The Society of Will Writers Reviews 3

Be very careful. Our file was transferred to Dan Attfield at The Will and Trust Company without our knowledge when David Blakesley of Phoenix Wills retired and no one bothered to tell us. It took a lot of effort and stress to track down what had happened to our papers and in particular our house deeds when we were about to sell our home. The Society of Will Writers eventually confirmed that the public has no protection in connection with their personal data being passed on and there is no obligation for any new company to continue service. Dan Attfield gave us no tailored guidance or advice with amended wills. He asked for additional funds in connection with our LPAs; those that David Blakesley had finalised were invalid due to his incompetence. The whole debacle turned out to be much more expensive than engaging a proper solicitor. If you use a will writing company you do so entirely at your own risk. Please note that you need absolutely no legal qualification or even experience to become a will writer (just Google it). Investigation through a complaints’ procedure with the Society of Will Writers reveals a lot of complicated and unfathomable loopholes ensuring that there is no penalty for their members and no best standard of practice. Good luck if you continue with a will writing service.

Here's a warning to all Will Writers and Estate Planners thinking about joining this Society. They are not averse to excluding you if they receive a complaint and they are not averse to telling you that they have written to you when they have not. They also disclose details to clients which seem libellous.

Their much vaunted PI (professional indemnity insurance) arrangement is also incredibly more expensive than is available elsewhere, cheaper, better cover is easily found on comparison websites, so where is the excess of premiums going I wonder (let me guess....)

So they're not the knights in shining armour they'd have you believe, in this reviewer's experience ) also see the client facing previous review, it's appalling!!)

I'd think long and hard about joining. But College of Willwriters, their education arm,, is excellent

This company could improve by doing what it says on its publicity and offer protection to the consumer.
I have numerous and serious complaints against a company who are handling my father’s probate, SWWTrust Corporation, and I was referred by the Legal Ombudsman to the Society of Will Writers for help, so I used their online form. This was ignored so I rang them up. Mr Belcher, the Director, would ring me back I was told. He didn’t. I rang back a few days later. He was on holiday. I was informed by the office staff that I should ‘revert’ to SWW Trust, ie my case manager who is Chairman and Co-director of the company. I am stuck. Most recently I emailed the office manager of SWWTrust for Mr Belcher’s email address for either company as my emails appear not to be getting through, to no avail - no reply from the office manager on this one since September 7th.
I did a bit of investigation. It emerged that Mr Belcher is also Co-director of SWWTrust Corporation. Their HQs look like they are on the same Lincoln Industrial Estate, a short distance from each other. I can only presume that these two Co-directors have agreed that I will not be given any advice by The Society of Will Writers as they are so closely aligned to SWWTrust Corp.
According to their website, Mr Belcher is very busy promoting The Society of Will Writers with conferences promoting the service they don’t offer.
So how could this company improve? They should discontinue this incestuous and undisclosed business arrangement. It’s plainly bad practice. They could do what they advertise - support clients in this unregulated industry.