Has what my solicitor done illegal?

marcuszs

Hi guys,
we where originally planning to px our house (no mortgage) with a new build site, our solicitors quoted x amount for us purchasing the new house and £300 for the part exchange of my house that is in joint names of me and my mother. when the forms where returned i had a phone call from them saying..

'they could not proceed with the paperwork UNTIL they had proof of my mums identity'

we came across a few problems with the new house and decided to pull out of the sale, loosing quite a few pennies, i rang the solicitor and told them not to proceed with the sale.

i was then sent through a bill of £200 2/3rd of the finally bill price, i thought this was quite steep considering all they had done is print out a set of forms for me to fill in, when i rang up to question this i was very shocked with the response.

i politely asked if i could have a break down of the bill, the woman abruptly said that it was the use of her time, she could only itemize £20 of the bill, but told me i was fortunate to recieve such a small bill.
i then told her my concerns that it was 2/3rds of the original price quoted when i had only returned 1 set of forms. her response was very rude and said well basically your just telling me you can be bothered to pay it. why am i wasting my time with you etc, i asked her not to speak to me rudely as i am only asking for a break down of costs, her reply was im not being rude, im being abrupt!
i asked her why she had continued to process the px of my house when she had told me she cannot do anything until she has had my mothers id as this has led to me having to pay a larger fee than what i would have originally had to.
she then shouted at me saying i was just having fun leading her on? said if i wasnt happy to call her boss and put the phone down on me!
im not one to go in all guns blazing and can honestly say i was very calm when talking to her, but very shocked as to how rude she was to me
anyway my question is about them continuing on my px without my mothers id, are they allowed to do this?
thank you and sorry for the long post! but i need to know where i stand

phill99

So for all that post, only the penultimate line is actually relevant?

marcuszs

well i thought i would explain the whole story so anyone that who could help had the best information so i could get a more accurate answer...

thank you for your input!

G_M

marcuszs wrote: »

.......anyway my question is about them continuing on my px without my mothers id, are they allowed to do this?
.....

In any conveyance a number of activities go on in parallel. Checking the ID is one of them.

could not proceed with the paperwork UNTIL they had proof of my mums identity

was
a) said verbally (was that verbatum?)and
b) most probobly meant "we cannot complete this matter for you and need the ID check so please let us have it" but I imagine that in the interests of keeping the process moving (clients SO often complain conveyancers don't move fast enough!) they undertook other work.

However you have a right to a cost breakdown. Put your request in writing.

marcuszs

thank you for your help, i was just rather shocked with her response, can they charge me for this? as she said to me on the phone that it would take at least an hour of her time and i would have to pay for it?
if you ask me it should become itemized in the first place, we pay them enough!

Lolzicles

Wow, she sounds like a lovely woman that solicitor? Was she menopausal or something??? We got a similar bill from our solicitor after pulling out of a sale. It was £200 and something i seem to remember. He hadnt done a great deal either but probably more than yours (he had sent ust he fixures and fittings list and replied to a few emails). Its probably right. I'd complain to her boss anyway though for being so rude. Theres just no need for rudeness!

OGR

Firstly I am not a solicitor but I have worked at a solicitors firm for 12 years, as a result these are just my opinions.

Sounds like a bit of an awkward one if I am honest but the first thing I would do is write to the senior partner asking for a copy of her time recording on your matter. Remember that solicitors charge in 6 minute blocks, so even if you pick up the phone and say hello before ending the conversation in theory you can be charged 1/10th of their hourly rate. On conveyancing matters most of the time you will be charged a set fee but if it is abortive they might look to recoup the time it has cost them so far. You should have been told your conveyancers hourly rate when they sent out the T&C's with an initial letter that you should have signed and returned. It should take them no more than 30 seconds to pull up your matters time detail and print it.

The rules for solicitors are currently changing and soon solicitors will not be able to take any money on client account for new clients before they have performed an anti money laundering search and completed all of the relevant compliance forms. You will find that soon solicitors won't actually do any work before the AML searches have been completed as they cannot legally charge for it. If they want to charge a fee for doing the AML search they cannot even take this in advance unless they charge exactly what it is worth as a disbursement. I know this doesn't help you now but it is something to bear in mind for the future.

tbs624

Being rude and offhand with clients is unprofessional, however irritated you maybe with the client's queries etc

OP - if you are unhappy with the way the solicitor dealt with you then write to the firm's Managing Partner. Keep it brief and to the point and keep a copy.

Yorkie1

http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/aboutus/publications.html

Contains information about a) complaining effectively about your solicitor to the solicitor's firm, and b) information about costs.

You need to exhaust the firm's complaints procedures before you can go to the ombudsman.