News about the Institute and other issues relating to Willwriting.
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+Normal service resumes at Institute 28/02/2011Normal service has resumed at the Institute following the restoration of power supplies over the weekend.
We are working through the backlog of telephone messages that were left during our enforced absence following a power failure at our Halesowen head office.
We would like to thank members, potential members and members of the public for bearing with us during this difficult time.
However it appears that we have lost any inbound emails sent to us between 12 noon on Monday 21st February and 10.00am on Monday 28th February.
If you contacted us by email during this time, please re send your email, where it will receive our prompt attention.
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+Big four banks forced to review their will-writing services 28/02/2011
Barclays Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS Group have all voluntarily agreed to review and, where necessary, improve the way they sell will-writing and executor services following discussions with the OFT.
The OFT approached the four banks during 2010 as part of a wider effort to improve the will-writing market for customers and their beneficiaries, following concerns that some consumers were appointing professional executors without fully understanding the likely costs and the alternative options.
The four banks have agreed to meet three key principles, to ensure customers are able to make well-informed decisions:
- Consumers making a will should not be led to believe that appointing a professional executor is essential or the norm.
- Consumers should not be encouraged to appoint a professional executor unless it is clearly in their best interests.
- Providers should be satisfied, before the will is drafted, that the consumer has the information necessary to make an informed choice. The consumer should understand the options around executor appointments and be aware of the likely basis of charging for the professional executor service.
All four banks are currently reviewing their product literature and processes and any necessary changes should be in place within six months at the latest.
There is no requirement in law to appoint a professional executor, although, according to a survey published by the OFT last year, some 43 per cent chose to appoint the professional will-writer or solicitor who wrote their will. While the costs for preparing a will can be relatively modest, the costs for a professional executor to administer an estate can be high and vary considerably. For an average estate, consumers can pay between £3,000 and £9,000. Failing to shop around for executor services could be costing UK consumers around £40 million a year, according to OFT estimates.
David Stallibrass, Director in the OFT Services and Public Markets Group, said:
'The wrong decision when appointing executors could mean a potentially expensive professional service is chosen, when a family member or friend may be quite capable of handling the task either alone or with professional support. We are pleased that each of the banks has agreed to review its selling practices and marketing literature to ensure customers are getting the information they need to make informed choices.'
Paul Sharpe, Chairman of the Institute of Professional Willwriters said:
'There are many firms who offer tantalisingly cheap Willwriting services, but they often have a sting in the tail because the document is drafted as a 'loss leader' to secure lucrative executorship appointments. Saving a few pounds on a Will might be tempting, but it's a saving that can cost thousands. Members of the Institute of Professional Willwriters (and its sister organisation the Institute of Scottish Professional Willwriters) must abide by a Code of Practice which is approved by the Office of Fair Trading and the code requires Institute members to:
- explain all the options available to consumers for appointing an executor in their Will,
- provide a written estimate of fees if they (or a firm with which they are connected) is appointed as an executor
- relinquish their appointment as an executor if requested to do so by co-executors or beneficiaries.'
For more information, please contact the Institute on 0345 257 2570
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+Power failure at Institute head office 21 Feb 2011 21/02/2011
Following an explosion in the electricity substation which supplies electricity to the Institutes Head Office in Halesowen at around mid day today, there has been no electricity supply to the our offices.
The situation is likely to continue until at least Thursday 24th February.
This means that the Institute is not able to answer telephone calls, nor is it able to receive emails and nor is the new website able to deliver functionality that requires access to the membership database - in particular the find a member function.
We apologise that we are not able to deliver services to our members and to consumers.
We suspect that any emails sent since mid day 21st February and until such time as power is restored will be lost, therefore please do not send any emails to ipw email addresses until we are able to confirm that our systems are up and running.
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+Institute Launches new website 16/02/2011
Welcome to the brand new websites of the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) and the Institute of Scottish Professional Willwriters (ISPW).
Members of the public can find information about making a Will in the Public Section.
Clients of members of the Institute can review the service that they have received by searching for their member and entering the 4 digit PIN code that they will have been given. If you have not been given a PIN code, please contact your member.
Professionals can find out about the benefits of being a member of the Institute in the Professionals Section. Professionals can find out about the training courses offered by the Institute's associated firm, IPW Services in the events section.
Members of the Institute can access a wide range of information in the password protected members section. central to this section is a new 'members Dashboard' which includes
- Information about CPD training recorded by the Institute and countdown timer to the end of the CPD year
- Contact information held by the Institute for each member - which can be updated through the dashboard
- Membership directory listings - and the ability to update the information contained in the listing.
In the coming weeks and months we will be adding more, including
1) training courses from other, selected, providers in the events section
2) an archive of past press and news items indexed by year as well as month
3) An improved members dashboard which will include
- additional information about CPD completed and CPD requirements
- additional information about membership which will enable members to renew their membership on line
- the facility to upgrade membership listings
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+IPW publish annual report on its Code of Practice 07/02/2011
The IPW is required by the Office of Fair Trading to publish a report every year on its Code of Practice. The report can be downloaded here (requires Adobe acrobat reader).
