Deal fell through - should I seek a part-refund of conveyancing fee?

t_g_b

Hi,

I had paid £350 of my solicitor's conveyancing fee of around £550 when the deal on the house I was buying fell through right before exchange.

I'm wondering if he would have spent enough time on my file to justify the £350 I paid him, or if not, whether I should be thinking about asking for a part-refund?

Does anyone know whether most of a conveyancing fee comes from the work done pre-exchange, or the work actually done "during" exchange?

Thanks in advance.

new_home_owner_3

i know when i was buying if it would have fell through for ciratin reason i would not pay for cirtain parts of the conveyancing this should be in their terms, mine stated this.

What if My Transaction Falls Through?
It is our aim to protect client’s that are victims of a collapsing chains or gazumping but not protect the people that cause chains to collapse. We therefore operate a ‘no move – no fee’ policy provided the transaction falls through due to circumstances outside of your control. Otherwise, you would be charged a percentage of the fees depending on the amount of work that we have carried out on your transaction. Any expenses or disbursements that we have paid on your behalf such as Land Registry Fees or Local Authority Search Fees would always be payable in full.

hope this helps

Ian_W

Most of the work AFAIK is carried out pre-exchange to safeguard your (and your lenders) interests - too late after exchange - so unless you have, as new_home_owner says a "no move, no fee" clause with your solicitor you may find that the solicitor will have undertaken a fair bit of the work and want paying.

All you can do is check their terms of business as should have been supplied to you at the outset and ask them if you are due any money back.

PasturesNew

On the whole, solicitors are honest and will be keeping strict tabs on every minute. If there's any refund due, I'd expect him to just declare it in a statement and enclose a cheque; likewise if he'd spent more time I'd expect a further bill.

Having said that, I do use fixed fee solicitors only and "no sale, no fee" ones.