How detailed should a solicitor tax invoice be?

Question

I have received a UK tax invoice from my solicitor regarding the closure of the estate of a family member. The invoice lists 13 items of work that I have been charged for, followed by the total money due at the end. But the only figure is the final one: I don't know how they came up with it, because I don't know how they charged for the individual items.

Is this normal? Can I request a more detailed breakdown of the costs, and if so, will I be charged even more for the preparation of this breakdown?

Answer 1

Solicitors (and builders) are notorious for submitting obscure bills with minimal information to avoid you spotting the places where you have been over-charged ...

As you suspected, should you demand a more detailed bill, they will, no doubt, add the cost of preparing the bill to the final total (despite that fact that EVEY phone call, letter and sheet of paper photocopied will have been recorded in their computer and all they have to do is generate a print out) ...

If the total seems excessive, you can apply (to the Law Society ??) to have the charges 'taxed' = a technical term meaning 'checked' ... however this will p*ss them off and you can be sure that any further work you expect them to do will not be 'top priority' ...

Demanding details can be a waste of time - if they charged you (say) £100 for photo-copying, and you think that's excessive (and they are allowed to charge say 50p a sheet), when you demand details, all you will get back is "Photocopy 200 sheets at 50p ea. = £100" ... and demands for even further details will simple result in a long list of the type:

1 June, 2 phone calls, 45 minutes, photocopy 5 sheets

3 June, 3 letters, photocopy 7 sheets

10 June, photocopy 2 sheets, 1 letter, 1 phone call 15 minutes etc etc

Answer 2

That is very common practise. You can ask for a further breakdown but there is little point as it will never change the total. It will cost them quite a lot to put it together but they won't pass on the cost to you.

Most solicitors charge per hour, say £200 with other flat-fees for letters received and written etc. The fee you have been charged will already have been discounted as most are. Contrary to belief, professional services don't run every minute by computer - there is no such thing as pressing a button and coming up with a list of every phone call, letter etc. A timesheet is not that detailed.