Hi East72,

Rossendales look fairly legit as a company.

Would you be able to post the exact details of what they're claiming? I'd be very surprised if it related to legal aid. It sounds a bit like a 'civil recovery' case (see hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/civil-recovery/ for more info)

Did your conviction involve theft/money or a workplace in particular? That might be a key driver for 'civil recovery'.

I have some personal experience of this - I was convicted of theft from employer, and was pursued by the employer for their costs of investigation - so if it's a similar lines, I might be able to offer some advice.

First things first though, if you can post what they've written to you (personal details removed) that will help.

Cheers.

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Hi east72,

I don't really know much about this I'm afraid. On a personal side, my case was before 2009, and legal aid queries is not something we really deal with through our Helpline.

It seems like the best people to shine some light on this would be your solicitors? They should be able to advise on what type of legal aid you were granted, and therefore where you stand. It would certainly be concerning to think that somebody could be in your position being told you owe money, yet having known nothing about this before that point?

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link - did your solicitors give you any advice in terms of the basis on which they were helping you?

East72 - have you spoken to your solicitors?

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I guess I meant both. I would have hoped that your solicitors would have been able to tell you on what basis they provided their initial representation (which I assume is where this cost has come from?). From what I've learnt since first hearing about this, it's quite common for individuals to have legal aid but with a contribution from them if they're found guilty (because of their earnings/property etc).

For me, the issue is whether, when people get legal aid, if it's made clear the basis of their contribution.

That's why I'd hope anybody who finds themselves in this kind of situation, would be able to go back to their solicitors to get their advice?

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That's a useful link east72, although it worries me what you've been told by your solicitor. I may be misunderstanding this, but she is a criminal solicitor who was acting for you at the time that you were given that order by the court (which directly relates to the service that she's provided you with), so although you can make a complaint about the bailiff, I'd also thought you might want to make a complaint about your original solicitor if this is the first you've heard of it.

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Hi East,

Yes first I've heard of it... It's madness, Just wording up my letter to them now...

I don't know about E72's situation but I'm just waiting for the LAA to reply to me...

In brief I sent a huge stack of evidence to the LLA explaining my finances (or lack of them I should say), and a copy of it along with a 1000 word complaint to Rossendales about there handling of the situation... I'll let you know more once I hear anything!

Hi Christopher,

In respect to my old case or the situation now? They represented me from start to finish and I claimed legal aid through them... They are being helpful but not representing me against rossendales or the LAA etc.

I can't believe there's already a post about these cowboys!

Last week I received a letter from rossendales claiming I owed them £4k and they had placed a charges order against my property... My court case was five years ago!!

After a very unpleasant phone call they claimed I had over £100k equity in my property... I informed them firstly I didn't even own the property anymore and secondly when I did own it I had a mortgage owing more than the value of the property!

Contacted legal aid agency and after a lot of being transfered between departments got through to the criminal team they told me there system showed I had an outstanding mortgage of £0.00... completely false!

LAA can't provide am original copy of my legal aid application and my solicitors don't have a copy... I'm in the process of sending them evidence to prove I had no equity at the time I was granted legal aid, I have no idea why it's taken five years for them to track me down, rossendales seem like a right outfit!

Well looks like this just won't go away...

A few weeks ago I got another letter from Rossendales, no longer demanding thousands but £500, I figured here we go again so I sent a nice little letter back to the LAA asking them if they could sort it out like they said they had before... Well today I get a snotty response saying I'm liable for the costs Rossendales incured basically chasing a debt I didn't owe because the LAA won't admit they made a mistake.

Needless to say huge complaint going out in post Monday morning!


Some days you think you've moved on.. They something comes and drags you back down.