HCR Law Reviews 

HCR Law, specifically HCR Cheltenham’s Banking & Financial Services team, is worse than useless and should be avoided at all costs. Despite tens of thousands in fees, they not only failed to contribute a single useful or helpful thing but did considerable damage to my case.

Key deadlines, which HCR had itself agreed/ negotiated, were missed by many months, with serious adverse consequences for the case, indeed consequences which were never recovered from, and crucial mistakes made. They then wouldn’t take any responsibility for the delays and mistakes, despite being solely due to them; indeed foisted blame on to others and/or the client to the further detriment of the case. Equally, did nothing to try to mitigate the consequences of their delays and mistakes. And then completely failed to both stand up for their client or stand by the advice they had given.

Throughout the partner in charge had only two priorities. Firstly, racking-up as much as possible in over priced fees regardless of the inadequate quality or slowness of the work done and/or failure to deliver on time due to taking on more than they were able to handle. Secondly, how she herself and/or HCR might appear regardless of the realities and/or the detriment to the client.

Very very slow this time! Don't know what they are doing! Managed to send the lender the wrong information and expected to complete the purchase. Can't be worse.

We are having the same experience dealing with my father’s estate that many others have described. Incredibly slow to respond, rude & out to make as much money from the estate as possible. We have had other more serious issues with regards to the solicitor allowing my father to change his will whilst terminally ill and on high levels of morphine, no questions asked.
Every email of concern is brushed off and we feel like we have no choice but to keep paying the extortionate charges. I cannot wait for this nightmare to be over

completion date missed

Disorganisation muppets

couldn't care less attitude

all 78% 1 star ratings warranted

Highly responsive. Clear practical advice given in both legal speak and layman's terms with real world implications fully explained. I am astonished at the star rating being so low. I have interacted with an array of legal advisors over the years and HCR stand out as exceptional in my experience.

Whilst the solicitor I used knew her topic - I was surprised to receive a bill of £3,500 for one letter and was billed for the on-boarding discussion. I challenged the bill and it was reduced. So be careful with the contact time!

I had an excellent experience with Matt Gillett at HCR Law. From the outset, he took the time to really listen to my concerns and understand the issues I was facing. He provided calm, clear, and practical advice that helped me better understand a complex workplace legal matter.

What stood out most was the effort Matt made to ensure I fully understood my options and the legal position. He was patient, professional, and genuinely invested in helping me. He went above and beyond what I expected, and far more than any other firm I contacted regarding my issue.

I am extremely grateful for his support and would highly recommend Matt Gilett to anyone seeking knowledgeable, approachable, and client-focused legal advice.

HCR is good as scam, hire by criminals to sign settlement which never be paid. If they find you should avoid trust any one word they say.

Slow and expensive, with unclear billing. From our experience their main focus during probate is identifying additional cost and not on getting the job done. We didn't choose HCR Law, my mother made a local firm executors of her will. Unfortunately their clients were taken over by HCR Law. My mother was very thrifty and would be shocked to the core by HCR Law charges.

Just awful, avoid !

Keep your wits about you when dealing with HCRLaw - bills get large fast and they start charging you for conversations prior to onboarding you (never experienced that before). Recommend avoiding - some VERY basic work ended up costing much more than it should have.

I spent £6500 for an easy divorce case and they weren't able to finish the job at all. Their hourly rate is lower than market but they are slower and has incapable solicitors ( at least my solicitor was) which doesn't help hourly charge.
Their solicitor checked unsigned legal documents from other party and charged me twice once signed copy received. This must be simple number 1 rule that all legal documents must be signed before taking any action, You don't need to study law for years to learn such a fundamental rule.
This is very much profit orientated law company, I would suggest anyone to avoid working with such a law firm at all costs, Go and find doubled hourly rate firm, I guarantee you they will finish your case at lower cost and quicker.

We engaged this firm for probate and administration of estate in May 2022
HCR time estimate was 9-12 weeks Probate and
9-12 months to administer estate, Total estimate of time = 15months
45 months later this matter is not concluded and now our emails are just ignored.

To date Jan 2026 the estate administration has not been completed. The Solicitor ignores both Executor's emails and we have not received any correspondence since March 2025!
The estate had 2 beneficiaries and 2 small gift amounts there were no loans or charges
They have taken their agreed fees and now they just do not answer emails, perhaps they enjoy holding clients funds in their Client Accounts which I might add pay ridiculously low interest on peoples monies.

They now do not care and have no standards. I would never recommend or use this firm again.

Mr P Williams

I have used this Company on over 30 debt approx 1 million over 6 years for debt recovery.
Most cases resulted in a win but net loss monetarily after their extortionate costs. Slow service increasing costs by constantly confiring with barristers that cant be justified to judges in court. So when it comes to it whatever you settle at (you decide to lose money)costs you more in lost costs making a negative. For example the latest case was over £30k of which the defendants settled and paid my £22,500 plus costs. HCRL with their cost assessors (at my additional cost!) couldnt justify to the courts (despite their further expensive courts approaved budgeted costs excersises) their costs so they thought that it was ok for their client....me....to walk away MINUS.....YES thats correct!!! Thats a £30k debt passed to them in all good faith to get for me....ti end up for me to pay them after winning or settled...A Minus! Their internal complaints said it was justified (there is a surprise) and I walk away.....so that means anyone wanting HCRL to chase their hard earned debts, they may as well right off the debt instead of going to them or give it to them and be prepared to lose everything and give them a few grand for the privaledge!
DO NOT USE THEM.....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Possibly the worst solicitors I have ever spoken with. They were handling the estate of a deceased family member, and the funds were promised to be immediate release. 3 months later they are still dragging their heels, not communicating at all, and more than anything are so incredibly rude. Any phone call you are spoken down to and they refuse to give updates, and when asked to issue a complaint we were told we would have to pay to leave one! Abhorrent behaviour, and a disgrace to my deceased family member. So utterly disrespectful. Avoid!!!

Absolutely disgraceful company! I cannot shout this LOUD enough! Do not use them. They drag their feet in order to charge more, and despite having meant to have completed our parents estate , we are privately still completing it ourselves as they have been completely incompetent and there are still monies outstanding. Dont expect to receive a detailed statement of account in finalisation of the estate. You dont get one ! So you have money (eventually, ((actually 2 years)) ) transferred to your account with no paperwork to substantiate where it has come from. A complete shambles from start to finish with many, many mistakes, where their only objective is to charge as much as possible for as little work as possible. Complain? You dont get an answer. Send an email? Don't bother, they don't answer that either. Call? You can never speak directly to the person you need without your call being vetted first and then a lengthy wait for a call back, which invariably doesn't happen.
Very upsetting and disgraceful behaviour from a so called professional company of Worcester.

This company have been appointed agents for a flat in my block on the death of the owner. They have no consideration for the other tenants, despite the many requests of the block management they fail to act on fly tipping, electrical issues and health and safety.
Please avoid at all cost. Do not ask them to act on your behalf, or that of your loved ones.

I deal with many different Solicitors in my professional and domestic life. I find the conveyancing department at HCR, Cheltenham very efficient and they offer good value for money. Not the cheapest, but always carried out professionally, promptly keeping me informed throughout the process and always available by telephone and email. Thank you Sarah, Caroline, Emily and team.

Don't touch this law firm with a barge pole.
In summary, they arranged an insurance policy that would have been invalid if I hadn't noticed an obvious and vital error.
I was not shown a draft sale of contract before it went to my buyer - in fact I never saw the contract.
I wasn't given information at the start to show how costs would be calculated, as required by the SRA.
My solicitor was pleasant and friendly and responded quickly - very nice, but not much use when so many serious errors were made.
And I was overcharged with no itemisation given; just a rounded figure.
Next step - I'm going to complain to the Ombudsman about this awful firm, who make lots of mistakes and, despite clear evidence, refuse to uphold complaints.
The SRA needs to shut them down.
I wish I'd read the reviews before instructing them last year.
STEER WELL CLEAR!!!!!!

Disgraceful, disappointing. I had 2 lawyers who were great but then they left. The third (partner) and their trainee failed to read the file, failed to pass on important information to me the client. Took them to Legal Ombudsman but that was waste of time and they knew it. Just needed a sincere apology for the stress and distress caused but never happened. Totally let down! Avoid their will & probate dept.