McClure's clients hit back over 'substandard work' denial

Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan has recently hosted two packed events at the Beacon Arts Centre for people who were left in limbo after the firm went into administration in 2021.

Following the second event, a spokesperson for McClure’s former directors responded to public criticism levelled at them.

Their statement said: “Former directors strongly dispute claims being made against McClure’s of substandard work or work undertaken without the clients express knowledge, and are calling for an end to this campaign that is spreading misinformation and unnecessarily worrying former clients."

The spokesperson also added that the firm disputes any claims that clients were 'misled to pay for a trust'.

READ MORE: More than 100 attend McClure's collapse Q&A in Greenock

But Mike Pilbeam, a campaigner for people affected by the firm's collapse, says that the response statement has sparked anger.

Mr Pilbeam set up a trust with McClure’s in 2017 with the intention of protecting himself and his wife from care home fees.

He now heads up the Victims of McClure’s Action Group, which is made up of people from across the UK.

The group held its first meetings in June last year and it now has more than 200 members.

Mr Pilbeam, from Leicester, claims that trusts were not ‘properly managed’ by McClure’s and that solicitors failed to give clients a ‘full explanation as to what the whole situation was’.

Stuart McMillan has hosted two events at the Beacon for those affected (Image: Stuart McMillan MSP)

Mr Pilbeam added: “They must’ve known that people would not get the work done and not get their money back.

“There has to have been a point where the directors of McClure’s knew they were not meeting the contractual obligations that they were signing up to.”

Another ex-client said: “I feel outraged at the comments made by the spokesperson for McClure's.

“We have had to pay other solicitors to sort out the mess they left.”

One man, who also wished to remain anonymous, told of the financial trouble he and his family had experienced since McClure’s went bust.

The man’s elderly mother paid £3,000 to set up a trust, power of attorney and a will with McClure’s in 2017.

Following the collapse, he paid more than £5,000 in legal fees to have two trustees removed from the trust.

This figure includes £340 which was paid directly to one trustee who had left McClure’s in 2018 – a fact which was he says not communicated to the family.

The man told the Telegraph: "If I couldn’t pay that £340, my mother couldn’t sell her house.

"If the trustee hadn’t resigned, I don’t know what would’ve happened.

“All in all this McClure’s firm have put us through hell. It’s no fault of our own making but we have to foot the bill for their actions.”

A spokesperson for McClure’s said claims that trusts were not adequately managed were ‘categorically untrue’.

They added: “It is also important to note that the solicitors or the firm’s trustee companies were only appointed as trustees and not as individuals.

READ MORE: Police launch investigation into failed Greenock law firm McClure's

“This means that the properties are never owned by them as individuals. The ownership benefit always remains with the original client.

“It was not until the last minute that the firm accepted that there was no alternative to administration.

“Unfortunately, the firm’s administration has meant that making changes to trustees and ongoing administration of their trusts will result in legal costs that were not foreseen at the time of instruction.

“The former MD of McClure disputes that clients were misled to pay for a trust.

“It was McClure’s responsibility to advise clients, but it was left to them to decide whether or not they wished to have a trust."