£380 for searches pack - rip off?

MartinLB

Received the below email from MoveWithUs - apparently we have to pay them almost £380 for searches before we can instruct our solicitors, but I do not believe there is any need for these searches. We're going to pay for a full structural survey, and there's no risk of flooding due to the property being on a hill.

Just to let you know the £376.58 that we need to take in advance is for the standard search pack which consists of the local search, the water & drainage search, the environmental search and the chancel check indemnity policy.

Thoughts?

Martin

Richard_Webster

Where is the property?

The cost of local searches can vary widely from area to area.

Portsmouth charges £50.
Waltham Forest charges £287.66!

The other two searches and policy could easily amount to £90-£100.

Ask for a breakdown of how the figures are arrived at.

Some solicitors word their terms and conditions carefully so that they can make a profit on the cost of each search. Make sure they are not doing that.

G_M

MartinLB wrote: »

Received the below email from MoveWithUs - apparently we have to pay them almost £380 for searches before we can instruct our solicitors,

It's unclear who Movewithus are - your solicitors?

In which case it is normal to ask for some disbursement fees at the point when you instruct them. They do not want to incur costs doing the searches without knowing they have funds from you.

But your wording implies you plan to instruct someone else as your solicitors - in which case who are Movewithus and why are they doing searches which are your solicitors job????

but I do not believe there is any need for these searches. We're going to pay for a full structural survey, and there's no risk of flooding due to the property being on a hill.

These are standard searches. SOME are optional, though your mortgage lender may insist on them. They are unrelated to your structural survey.

Just to let you know the £376.58 that we need to take in advance is for the standard search pack which consists of the local search, the water & drainage search, the environmental search and the chancel check indemnity policy.

Read up on each search to understand what it is.
If you are getting a mortgage, check which ones your lender requires.
Decide for yourself which ones you want (unless your lender insists)

Ask your solicitor to provide a break down of the costs for each search. They should be charging what it costs them, not adding a fee, or lumping them all together (with an added fee!).

Check the quote/agreement with your solicitor - it should break down all the costs.

D7895510

G_M is right. you may not want them but your mortgage company will! Unless you are not getting a mortgage you will have to pay up!

martindow

This is Move With Us

http://www.movewithus.co.uk/

Can't really see what they do apart from adding another layer of expense duplicating what others do.

Ulfar

Just read their website, so what do they do for their money, err not a lot.

Flat_Eric

Search costs vary - where are you buying? as another poster has said, if you are getting a mortgage then your lender will require the searches to be carried out.

mclaren2005

Move with us I believe are some sort of Estate Agency, you do not have to use the Solicitors/Conveyancers that these recommend, shop around for quotes but be careful that you get the whole picture as some firms start off cheap and then charge lots of add ons!!!!

MartinLB

Thanks for all the replies - MoveWithUs is an intermediary. Our Estate Agents recommended them, and after much deliberation, we went with the solicitors recommended through them as the cost was very similar to going with a local solicitor.

When asked to breakdown the costs they responded that this is not possible, so I said that I would not be requiring the pack.

The place we are buying is in the Tandridge district.

Does anyone have any views on the Chancel Check indemnity policy?

Is it possible to find out yourself if the property is subject to this issue?

Ulfar

You can check for Chancel liabilities but if you do and there is one, you can't then take out an indemnity.

They usually exist for properties that where built on church land, you can tell sometimes by the road names as they will have a religious significance.

It is easier to take out the policy and then you are covered, they are usually quite cheap.

I was offered a similar service by an estate agent to arrange bills, moving, etc. I declined to use it as I didn't see the need to spend nearly £1k for something that I can do myself.

I know moving is a pain but having been in rented for a couple of years before buying my current house I now have it down to a fine art, I have a check list with all the phone numbers, website addresses, emails of who I have to notify. Plus I have a few firms movers, plumbers, electricians who are reliable who now get all my repeat business.

For the tradesman if you don't already have good ones, ask family, friends, work colleagues, on this board. Good word of mouth is money in the bank and goods tradesman know this.

Richard_Webster

Does anyone have any views on the Chancel Check indemnity policy?

I think that if you are getting a mortgage the issue needs to be covered.

There are three levels of things you can do:

1. Have a full Chancel Search which costs around £100. This will tell you whether the particular property is subject to the potential liability. If it is clear, end of problem forever. If it shows up as affected then:
a) you have a duty to register the entry at the Land Registry against the property and
b) future indemnity cover will be significantly more expensive - it is usually still obtainable but the cost rises from 2-3 figures to 3-4 figures.
Option 1 therefore not a good idea!

2. Do a Chancel Check Search which costs about £18. This will tell you whether the property is in an area where some properties are affected.. If not affected, problem goes forever. If affected, then somebody, usually the buyer, has to pay for indemnity cover which typically costs £50-£150.

3. Take out indemnity cover regardless. My practice does this routinely for buyer clients (and for people buying from them if the point is raised) for £10-£15 a time. This is cheaper than the Chancel Check Search so in my view there is little point in doing the search. Some larger practices can obtain this insurance more cheaply than I can. Looks as if this is what is suggested in this case.