When is a Solicitor not a Solicitor?

We have been inundated with enquiries from communities and administrators who have received an undated letter from Robson Scott sent on behalf of Michael Reeves, the liquidator appointed by Stephen Paul Kettlewell and Kettlewell Solutions Ltd ("KSL").

As you will recall from our previous reports Mr. Kettlewell refused to allow the vast majority of communities' claims which meant that they were not allowed to vote for their own chosen liquidator.

Instead Mr Reeves, Mr Kettlewell's choice of liquidator was appointed.

Mr Kettlewell's chosen liquidator's letter, sent on behalf of Mr Reeves states as follows:-

"I write to advise you on Wednesday, 11 September 2013, [that Kettlewell Solutions Ltd] was placed into liquidation, with Michael Reeves of this firm appointed as liquidator.

Please note that your contract with [KSL] remains in force, and it is our intention to appoint a specialist firm to continue with collecting debts on your behalf under the terms of contract you have previously agreed.

Should you wish to terminate the contract you are likely to be liable to pay an abortive charge to the Company as set out in the terms and conditions on the Company's website, along with any other fees that may have accrued.

We are in the process of reconciling the position on each account, and are aiming to revert to you within the next 21 days with an update statement of account."

We make the following observations about this letter:-

1. Many of the communities for whom we now act, never signed any terms of business with KSL.

2. KSL did publish a set of terms of business on their website but it is difficult to see how these were agreed to by the community. We have asked Mr Reeves to explain this to us, but to date no explanation has been forthcoming.

3. KSL nor its directors were practising solicitors and they did not hold a valid practising certificate as issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and they were not in our view therefore permitted in law to issue legal proceedings in a court of law. Any contract that existed between KSL and a community offering to issue court proceedings was accordingly in our view void for illegality.

We say this especially as only a solicitor with a practising certificate, who has entered into a Damages-Based Agreement (post 1 April 2013) can charge a percentage fee of the debt. The director, Mr Kettlewell, informed us at the meeting of creditors on 11^thSeptember 2013 that this was part of KSL's fee structure, even though the terms of business that we have seen do not reflect the latter.

4. In relation to Mr Reeves suggestion that the community will be liable to pay "an abortive charge to the Company" is in our view wrong. This would be tantamount to a penalty clause and such clauses are unlikely to be upheld by a court under English law.

Appealing the Liquidation

We have been approached by communities who are interested in contributing to a fund to pay for barristers and solicitors fees, so that the matter can be fully investigated with a view to investigating the outcome of the creditor's meeting.

Our recommendation is that you contact Charlie Noakes of this office today with the names of the debtors whom KSL was pursuing on your behalf.

If you would like to talk to us about funding an investigation into the outcome of the meeting of creditors, please contact our Will Searle.

Welbeck Law LLP is a firm of Solicitors authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Dear All,

I'm delighted to announce that I have been asked by Urbytus to speak at the Presidents Club on the 16th and 17th of September 2013.

The talk will concentrate mostly on the burning topic of unpaid community fees, and I hope to give some free practical advice as to what steps can be taken to keep the debts under control.

Any presidents or committee members wishing to attend should log onto www.urbytus.es and download the registration form.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Boyle.

Solicitor and Partner at Welbeck Law LLP

Kettlewell Solutions Ltd ("KSL")

Over the last year we have succeeded in recovering thousands of euros for our community clients. 

As a result of our success we were contacted by one of our clients in relation to the above company (KSL) and had been instructed to recover money which had been collected by the Company, but which allegedly had not been passed back to our community client. 

You may be aware that we issued a Winding Up petition against the above company, a debt collection entity, on the basis of money our community client claimed was due which KSL had refused or failed to have paid. 

We have since been contacted by another creditor of KSL which has informed us that the company, of its own volition, has given notice that it intends to enter into a ‘creditor voluntary liquidation.’

A meeting of creditors, known as a ‘section 98 meeting’ has been scheduled for 30 August 2013. The Notice under the Insolvency Act 1986 was signed by director Stephen Paul Kettlewell.

If you are owed money by Kettlewell Solutions Limited please do not hesitate to contact us on 0044 (0) 207 467 3999 as soon as possible as we may be able to assist you and represent your interest as a creditor on 30 August 2013. 

I am a solicitor of the Supreme Court in England and Wales and one of the areas in which I specialise, is insolvency law.

I act for liquidators and my work regularly involves investigating the reason for a company's failure. The investigation also revolves around tracing missing company monies and then bringing claims against the former directors where they have misappropriated funds.

I grew up in Spain and have always loved the life style on the Iberian Peninsula and over the years I have met several Spanish abogados. I was asked by a couple of abogados last year if I could help collect in community fees and over the last year our community fee debt collection service has mushroomed and we now act for communities up and down the coast.

Notwithstanding my experience of dealing with several colourful directors, I was surprised when I was approached to act for a community (and several since) who had previously used the 'services' of a debt collection firm based in the North of England.

Because of client confidentiality and our continuing investigations we cannot divulge the details of our community clients nor the specific details and particulars of the complaints made.

I can however list the nature of the complaints which are as follows:-

• a failure to fully account for debts collected;
• a failure to account for court fees paid by the community;
• wrongfully misleading clients into believing that monies had been collected when no such collections had taken place;
• informing clients that monies collected were being sent by electronic transfer but no such funds materialising;
• informing clients that hearings were due to take place even though no actual court application had been issued.
• failing to turn up to a hearing or arranging for representation.

As one might expect the above actions have caused a great deal of stress to the communities involved not least because thay have been cash starved of community payments and hence the reason for using the debt collector concerned in the first place.

My firm is representing several communities with a view to commencing legal proceedings. If you or a community has suffered losses from using a debt collection firm in England, please contact me or one of my colleagues in confidence. Email us at info@welbecklawllp.co.uk or call 952 468967 or 0044 (0) 207 467 3999

COMMUNITY FEES-WHAT SHOULD A COMMUNITY EXPECT FROM THEIR ADMINISITRADOR? 

I have seem some postings on this and other sites querying how members of the public can be sure you are dealing with a solicitor and not an imposter or someone who was a solicitor or who may have been struck off or has decided to no longer practise.