Solicitor search fees

quirky789

We are currently buying a house. About a month ago we were asked for a cheque for £300 to cover the cost of the searches, which we paid. I spoke to the solitor today to try and find out how far along the process we are and what searches etc were still outstanding. Her exact words were " The only search we had to send out for was the Environmental one and it has come back, the rest of them were in the HIP report" I checked the breakdown of their fees and the Environmental search only cost £53. Is it me or have we just been done for nearly £250 and do we have a case for geting them the "fees" removed from the final bill? Has anybody else got any experience of this? I don't want to tackle the solicitor about it at the moment as they are going slow enough as it is with out upsetting them and putting their backs up if we don't have a case.

tbs624

It should all be sorted when you get your final statement from the solicitors, which will list all their disbursements and account for all monies paid by you. Solicitors Accounts Rules are pretty stringent

Incisor

Look at your quote. It should give a price for conveyancing exclusive of disbursements [ie searches and money transfer fees etc] which should be charged at cost. Don't shoot from the HIP, to coin a phrase. If your solicitor is able to rely on the HIP, she is doing you a favour by not redoing the searches - although sometimes this might be required.