Page 56 • The HERALD • 14th September 2023 v THE HERALD - Proud to be part of your communityv ASK A PROFESSIONAL Call our Waterside Team For a free initial meeting on Wills, Probate or Powers of Attorney Jasper Vincent Solicitors Unit 1 Chevron Business Park Lime Kiln Lane Holbury Southampton SO45 2QL Tel: 023 8089 0919 e: waterside@jaspervincent.com www.jaspervincent.com Out of hours appointments are available on request Sanders Design S E R V I C E S L T D BUILDING PLANS AND DETAILED DRAWING SERVICE Complete professional service for extensions, conversions, new houses and commercial projects • Computer Aided Design Drawings • Free Initial Visit and Quotation 95 Cedar Road, Hythe, Southampton SO45 3PX Tel: 023 8020 7195 Email: info@sandersdesignservices.co.uk Web: www.sandersdesignservices.co.uk Solicitors Welcome the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) Review by Jasper Vincent Solicitors As a heavily regulated profession, Solicitors have welcomed news of the CMA’s new review of unregulated legal services and the risks they can pose to clients. Will writing, xed fee divorces and pre-paid probates are particularly under the spotlight, as these services can be provided by unregulated businesses without reference to solicitors. At Jasper Vincent Solicitors we are proud of the high standards held by our teams in the Private Client and Family Law departments. We are able to provide the services of quali ed solicitors who are members of various further accrediting bodies including ‘Resolution’ (Family Law), ‘ e Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners’ (STEP) and ‘Solicitors for the Elderly’ (SFE). e CMA has said that while it is important consumers should have access to a wide range of di erent legal providers, it is still important that they should be protected from unquali ed, unregulated and uninsured advisors and rms. In response to this, the Law Society President Lubna Shuja has stated: “We would encourage consumers to use a solicitors firm as they are then receiving advice and support from a specialist legal professional who is regulated and insured”. In their initial research, the CMA has raised concerns that if an unregulated company ceases to operate, there is a risk that the customers’ money and important documents such as Wills may be lost. ey also identi ed three signi cant areas of concern when using unregulated advisers: • Consumers can be misled by unregulated rms’ advertising, o ering low initial fees but not re ecting the real nal costs; • Potentially unfair contract terms in their retainers such as exclusions of liability and failure to provide cancellation rights; and • Unregulated rms ‘pressure selling’ and coercing vulnerable customers. Our advice to all clients is that before you commit to legal work with any provider, you should check the regulator of the rm and the accreditations of the advisor you are going to be putting your Trust in. ese matters have been described by the CMA as ‘life changing decisions’, so why race to the bottom if you want the highest standards?
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