In the wake of the landmark Heather Ilott inheritance case this July, new figures released by telephone answering specialist Moneypenny have flagged a rise in calls relating to wills and probate over the past three months.
As part of the study, calls for the four weeks prior to the judicial decision of July 27 were compared to the four weeks immediately afterwards, highlighting a 13.9% like-for-like increase over the later timeframe.
This trend has continued, with wills and probate calls handled by Moneypenny’s legal receptionists on behalf of law firms, will writers, probate specialists and private client solicitors, still climbing. In September, calls were up 2.78% when compared to August’s figures and in a further leap, October calls rose again by 7.75%. In a quarterly analysis, 10.77% more calls of this type were found to have been answered between June and September, than during the previous three months.
Moneypenny’s Legal Commercial Manager, Bernadette Bennett, comments: “It may be a coincidence, but we have certainly seen a notable increase in calls of this nature since the high profile Ilott case. It’s possible that the large amount of publicity surrounding the ruling has prompted enquiries or that a wider interest in wills and probate has been encouraged, with people either making a new will or checking and updating an existing one.
“We have had a busy year in terms of supporting practitioners in this field, with both call volumes and the numbers of those seeking telephone answering support continuing to rise when compared to 2014. In most cases we are handling overflow calls so we are pleased to be able to help with ensuring every call is captured, no opportunity is lost and callers receive the best possible customer care.”
Endorsed by the Law Society, the legal sector continues to account for the largest share of Moneypenny’s overall call volume, with more than 900 law firms of all shapes and sizes seeking telephone answering support. On average Moneypenny handles more than two million legal calls a year.
This article was submitted to be published by Moneypenny as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills & Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills & Probate.
