Help- anyone fought a solicitors bill?

njh82

Hi

I hope someone can help or offer advice? We are FTB and bought a one bed flat recently. The deal went on for 3 months on and off as we were awaitng probate and then the sellers solicitors went bust. When we appointed our solicitors to do the conveyancing, we went with a recommended firm as had no idea who to chose. they were slightly more expensive but we had to chose someone.

They gave an estimate of £1,300 for the purchase- this was £700 prinical fees and the rest disbursements.

As the sale went on they suggested the costs were looking likely to go over the original estimate. I asked how much they would charge if we abandoned the purchase and they stated that the costs currently stood at £500.

We continued and then when it came to signing the contract they asked for the £1,300 estimate and said that they weren't sure how much over this the costs would be until it was completed. On completion they told us the costs stood at £1,800 but that they would cap it at £1,500.

Now we, being nieve FTB understood this as the whole bill. £1,300 was the first estimate, then we were told it would be £500 if we pulled out and now the final amount was £1,500..of which we assumed we had paid £1,300. So basically we owed them an additional £200. This seemed reasonable.

Then we recieved a bill for £861!!! What had happened was that the £1,500 was for their 'principal fees' not the whole bill. Now I admit this was a misunderstanding but we simply can't afford this and as far as we were concerned we agreed 'costs' based on a whole bill not 'fees' and disbursements seperately- can we do anything to fight it?

Richard_Webster

You need to read all the stuff they sent you carefully.

If they made it clear in their letters and terms and conditions that there was a distinction between fees and disbursements then what you understood may not be relevant.

I always tell clients that the figure I am giving them is an estimate so I can protect my back if there really is a lot of extra work justifying an increase in the fee. I rarely do charge extra and would not =dos on an hourly rate.

It looks here as if they gave you an hourly rate and said that it would probably cost about £700 - saying it had got to £1,800 suggests that's what their time recording showed. This is unusual and most solicitors would not do that, but there is nothing illegal about it.

You will have to show that the correspondence etc actually was misleading. If they told you things over the phone did you keep a good record of exactly who said what and when? Did you get them to confirm their telephone statements about charges in writing?

njh82

Thanks, after the intial estimate- for £1,300 which was £700 principal fee and the rest disbursements, the second correspondance stated that time recorded stood at £500 and so that is all we would pay if we withdrew at that time. We then paid the estimate - £1.300 at the signing of contracts. The next discussion of costs was over the phone where they stated it the costs would be £1,500. This is where the confusion started as we thought this figure related to the final amount due and that we had paid £1,300 of it.

We did not get confirmation of this in writing- our fault I understand. I do appreciate that their time recorded is not illegal but we do feel duped by not being warned that the time recorded was going to be double the original quote- I guess they have no obligation to tell us this until its too late anyway. we are being told we agreed to the £1,500 and we did, but under a different understanding..thougha s you say this may not be relevant.

this whole thing is a mess and the in's and out's can be disputed but the reality is, we simply can't pay-- what are our options?

lincroft1710

Many years ago as a young, naive FTB, I asked for estimate of likely solicitor's bill, which was £x. When bill came it was more than £x, so I wrote back saying this was more than £x so I would pay them £x on account until matter was sorted. After a few months they suggested a figure which I think was about midway which I accepted. I cannot remember the figures or whether or not disbursements included.

So see if they will agree a lower figure. If you can't/don't pay they may well put a charge on your flat.

njh82

Hi
I have asked for a lower amount but as they have already taken £300 off (which I did not ask them to do) they are refusing to budge. Which frankly would mean that the bill would have gone from £700 to £1,800. They have simply said 'things will have to now take their course'.

I am tempted to go down the ombudsman route as it is a free service. The alleged 'agreement' over the final costs was verbal not in writing and at no point did they warn us after the £500 abandonment costs that continueing costs were getting to be so high.

My fear is that we will end up worse off and they will try to get us to pay for the original amaount of £1,800 rather than the billed £1,500?

such a nightmare and we are so scared as simply can't pay!