Will writers have reacted with alarm to plans by a price-comparison website to enter the legal services market. The Society of Will Writers this week warned that an online match-making service offered by the Paaleads.com venture could be ‘devastating to the professionalism’ of the industry.

In a letter to the operator’s parent company, Moneysupermarket.com, the Law Society, the National Consumer Council and government bodies, the will writers cite two concerns.

They say that the service will encourage clients to deal with solicitors and other will writers remotely rather than face to face. This would make it impossible to establish whether the client is acting under coercion, and it would be difficult to establish that the testator has the ‘appropriate testamentary capacity’ required by the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The will writers also say that web-shopping for legal services might have the effect of encouraging some firms to advertise ‘deceptively’ low prices for basic products. The letter reads: ‘This practice has been discouraged by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and should not be reintroduced.’

Simon Williams, head of business development at Paaleeds.com, said the criticism appeared to be based on a misunderstanding of what the service does. Paaleeds is simply an intermediary; participating firms are responsible for publishing their own prices, and clients will want to continue drafting wills face to face, he added.