that I did not accept the delay, and that surely there is an accounts department or someone who deals with the processing of payments, it was at this point that I was told only the solicitor knows or deals with the accounts.
C. Also decided to throw in, I did not appreciate the assumption that I won't pay their fees, this is the only reason I can surmise that would be holding onto the entire settlement amount... And to be honest, clarity is not one of their strong points....