Conveyancing solicitor asking for more money after the fact.
Discussion
In brief:
Son sold flat and purchased his first new house using a local solicitor who dealt with both. Had quote, completion & conveyancing done, bill (full & final settlement) provided and promptly deducted from proceeds of original sale. Job done....
Two weeks later, he has just had a letter from same solicitors explaining that they got the Land Reg costs wrong on the new house, and they want another £135 quid.
All-in-all, this is not a lot of money, but son is miffed understandably. His point is that he has paid what was asked, so why does he have to pay for what is a mistake on behalf of the solicitor?
What is the LEGAL position here please?
The moral one I can guess already!
However, having been in business for many years, I would NEVER ask a client for additional moneys if I had cocked up, and I have on a few rare occasions - I messed up, so I take it on the chin!
Thanks
Son sold flat and purchased his first new house using a local solicitor who dealt with both. Had quote, completion & conveyancing done, bill (full & final settlement) provided and promptly deducted from proceeds of original sale. Job done....
Two weeks later, he has just had a letter from same solicitors explaining that they got the Land Reg costs wrong on the new house, and they want another £135 quid.
All-in-all, this is not a lot of money, but son is miffed understandably. His point is that he has paid what was asked, so why does he have to pay for what is a mistake on behalf of the solicitor?
What is the LEGAL position here please?
The moral one I can guess already!
However, having been in business for many years, I would NEVER ask a client for additional moneys if I had cocked up, and I have on a few rare occasions - I messed up, so I take it on the chin!
Thanks
This used to happen on a regular basis at a conveyancing firm I used to work for and they would recover every penny.
The firm may have a claim depending on the costs set out in the quote or on the terms of business he will have signed. The bill will almost certainly have a clause regarding errors and omissions.
The firm may have a claim depending on the costs set out in the quote or on the terms of business he will have signed. The bill will almost certainly have a clause regarding errors and omissions.
3Dee said:
However, having been in business for many years, I would NEVER ask a client for additional moneys if I had cocked up, and I have on a few rare occasions - I messed up, so I take it on the chin!
Me too, but in my experience solicitors do ask and for stupidly small amounts of money. I once has one ask for an additional £2.00 as they omitted the VAT on a £10.00 charge!Anyway, the completion statement is usually itemised and if there was a genuine error in relation to the Land Registry fee then he is liable.
I would be checking that error with Land Registry before paying though.
Mojooo said:
why should the son make a loss?
He's not, he's just paying what he should have anyway.The extra charge is obviously a disbursement, the contract will be fees + (any) disbursements (payments to 3rd parties).
Ask them to explain, but if they have expended legitimately, then pay it.
If the money is genuinely going towards the land registry fees I would pay it.
This is a charge the solicitor has to pay out of their own pocket.
However if it was an error in calculating their actual fees for labour, it is a different matter, but I would probably still pay, as long as they could justify it.
LEGALLY, it is probably in the small print in the contract, in which case he is stuffed.
I can understand your son being miffed though......
This is a charge the solicitor has to pay out of their own pocket.
However if it was an error in calculating their actual fees for labour, it is a different matter, but I would probably still pay, as long as they could justify it.
LEGALLY, it is probably in the small print in the contract, in which case he is stuffed.
I can understand your son being miffed though......
Exactly this happened to my daughter last year. She wrote back to the head of the office pointing out the delays and errors made by the conveyancers along the way and suggested they reconsider their demand, which they did.
Now, unless he has experienced the only flawless conveyancing I have ever heard of, it won't be difficult for your son to do the same.
Under any circumstances don't make the mistake of feeling sorry for the conveyancers, the post about denying them a profit has to be a pisstake.
Now, unless he has experienced the only flawless conveyancing I have ever heard of, it won't be difficult for your son to do the same.
Under any circumstances don't make the mistake of feeling sorry for the conveyancers, the post about denying them a profit has to be a pisstake.
It is a disbursement, but maybe the OPs son should suggest that the solicitor share the fee as they mis advised him.
These days, I get my quotes from solicitors to include disbursements. But then I spend in total over £1.4m a year with property lawyers and a further £200k with corporate ones, so the 3 or 4 firms in question are doing ok and can afford to cover the odd £500 error.
These days, I get my quotes from solicitors to include disbursements. But then I spend in total over £1.4m a year with property lawyers and a further £200k with corporate ones, so the 3 or 4 firms in question are doing ok and can afford to cover the odd £500 error.
Edited by blueg33 on Friday 1st August 21:28
te, I'd knock them.blueg33 said:
Most solicitors are pretty honest in my experience
I'm sure most are. But there is being "Honest" but charging excessively. I was made an executor to a will, along with my father, and needed to "swear an oath" in front of a/my/our solicitor. This was a request from another solicitor. Ours got it completely wrong and we had to revisit him at our cost. I don't have much faith in them. Faith being another issue. When being asked if I would swear on the Bible, being an Atheist, I declined. "Oh! Well I will just make a note of that on the declaration". Might be the practice but seemed a bit tardy.Had exactly the same thing happen to me. Went through a very stressful sale/purchase, our conveyancer was excellent through most of the process. We were so impressed we sent a bunch of flowers to the conveyancer as we felt she went above and beyond to get our sale through in time (long story).
She sent a thank you for the flowers, followed by a very apologetic email stating they had priced the land registry charges incorrectly on the initial quote, in my case I needed to pay another £400. It was a genuine mistake, caused by the fact that we bought a house which was more expensive than we originally asked to be quoted for which put us in the next land registry fee bracket, and they neglected to re-quote for the new value.
It was a blow, but as she had been good through the process and I would have needed to pay the fee anyway, I bit the bullet and paid up without arguing the toss. I thought it wasn't their professional fees they were trying to sting me for (which I may have kicked up a fuss over), these were fees they were facilitating the payment over to an outside party and as such have no control over.
I guess my point is, their attitude and performance through the conveyancing process should dictate whether you consider this simple human error and pay up, or try and fight it. In my case, I decided I had enough stress with the sale/purchase to bother fighting a charge which was perfectly legitimate, so might be easier just to do the same and accept sometimes people make mistakes.
She sent a thank you for the flowers, followed by a very apologetic email stating they had priced the land registry charges incorrectly on the initial quote, in my case I needed to pay another £400. It was a genuine mistake, caused by the fact that we bought a house which was more expensive than we originally asked to be quoted for which put us in the next land registry fee bracket, and they neglected to re-quote for the new value.
It was a blow, but as she had been good through the process and I would have needed to pay the fee anyway, I bit the bullet and paid up without arguing the toss. I thought it wasn't their professional fees they were trying to sting me for (which I may have kicked up a fuss over), these were fees they were facilitating the payment over to an outside party and as such have no control over.
I guess my point is, their attitude and performance through the conveyancing process should dictate whether you consider this simple human error and pay up, or try and fight it. In my case, I decided I had enough stress with the sale/purchase to bother fighting a charge which was perfectly legitimate, so might be easier just to do the same and accept sometimes people make mistakes.
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