Third party debit order

I have used services of a solicitor with respect to divorce proceedings, ending with a final hearing in Jan 2012. My last correspondence with them was in Sept 2012. I received a letter 3 weeks later saying a final invoice would be forwarded. I received nothing until a summons was issued in March 2013. Being unable to pay, I filled in the form and pay an amount each month. I assumed that was the end of that. I heard nothing else.
In March 2014, I went to my bank to update a savings account, there had been a transfer of over £3500 without my knowledge. After enquiries made with the savings manager and contacting the banks legal team, they confirmed a third party debit order had been issued. The monies were placed in a sundry account in Nov 2013 and a court hearing scheduled for Dec 2013. Absolutely no correspondence was sent to me regarding this matter. Obviously, not knowing what was going on, the hearing had taken place and monies were transferred to solicitor, also incurring court costs and administration fees. Is there anything I can do, I have written to court managers and solicitors in the past asking for explanations but have had no replies, Thankyou for reading.

The court insists that claimants are served with relevant court documentation and will refuse applications if it is not clear that the documentation has been received by the defendant.

In your case it would seem that the solicitor and the court believe that you are in receipt of all documentation that has been sent to you and you have failed to respond to it.

If this is the case there are two explanations (a) the address that is held for you is incorrect or, (b) your post is somehow going missing or is being intercepted.

Unfortunately in circumstances like this the onus will be on you to prove that you have not received the relevant documentation. Time is of the essence and you can apply to set aside the third party debtor order on the grounds of ineffective service. Beyond this comment though you should seek legal advice on the procedure as there is a risk of an adverse costs order against you if your application were to fail.

The other thing to bear in mind is that if the money is actually owed to your solicitor and you have not taken steps to pay this, the application to set aside might be rejected in any event. For instance, you completed a form offering monthly payments but did you actually make those payments? If not, what steps did you take etc..

Charles

Many thanks for your reply, that''s a great help.I feel I have been scammed by 3 solicitors in the past in a long drawn out 5yr divorce. Trying to find out more on this latest one, my daughter searched the net and came across lots of sites headed ''Ways in which solicitors rip you off''.
Regards

If you have been scammed you can raise issues with the Legal Ombudsman although serious matter can be dealt with by the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority).

Most complaints about solicitors are in relation to the amount charged. Although the complaints arise due to the complexity and variety of charging mechanisms, the client should understand what they are likely to be charged. The explanation of these mechanisms is not always straightforward and a lot of solicitors fall down in these explanations.

A decent guide is here: thejusticegap.com/2012/03/10-questions-t...-lawyer-about-costs/

Charles