SDLT Mitigation schemes.......buy cheap, buy twice!

[dave_s13]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Good point.

I'm hopeful that penalties will be waived in this circumstance.

[dave_s13]

Db36 said:

Is the letter that you have done to HMRC to help get the penalty waived? I will speak to them tomorrow and see what they say. They must be getting lots of calls about this.

The letter I got explaining we owed them cash has a section about them wanting to know how this came about.

After speaking to the chap that sent the letter he seemed keen for me to write in to explain everything from my side, with supporting evidence. Part of this includes asking them to waive any penalties.

It looks like the penalty is a fixed £200 + 3% apr on the amount owed. It's not a huge amount but still a kick in the nuts.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/return/deadlines.htm#2

I would suggest you get your paperwork and facts straight then ring the number on your letter, explain what happened and then see what they say.

ps..I'm turning the laptop off and going to watch Game of Thrones + massive glass of wine to mitigate the pain, might not reply back tonight......all the best.

Edited by dave_s13 on Wednesday 7th May 20:56

[dave_s13]

Indeed, your circumstances sound entirely different to mine.

I'm still waiting for hmrc to reply to my letter detailing my case and to clarify exactly what we owe. Then I can try to claim this back from the firm's pi insurance or sra scheme.

[dave_s13]

robulation said:

Just so you know, I had paid my solicitors the full amount of SDLT. It's just they never paid it, and then they got struck off the list and closed down.
That's where the differences end though really. The process is still fundamentally the same.

I'm in the process of building a claim so that the SRA can compensate me. But I would be interested to know how you get on too, so I will keep checking back!

Cheers,
Robulation

Yeah, I suppose there are some fundamental similarities.

I've just had an email from the firms PI insurer to confirm my recent contact, they are suggesting we should pursue our claim via the SRA in the first instance. Also the SRA said I should consider putting in a parralell claim to them also so I'm going to complete one of their application forms shortly.

Also had email confirmation back from HMRC stating I should have a written reply within 10 working days as to their position. Hopefully this will give me a total loss figure I can claim against.

[dave_s13]

Jobbo said:

DaveS13, sorry to get your hopes up by bringing your thread back up but I haven't got anything new for you. I have, however, seen a story today about the chap who ran Abode (aka Arc) simply lying on the SDLT return for his own house purchase: http://www.rollonfriday.com/TheNews/EuropeNews/tab...

Might be a little schadenfreude for you, at least.

LOL cheers

It's still on going. Claim is in with the SRA, taking ages to hear anything back.

Had quite a few people contact me via PM about this atually. Obviously they are googling the issue and PH is coming up top. The power of the interweb!

[dave_s13]

Stamp duty, again.

[dave_s13]

The Moose said:

dave_s13 said:

Stamp duty, again.

Did they issue a fine as well?

Hmrc have indicated that late payment penalties may be lifted but interest on the balance won't be.

I'm trying to claim an amount from the SRA to cover the unpaid stamp duty + interest... Should find out next week.

[dave_s13]

Hi.

I have literally just posted off a letter of claim and a portfolio of evidence to the insurers solicitors.

I'm on my phone so hard to write in great detail. If you Pm me I'm happy to tell you what I know so far (not much). I'll update this thread later as well but it won't be for a day or two. Busy tonight and tomorrow.

Oh and if I'm successful (I have a feeling I won't be!) then I'm happy to forward my letter of claim to anyone that wants it.

Edited by dave_s13 on Friday 19th September 17:06

[dave_s13]

blues for uk said:

http://www.elsstampduty.co.uk/arc-solicitors.html

does anyone have an opinion on the above?

our position is we bought our house in 2010, paid over the full amount of stamp duty to arc, but today we got a HMRC request for 10k unpaid stamp duty saying that arc never paid over our money.

ive contacted stephensons (useless), ive got a SRA complaint to do (which i read here is also useless), ive looked around this site and other forums for ideas, but it all seems to the outcome is pay hmrc plus interest.

it seems we have been duped by arc and have to pay the stamp duty all over again. since solicitors cant be relied upon to pass on our money to hmrc, it would have been better to have paid hmrc directly back in 2010.

dave - you mention you have done a claim to arcs insurers - how did you get on?

please provide details of arcs insurers?

Edited by blues for uk on Wednesday 22 October 15:56

Edited by blues for uk on Wednesday 22 October 15:57

Hi,

10k!! by christ that's a bitter pill to swallow. Given the amounts involved in your case I may be inclined to get some professional help maybe? In your case if you did not enter into any mitigation scheme but just paid SDLT in the usual way then the SRA may be successful for you as they have misappropriated your funds.

You are correct though. You have no choice but to pay back HMRC. Once the principal amount is cleared they will then back date the interest and add on latre payment charges and send a separate bill. HMRC have indicated to me in writing that the late payment fee may be waived, not the interest though. If you contact HMRC and get your SDLT payment code you can log in and pay it off piecemeal, that's what I'm doings at just 1-200 per month. I was told (unofficially) that if they can see the debt is being paid off then they will generally leave you alone.

At the moment I'm at the stage of having submitted my letter of claim to the PI insurer, they have acknowledged receipt and I should get a response within 12 weeks or before 13th Jan in my case.

The SRA responded to my claim thus (paraphrased):-

SRA said:

There is not enough evidence that the firm were aware of the illegality of the scheme they were offering to its clients for us to justify a grant. When the firm told you that the scheme was legal and presented a low risk, they may have, at the time believed that that was the case, this would therefore fall under poor advice and/or professional negligence on their part for failing to research the scheme before offering it to you. The Compensation Fund cannot authorise a grant in relation to bad advice and/or negligence, however you may be able to refer your claim to the firms professional indemnity insurers. The details are XL Insurance Company Plc of 70 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0XL. The policy number quoted is IL12ACM1 and the claims contact is Mr Matthew Chesney, he can be contacted via email at [e-mail] or telephone on 0207 933 7000.

Although the insurer is detailed as XL insurance as per the SRA response I've ended up dealing with the following

Laura Mellstrom - (senior associate)
Paul Hilton - (Paralegal)

If you have a look at their website you should be able to find contact emails for them (not sure I should post them publicly?? - there is a process to go throiugh to get that info, according to the SRA).
http://www.kennedys-law.com/people/

Like I said before, IF I manage to successfully claim for my losses then I'd be happy to share my letter of claim with whoever wants it. The basis of my claim is that Arc Property solicitors should not operate without knowledge of the law, passing that responsibility onto a lay punter is essentially negligent.

Kennedys also pointed me in the direction of this guidance
http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/c...

You can skip the first bit (B1) as the firm no longer exists. I just drafted and sent a letter of claim + evidence to the insurers firm.

Good luck!

Edited by dave_s13 on Wednesday 22 October 20:22

[dave_s13]

Sara123bear said:

Hi
Thanks for your reply
I have sent you PM not sure if you have got it, this is my 1st time on here!

Sorry, I' didn't see any PMs???

If you still need some more info or have anything to add yourself please post on here, I can PM you if needed.

[dave_s13]

Interesting, thanks.

[dave_s13]

ShortShift811 said:

blues for uk said:

Emma

Abode's professional indemnity insurers (Dave has posted the contact details). On the latter we have been told Abode was inadequately insured.

Out of interest, who told you Abode were inadequately insured and did they give any details on how / why?

I work in a related area so might be able to help. Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer.

Hi... If you know anything that might help please post it up. Anything that may benefit should be made public knowledge really.

I wonder if her off the weakest link would be interested?

[dave_s13]

Thanks for that.

I'm at the stage now where I've submitted a letter of claim to the insurer on the grounds of professional negligence.

They have acknowledged this and have stated I will have a decision but the end of December. Watch this space.

[dave_s13]

ShortShift811 said:

...
ETA - good to see Kennedy's are handling things. As far as I know they're a reputable, experienced firm in such matters.

Edited by ShortShift811 on Wednesday 26th November 09:57

Your input is appreciated given your experience, thank you.

With regard to Kennedy's. All they offered me was the option of them writing to HMRC on my behalf asking them to waive the outstanding SDLT given the circumstances. There was no guarantee this would work and it would cost me £500 to try.

Even I know that HMRC wouldn't entertain waiving the outstanding amount so what Kennedy's are doing trying to flog a dead horse at my expense is questionable at best.

[dave_s13]

Ultimately any legal advice you get will cost a fair amount and only you can judge if that is a risk worth taking in proportion to your incurred losses.

In my case I'm relatively lucky in that we don't stand to lose a life changing amount like some of the sums mentioned on here, which must be devastating. My case is now in the hands of XL and I've already put more work and effort into it than I'd ever wanted to so I'm just going to take what comes, chalk it down to experience and hope karma bum rapes the abode directors
☺

[dave_s13]

Contacts at Kennedys I used were:-

Laura Mellstrom [[e-mail]]
Hilton, Paul [[e-mail]]

Still not heard anything back from them following submission of my claim:-

Kennedys said:

Thank you for your email. I can confirm that your letter of claim with enclosed documents was received here on 22 September 2014. My apologies for omitting to acknowledge receipt earlier.

I can confirm that your claim is under review and we will endeavour to revert to you within the three month protocol period, which will expire on 13 January 2015.

Are you able to provide any of the other emails which you received from Abode/Arc? In particular, I would expect that they will at some point have sent you a pack of documents for signature including the contract, SDLT form, transfer and possibly a Supplemental Deed. Do you have these attachments? If not, can you let me know why you no longer have them?


Kind regards

Laura Mellstrom

Senior Associate for Kennedys

[dave_s13]

When I enquired as to how to proceed I got the following reponse from Paul at Kennedys

Kennedys said:

I attach below a link to the Pre Action Protocol which relates to Professional Negligence disputes. This should provide fairly comprehensive guidance to the steps to take going forward.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/c...


Kind regards

Paul

Essentially you have to submit a letter of claim to them which outlines the chronology of events plus evidence and how much you think you are owed. They should then conform receipt and there is a 3 month (I think) time limit for them to reply. I should get notice in a few weeks so we'll see. I'm not confident I'll get anything back though!

Edited by dave_s13 on Thursday 18th December 18:11

[dave_s13]

Devon Heaven said:

Thanks Dave. What makes you lack confidence in a positive outcome?

Maybe a class action suit with a solicitor on a 'no win- no fee' basis is the way to go? It would mean a whole group of us getting together.....

If unsuccessful then I'd be up for exploring that avenue.

The response I got from the sra makes me feel dubious about success. I suspect the insurers may follow the same tack.

Just have to wait and see yet though.

[dave_s13]

Not yet, although they have been communicating to me via my work email and I'm not back until tuesday.

I could well have a response in my works inbox but I'm not opening it at home as I don't want to ruin what's left of my christmas break

[dave_s13]

Minor update, not a lot to report though.

Kennedys said:

We have reported to XL on the circumstances of your claim, but we do not yet have instructions. As you may recall, XL’s position is reserved as to whether Abode’s policy covers these claims, and their enquiries are ongoing.



We hope to be in a position to revert to you shortly, but at the moment we are not able to give you a firm timescale.