Conveyancer took payment from deposit - any advice?
Discussion
Hi all
For 6 months I have been trying to buy a house. The seller's solicitor have been very slow and my cinveyancers have been truly awful.
We got to the 11th hour, with my 10% deposit sat in the conveyancer's client account.
Today I decided not to go ahead due to a couple of significant outstanding issues coming to light. I requested my conveyancer return my deposit money and invoice me for their services to date. I made it clear i wanted to pay their fees in the next few days (the real reason being i planned to contest their fees due to some significant mistakes which contributed to the process dragging on so long).
Tonight I got an email confirming I should have the deposit in my account tomorrow, LESS THEIR FEES TO DATE.
Surely they are not allowed to take payment from a 'client account', especially prior to me agreeing to the amount?! Really appreciate it if any actual legal professionals like Breadvan72 can advise- thank you in advance!
For 6 months I have been trying to buy a house. The seller's solicitor have been very slow and my cinveyancers have been truly awful.
We got to the 11th hour, with my 10% deposit sat in the conveyancer's client account.
Today I decided not to go ahead due to a couple of significant outstanding issues coming to light. I requested my conveyancer return my deposit money and invoice me for their services to date. I made it clear i wanted to pay their fees in the next few days (the real reason being i planned to contest their fees due to some significant mistakes which contributed to the process dragging on so long).
Tonight I got an email confirming I should have the deposit in my account tomorrow, LESS THEIR FEES TO DATE.
Surely they are not allowed to take payment from a 'client account', especially prior to me agreeing to the amount?! Really appreciate it if any actual legal professionals like Breadvan72 can advise- thank you in advance!
The contract required an initial £200 payment to meet initial expenses, which I paid. It goes on to say they may seek further amounts on request (which has never happened), presumably to cover additional searches that might be needed.
It states all expenses will be reported on the final bill, payable upon completion. There is no reference to how things work if one does not complete.
I've skimmed through everything else sent to me.... nothing else on the subject of billing or payment.
It states all expenses will be reported on the final bill, payable upon completion. There is no reference to how things work if one does not complete.
I've skimmed through everything else sent to me.... nothing else on the subject of billing or payment.
Edited by M3CS on Thursday 12th June 21:49
M3CS said:
I made it clear i wanted to pay their fees in the next few days (the real reason being i planned to contest their fees due to some significant mistakes which contributed to the process dragging on so long).
I've snatched the shovel off you once. I'd stop digging. You asked them for an invoice, and you told them you wanted to pay their fees.
What is the company supposed to think you want to do if you deliberately hide your true intentions?
Why not just say to them, "I'm not happy with X, Y and Z... Can a partner call me to discuss please?"
Edited by JustinP1 on Thursday 12th June 22:33
I guess my issue is more about the fact I had no idea of the invoice amount before they had taken it. What if they'd taken the whole deposit amount? I thought conveyancers have specific 'client accounts' set up to give assurance to their clients that they cannot use that money to pay themselves?
JustinP1 said:
Oh, it seems that I quoted a pertinent sentence in your post in my post above before you deleted it...
Hmm....
Edited to add, Breadvan's pet hate is posters who ask for help, are unclear in their OP and the story gets exposed to be something very different throughout the thread.
They are well aware of my dissatisfaction with them. If i had stated my intentions, i suspect the result will have been the same.Hmm....
Edited to add, Breadvan's pet hate is posters who ask for help, are unclear in their OP and the story gets exposed to be something very different throughout the thread.
JustinP1 said:
Breadvan's pet hate is posters who ask for help, are unclear in their OP and the story gets exposed to be something very different throughout the thread.
Nice to know I am being suspected of lying from the off! Not all people are like that you know....The OP was short to avoid people going "too long, didn't read".
My conscience is clear in how I have dealt with the conveyancers.
M3CS said:
Hi all
For 6 months I have been trying to buy a house. The seller's solicitor have been very slow and my cinveyancers have been truly awful.
We got to the 11th hour, with my 10% deposit sat in the conveyancer's client account.
Today I decided not to go ahead due to a couple of significant outstanding issues coming to light. I requested my conveyancer return my deposit money and invoice me for their services to date. I made it clear i wanted to pay their fees in the next few days (the real reason being i planned to contest their fees due to some significant mistakes which contributed to the process dragging on so long).
Tonight I got an email confirming I should have the deposit in my account tomorrow, LESS THEIR FEES TO DATE.
Surely they are not allowed to take payment from a 'client account', especially prior to me agreeing to the amount?! Really appreciate it if any actual legal professionals like Breadvan72 can advise- thank you in advance!
I would have thought it was quite normal to take the cash from the "client account". I buy and sell regularly and the client account is in credit to the tune of what ever you've paid so far (including rhe deposit) then they give you a completion statement which shows all the credits and debits, and what you owe as a balance. For 6 months I have been trying to buy a house. The seller's solicitor have been very slow and my cinveyancers have been truly awful.
We got to the 11th hour, with my 10% deposit sat in the conveyancer's client account.
Today I decided not to go ahead due to a couple of significant outstanding issues coming to light. I requested my conveyancer return my deposit money and invoice me for their services to date. I made it clear i wanted to pay their fees in the next few days (the real reason being i planned to contest their fees due to some significant mistakes which contributed to the process dragging on so long).
Tonight I got an email confirming I should have the deposit in my account tomorrow, LESS THEIR FEES TO DATE.
Surely they are not allowed to take payment from a 'client account', especially prior to me agreeing to the amount?! Really appreciate it if any actual legal professionals like Breadvan72 can advise- thank you in advance!
If you don't go ahead then they won't bill that differently, you would just get the credit amount back.
JustinP1 said:
My point is that the fact that you stated that you would pay their fees in full is fundamental to someone giving you accurate help.
I have saved you a few pages of posts which would not help you.
Good luck my friend!
When did I say "in full"? I appreciate you replying to my query but I think you are misunderstanding me. I asked them to invoice me before I would make 'a payment' (I think that's exactly what I said). I clearly said not to take payment fro.m the deposit.I have saved you a few pages of posts which would not help you.
Good luck my friend!
98elise said:
I would have thought it was quite normal to take the cash from the "client account". I buy and sell regularly and the client account is in credit to the tune of what ever you've paid so far (including rhe deposit) then they give you a completion statement which shows all the credits and debits, and what you owe as a balance.
If you don't go ahead then they won't bill that differently, you would just get the credit amount back.
If it is fairly normal, that's cool then - thanks. Only issue is the fact they took the money when I said not to, so i will challenge them tomorrow. Unlikely to get me any money back, but I'll feel better!If you don't go ahead then they won't bill that differently, you would just get the credit amount back.
Whether you get the money back or not, you can still get an itemised bill and complain to them about the bill if you feel you need to. Further to that I think legal bods are heavily controlled by the law society and there is probably an established method to escalate/mediate your bill dispute if you cannot reach an agreement with the law firm
M3CS said:
They are well aware of my dissatisfaction with them. If i had stated my intentions, i suspect the result will have been the same.
I would guess that they expected you would try and avoid paying so that's why they did what they did.I have no idea about the legalities.
You'll need to read your contract.
Were they solicitors or licensed conveyancers? That may make a difference in terms of how they can deal with client money.
That said, my (admittedly very sketchy!) understanding of the Solicitors Accounts Rules is that, at least in certain circumstances, money held on client account can be used to settle a firm's fees without having to seek the client's express approval. You need to check also whether specific provision is made in their engagement letter which would allow them to do what they did.
If it's a firm of solicitors, it will be obliged to have a complaints handling process. Make a complaint and see what response it elicits. Once you have a "final response", you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman if you're still not happy. The firm may well make some sort of offer of recompense purely to avoid the fee it has to pay if a complaint is made against it.
That said, my (admittedly very sketchy!) understanding of the Solicitors Accounts Rules is that, at least in certain circumstances, money held on client account can be used to settle a firm's fees without having to seek the client's express approval. You need to check also whether specific provision is made in their engagement letter which would allow them to do what they did.
If it's a firm of solicitors, it will be obliged to have a complaints handling process. Make a complaint and see what response it elicits. Once you have a "final response", you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman if you're still not happy. The firm may well make some sort of offer of recompense purely to avoid the fee it has to pay if a complaint is made against it.
I went through this very issue when purchasing my house last year. They were truley awful and I did not pay them for thier services in the end... These are the steps i took.
1. Checked there Complaints procedure
2. Sent a written letter of complaint (registered) to their customer services department and requesting refund of deposit, and stating that I want the fee's dropped as I do not feel they have provided a service i agreed to pay for.
3. Awaited reply, reply said they were no in the wrong and that I should feel free to contact the Financial Service ombudman... This part is key, most will not do this, but it is very easy.
4. Sent reply back with clear bullet points of the issues once again. Quoting expectations set on their website/leaflet, and how i did not recieve this service. I gave them one more chance to reconsider or I will be contacting the FSO.
5. Got a letter back saying in the interest of customer relations they will drop fee's and reimbuse me.
If the FSO do look into it, its very likely you will win...they don't favor conveyances/mortgage conveyer belt solicitors...keep all your letters so you can send the the full case. This includes emails.
Do not accept substandard services, and certainly dont pay companys for work done to date, if the level of service has been crap. THats why we have such crap services in the first place.
1. Checked there Complaints procedure
2. Sent a written letter of complaint (registered) to their customer services department and requesting refund of deposit, and stating that I want the fee's dropped as I do not feel they have provided a service i agreed to pay for.
3. Awaited reply, reply said they were no in the wrong and that I should feel free to contact the Financial Service ombudman... This part is key, most will not do this, but it is very easy.
4. Sent reply back with clear bullet points of the issues once again. Quoting expectations set on their website/leaflet, and how i did not recieve this service. I gave them one more chance to reconsider or I will be contacting the FSO.
5. Got a letter back saying in the interest of customer relations they will drop fee's and reimbuse me.
If the FSO do look into it, its very likely you will win...they don't favor conveyances/mortgage conveyer belt solicitors...keep all your letters so you can send the the full case. This includes emails.
Do not accept substandard services, and certainly dont pay companys for work done to date, if the level of service has been crap. THats why we have such crap services in the first place.
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