Rowe Radcliffe Solicitors - Coulsdon

John P.

Have used Rowe Radcliffe twice in the last eighteen months. One for the sale of my late mother in laws house and then for sale of our own house and purchase of a new property. Deborah Burrows dealt with all matters in a very professional and friendly manner. We were kept informed at all stages and she was never too busy to talk to us or if not available she would call back at the earliest opportunity. I would recommend this solicitors. Thank you for all your hard work.

Paul A.

Is anyone else finding it impossible to communicate with Elizabeth Radcliffe? Her firm closed down and she failed to inform myself as well as several other people I know. She then went to work for another firm but is no longer there. She also seems to have changed her mobile number. If anyone else needs to contact her, her home address is on companies house website for a directorship she holds - just search her name on companies house.

I don’t give reviews but this is an exception.
Elizabeth Radcliffe is the most inept solicitor I’ve ever had the misfortune to come across. I would go further to say that she’s the most incompetent person in any field of business I’ve had any dealings with.
She ignores communication, whether by email, text or post. She doesn’t take phone calls and if you do manage to speak to her she comes up with feeble excuses.
She has been overseeing the estate of my late aunt but has dragged things out over a ridiculously long period of time. She even misinterpreted a will that she herself drafted until I pointed out her mistake.
I’m unsure if she’s just bungling, obstructive and useless or if there’s more at play, but either way this is a solicitor that should be struck off the Law Society’s register. This morning I’ve lodged a formal complaint with regulators.

Nathasha B.

Both myself and my parents have used Deborah Burrows at Rowe Radcliffe for conveyancing recently (both sale and purchase) and I can fully recommend her. Throughout the whole process she was very responsive and quick to deal with any queries. She kept us fully informed and was extremely helpful. Would definitely use her again and don't hesitate to recommend her

Els

If I could give 0 stars i would... how this place is still in business and allowed to practice is beyond me. I never write online reviews but I feel like people need to be warned... Elizabeth has been next to useless throughout the whole process of My partner trying to get the money owed to him from an inheritance. Impossible to get hold of or get any answers back. 6 months later than promised he has managed to get the money from her but it has taken a lot of pestering and wasted hours on the phone and it still isn’t the correct amount . We thought for a while that he just wasn’t going to see the money at all. I would NOT recommend this business to anyone

Pete L.

Should be zero stars - avoid at all costs.

Shockingly unprofessional behaviour and a complete lack of communication or feedback. There is no excuse as to why the estate of my grandmother is still not settled 3 years after she passed away.

I have reported to the ombudsman and hope they can encourage some action otherwise I will be looking for another solicitor to take them to court for the money they still havent released.

Alice G.

Impossible to get through to Mrs Radcliffe, to the point of sure she is ignoring calls from certain numbers.
Am still awaiting a response from her from almost 2 years ago.
A will from 4 years ago that i am a benefactor of STILL hasn't been resolved, no information given and a very poor, rude attitude at all times.
I cannot express how awful and painful this experience has been when i just want to close that chapter of my life.

Alex M.

Good Morning Elizabeth,

I am sorry to be writing to inform you that I have engaged the services of an independent solicitor to help me seek some clarity as I am currently looking to lodge a complaint on your firms handling of an estate to the Legal Ombudsman. I am not happy on a number of levels in your handling of this estate and we are seeking to address and seek some level of compensation on the following issues as per below:

• Length of time you have taken to inform us of the inheritance. We were first informed we were residual beneficiaries was on 8th August 20, approximately a year and a half after my Aunt’s Death.
• Lack of communication throughout the process. In the more than two years of managing this estate you have provided only one letter of communication dated the 8th August 20. Every other communication from you have only been provided after we have had to ring/email you for an update – which undoubtedly you will be charging for. You should not be dragging out settling of an estate in order to increase your % of fees.
• Despite not having the estate fully finalised you have made a small payment of funds to residual beneficiaries - but have not provided an Itemised bill of your Work In Progress (WIP) or full details of payment, you did not provide us with a record of payment/receipt.

Before we lodge the complaint, I have been asked to source and provide:

• An itemised bill of your Work In Progress. Our independent solicitor will be going through this to insure that everything is reflective of the work you have conducted and fees have not been overestimated. So that we have an accurate estimation on what should be expected from the Legal Ombudsman.
• I would also like to be informed of who the fee earner is? So we can confirm that the hourly rates are reflective.
• What are your fees and charges / hourly rates for your organisation?
• You have had this estate for over two years and I am therefore keen to know what the estimated % of the estate your fees will amount to.
• Can you show me where you publicly display your fees and charges.

Obviously, as we are now in a position where we are looking to lodge complaint, we need to ensure that your work providing this information is not charged on to the estate. The delay on this estate is something that has been caused at your end and not ours. For your information, I have also left a review on Google where you currently have a very weak score of 2.2.

I look forwards to your response in due course.

Alex Medcalf

Ian C.

This firm is distributing funds from an estate of my mothers aunt. She is to receive a payment 3 months ago, despite repeated promises of payment nothing has been forthcoming. Updates and replies have been hard to get, at this point I’m starting to suspect an inability for them to pay (financial issues with this firm) or outright theft? No other explanations have been given and she had not received any of the funds due to her. Based on our experience I would investigate this firm in depth before dealing with them!