Why did the FCA give its blessing to THIS law firm?
P.W. writes: On April 6, my wife and I paid £2,220 to Town & Country Law Ltd of Lincoln for legal documents including wills and a trust. On April 11, we cancelled the agreement within the cooling-off period allowed, and have the company’s acknowledgement. Though we have been assured someone would contact us about a refund, we have had no word from the company.
TOWN & Country Law is an unusual company. Four of its former directors are awaiting trial on fraud-related charges, some of which involve the company itself, and its sole remaining director has a prison record of his own. Yet – surprise, surprise – Town & Country Law is fully authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority without a blemish on its record.
The company is licensed by the FCA as a credit broker, but its listing on the FCA’s public register gives it a seal of approval with a wider impact. It advertises: ‘Town & Country Law are specialists in planning your future. We offer a range of services including wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney and funeral plans.’
It has offices in Lincoln, Stamford, Derby and Leeds, and offers to meet prospective clients in their own home. Company records show the business is run by its sole director James Scotney. In 2010, the then 33-year-old was a semi-professional pool player when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court and admitted to dealing in Class A drugs. In a raid on his home, police found bags of cocaine with a set of digital scales. Evidence was given that he made more than £10,000 selling drugs and he was jailed for 15 months. Several years later, Scotney was back in court when he pleaded guilty to failing to provide information about who was driving a car at the time of an offence.
He was fined £550 and given six points on his driving licence.
Against this background, it is odd the FCA has given Scotney and his company its blessing. And it gets odder.
The FCA’s online register tells the firm’s clients that if they need to make a complaint, they should email ‘Robynne’ at Town & Country Law.
This is Robynne Casswell, one of the former directors of the company, who is charged with being ‘knowingly a party’ to fraudulent activity at the business between 2014 and late 2016. Because she and the other accused are quite rightly entitled to a fair trial when this takes place next year, The Mail on Sunday is limited in what it can report about the allegations.
So, back to the question of the £2,220 fee you paid to a salesman who came to your home. After he left, you and your wife had second thoughts. You decided the draft legal documents on offer were simply too expensive, and they may not have achieved what you wanted, so you cancelled the deal.
I asked Scotney what had happened to your refund.
To give him his due, he immediately looked into the delay, telling me ‘it should never have happened’. The staff member involved was working from home, he explained, and she had tried to call you but got no answer. He has refunded your £2,220 and added a further £280 to make up for not repaying you earlier.
I told Scotney I was aware of his prison record and the driving conviction. He replied: ‘These are a source of deep regret to me.’ At the time he was ‘a different person’ he said, adding: ‘We are regulated by the FCA for any financial services, and I am the approved person.’
And, according to Scotney, Casswell, the complaints contact, no longer has any role at Town & Country Law, despite what the FCA says.