Consent order question

I've just ordered the site's fixed price Consent Order service for £149

XH and I have come to an agreement about the finances and need it drafting into an order acceptable in court

The 'blurb' about the order says 'We provide a free telephone support line that you can call if you have any questions about the process'. and Free Telephone Support: At any time during the process you can call one of our lawyers, who can also offer legal advice on matters related to your divorce.

I'm not expecting legal advice re the divorce or help to reach a settlement but I was expecting help to turn our simple agreement into a court acceptable document.

Having paid my money I've been sent a letter which states If you require any legal advice with any of the documents forwarded to you or with regard to the agreement reached with your former spouse or the implementation of the same, then this falls outside the remit of the instructions of the Managed Consent Order. We will happily provide answers to any queries you have however this will be charged at our hourly rate of £195 per hour plus VAT. The breakdown of our charges is detailed below:

Telephone calls are charged in 6 minute units at £19.50 per unit;
Our work is charged in 6 minute units at £19.50 per unit;
Letters and emails sent to you and any other person or body we have to correspond with are charged at £19.50 each;
Letters and emails received from you and any other person or body we have to correspond with are charged at £9.75 each;
All the above are plus VAT.


I am now terrified to contact them in case I'm charged £19:50 per contact?

This wasn't what I expected tbh

I'm fairly gutted

In addition to the fees that we charge disbursements may also be incurred. These are costs incurred by us in the progression of your case, for example Counsel’s fees, Court fees, Medical Expert’s fees, and travel expenses. I have outlined in the accompanying correspondence what I believe the likely disbursements will be in your matter and the cost of the same. (They have ???) We will require payment of disbursements on account and we will contact you 7 days in advance of payment being due providing a full explanation of why the disbursement will be raised in order that the same can be paid immediately upon receipt of the invoice.

Minor expenses will usually be incurred without prior reference to you. For other charges such as Counsel’s fees and experts reports we will consult you beforehand and if you wish we will obtain an estimate of the likely charges before going ahead to instruct them. You should also bear in mind that VAT is payable on this firm’s charges as well as some of the disbursements incurred.

I am now terrified to contact this firm in case they start costing me disbursements (whatever that means) without asking me first

I'm so gutted.

I honestly thought we could manage this amicable split ourselves with use of this order.

I don't feel I can use this service despite having paid out and will now have to pay to go and see a solicitor

Sitting here sobbing because it feels such a betrayal

Spiral,

This is Ian from Wikivorce.

I am sorry that you were dissappointed or upset after reading the email from NFLP.

Please, please do not worry.

In short - the Consent Order service for £149 does include the full end to end service.
- emailing you the questionnaire
- drafting the order
- getting the order signed
- sending it to court (£40 fee needs to be paid directly to court)
- sending you the final court approved order

There are no additional charges for emails, phone calls or letters.

I have asked NFLP to change the wording of the letter to make it clearer that unless you specifically retain their services to do additional work - over and above the consent order - then everything is included in the £149 fixed price.


Update:
I have just spoken to Spiral on the phone and cleared up the confusion.

Hello Spiral i did write a long explanation for you and then lost it

Those charges are for work over and above the agreed consent order,

I used this service and was charged £149 and no more and yes i did call them several times with questions, i am sure if you call them they will explain that it is a standard warning of potential costs if it goes pear shaped and if you are both in agreement there is no reason why it will.

I've stopped crying...

Ian did indeed ring and confirm that despite the wording of the letter fixed price means fixed price unless we suddenly no longer have an agreement

Which confirms what Dukey says

It's horrible feeling to be so out of control and at the mercy of the courts and solicitors.
Coming to an amicable agreement seems a miracle and fragile and the last thing I need is the court or solicitors wrecking what we have... I do fear this.... rightly or wrongly.

Hi Spiral

We also used the Consent Order with NFLP for the price of £149 + £40 court costs. We were granted our order in November and could then go forward to Decree Absolute, which was granted at Christmas.

It's a straight forward process and as long as you remain in agreement, as the guys above said - it will cost you absolutely no more.

I actually purchased the managed divorce package + consent order. We paid only the initial price of the package to NFLP plus 3 sets of costs to court (Petition £300; Consent Order £40; Decree Absolute £40). We're done.

I hope it goes as (relatively) smoothly for you.

Let us know how you get on?

Shezi