Online conveyancing vs local solicitors

geordiepaul2001

Hi all,

Do online conveyancing companies cover everything a traditional solicitor does?, or do you still need to employ the solicitor for the final stages of the process?
Any tips on the right way to do things would be appreciated.

Paul

astreix

If you use an online conveyancer they should cover all the things your local conveyancer would cover. I've used online conveyancers twice (once when purchasing and then when remortgaging) and have faced no issues.

geordiepaul2001

kthaker wrote: »

If you use an online conveyancer they should cover all the things your local conveyancer would cover. I've used online conveyancers twice (once when purchasing and then when remortgaging) and have faced no issues.

Can you point me in the direction of the ones you used?

m_13

We've just used Enact (http://www.enact.co.uk/) and they were very efficient and sent us SMS each time they received correspondence from us so we knew it had arrived. I was very nervous doing the money laundering stuff by post as I thought if the letter went missing then somebody could have set themselves up as me immediately! However, we sent the letter by Royal Mail special delivery to reduce the risks.

For our complicated auction purchase we used a local solicitor we could go and see and drop things off at.

I'd recommend online conveyancing for simple matters and it's certainly cheaper for the legal part. We paid £495 plus VAT and Enact would have charged £240 plus VAT. However, all the searches and other stuff add up and, for example, Enact charge £75 plus VAT for the Land Tax Submission Fee and our solicitor charges £25 plus VAT.

Enact do an instant quote service so you can see what the charges will be and can then compare them to a local recommended conveyancer.

poppysarah

And they give a really good breakdown of fees too so you can see where it's all going and what any extras might be!

Imp

I used a conveyancing company for a remortgage and they delayed the process by around four months, costing me over £1,000 in additional mortgage payments. I have used a local solicitor twice without any problems.

In my experience, the question is, how easily can you get in contact with the solicitor? - Every time you ring, sometimes, never.

astreix

geordiepaul2001 wrote: »

Can you point me in the direction of the ones you used?

I had used legalmove.com. They were offering a fee of £255 (+VAT) which was much better compared to my local solicitors who wanted atleast twice that.

A friend of mine recently used Withy King who are not online, but they also charged him a similar amount.

hope this helps.