Mr F’s father’s will appointed the directors of the service provider to be the executors of the estate. Mr F, a residuary beneficiary, complained, around six months after his father’s death, about delays in the ongoing estate administration.
He felt that the service provider had failed to keep him informed or to reply to his requests for updates, leaving him feeling stressed at what was already a difficult time.
The complaints Mr F raised to us fell into two categories:
The first complaint was regarding a lack of progress in the estate, with concern stemming from the service provider having already warned him about delays in obtaining probate, and this seemingly not yet having been done.
He also had concerns about a lack of updates and responses to his requests for information on the work the executors were doing.
The service provider responded to the complaint, accepting that there had been poor communication from an individual who had since left the firm. Beyond that explanation and an assurance that communication would improve, the service provided did not offer a remedy.
The complaint was reviewed on receipt and was passed to the early resolution team to attempt a guided negotiation. This was because we could see that the service provider had accepted there had been some delays and poor communication, when the first person handling the administration work had been involved.
The service provider recognised a failing in its service, and we shared Mr F’s view that the action proposed wasn’t sufficient to resolve the complaint. Our Early Resolution Team discussed with the service provider that the impact described by Mr F in his complaint would warrant compensation at the top of our Modest category for emotional effects, which would be £250. Both parties accepted our advice.
As the complaint was resolved by the Early Resolution Team through our guided negotiation procedure, no case fee was payable.
