Querying Conveyancing Fees

9wizard9

We're almost at the point of exchange on our new house (don't quite want to let myself get excited yet, but we're getting close!)

We've just had the final completion statement through from the conveyancer, and there are a couple of items on there that I'm not sure about. They weren't included in the original breakdown of costs when we were quoted, so I'm planning to query them with the conveyancer, as I don't particularly want to pay them.

Our original breakdown was as follows:
Our charges would be £495 plus VAT (including acting for your mortgage lender). In addition, there will be some out of pocket expenses, which I set out below:-

Search fees - allow up to £250 in case local and drainage searches in any Home Information Pack are out of date
Telegraphic transfer fee - £35 plus VAT to send the purchase money to the sellers' solicitors on the completion date
Credit check - £6.00 per name plus VAT
Land Registry registration fee - £280
Stamp Duty on purchases between £250,001 and £500,000 is charged at 3%.

However, there are a couple of extra items on the completion statement:
Stamp Duty Document Fee: £88.13
Deed Storage: £35.25

Deed storage is presumably a charge for the solicitors to keep a copy of the deeds securely somewhere, but is there any point since it's all gone electronic with the Land Registry?

No idea what the Stamp Duty Document Fee is - but the original quote makes no mention of it, and the quote also said we would be contacted to agree to any additional disbursement charges before being charged - no mention has been made of this at any point until now.

I will query with the firm tomorrow, but ideally wanted to know whether these seemed appropriate/reasonable before I challenge them. Also, not really sure where we stand given we're about to exchange - I don't want to hold up exchange and completion for the sake of a hundred quid, but neither do I want to be taken for a mug and pay for things we don't need to.

Any ideas?

Richard_Webster

If the Stamp Duty Document fee wasn't mentioned in the papers they sent you at the beginning they shouldn't charge it. Check all the small print to see it isn;'t there. It is a charge for completing the SDLT 1 form which is required for any transaction where the price is £40,000 or more.

If it is buried really deep in their t & cs then complain that they were deliberately misleading you with an extra fee. TimmyT and I and many others think this should be included in the basic fee (which at £495 +vat is actually quite reasonable).

The document storage fee is another possible con. They can send you the documents such as they are - it isn't the "deeds" themselves that are so important but all kinds of things like planning permissions, damp proofing guarantees, consents from third parties under restrictive covenants etc etc that will be wanted when you come to sell. If they are going to store those things that is fair enough but you should be able to ask for them to send them or for you to collect them if they are local.

9wizard9

Thanks Richard - that's pretty much what I thought on both counts. The quote for conveyancing was sent by email, so there's nothing in terms of small print that I can see. However, the quote obviously took into account that we were paying stamp duty and didn't mention a fee for completing the form, so I certainly intend to query this - I'd have completed the form myself had I known they were planning to charge!

Regarding the Deeds Storage - there's also a transfer document for the original builders in 1998, which contains details of various restrictive covenants - presumably a solicitor for any future buyers may request this, so maybe it is worth storing these documents? I guess I should query exactly what they are going to store for that fee - what happens if they get taken over or go bust etc.?

The main issue for me is whether disputing the fees would delay/prevent exchange and completion? Are they under any obligation to continue the purchase process whilst fees are in dispute, or would I be better to pay, writing to dispute the fees (e.g. paid under protest or similar)?

Richard_Webster

Regarding the Deeds Storage - there's also a transfer document for the original builders in 1998,

It costs £5 to get a copy from the Land Registry!

I think it will work either way. If you dispute the fees beforehand they might threaten not to complete but you can threaten a complaint through their formal complaints procedure. If they then refused to deal with the complaint expeditiously they would get into hot water with the Legal Complaints Service if you took the matter further.

If you don't want to jeopardise the transaction pay under protest and complain later. Dealing with complaints is very time consuming for solicitors so most firms want to avoid getting into that by putting the matter right and frankly for most people the time spent in dealing with eh complaint would well outweigh the extra money for the SDLT form!

I would write informally now and ask where it was in the estimate they sent you that they explained there would be a fee for completing the SDLT form and for document storage and why you have to pay for document storage.

SmlSave

Hi wizard

Re the Deeds storage: have you thought about just keeping them yourself?

timmyt

SmlSave wrote: »

Hi wizard

Re the Deeds storage: have you thought about just keeping them yourself?

god don't do that....clients always lose them, and it delays and costs money for duplicates. always pay your lawyer a one off charge of say no more than £25, worth every penny.

mufi

timmyt wrote: »

god don't do that....clients always lose them, and it delays and costs money for duplicates. always pay your lawyer a one off charge of say no more than £25, worth every penny.

Always?? We're not all quite as daft as you appear to think; I've managed to keep mine for some years. I come from a long line of solicitors and barristers, most of whom are so disorganised they would lose their own heads were they not firmly attached:).

timmyt

you will have lost some

mufi

timmyt wrote: »

you will have lost some

I will have lost some what?
See, you've already lost a word:rotfl:

timmyt

'deeds', the topic of your last post. helloooooo

mufi

timmyt wrote: »

'deeds', the topic of your last post. helloooooo

Just sold my house. All was present and correct.

Are you a solicitor:eek:?