conveyancing fees

feefee_3

conveyancing fees was quoted £664 by company who then passed me on to a law firm, final bill £1054, so a big jump from my orginal Quote both parties are saying its nothing to do with them
bill has been paid
is this just the norm and you never pay whats quoted , i spent £68.000 on my new home
any advise what to do next
tia

cabbage

Hi

The fees for conveyancing are usually split into 2 parts. The solicitor charges a fee for the work and the second part is for all the disbursement s which are stamp duty, land reg fees, searches etc.

I would ask for a breakdown of all the fees and disbursements

Yorkie1

Ask for an itemised bill, compare it to the small print on the initial quote, check small print and correspondence for suggestions that there may be added extras, and if there is no evidence showing you could have been aware of the uplifted amount, lodge a complaint with the solicitor's firm saying you were not advised of the increase in fees and had not budgeted for it.

NB. Often discrepancies are to do with search fees, so ensure the initial quote was inclusive of search etc fees first.

kingstreet

A £68k purchase around the Midlands I'd expect the total to come in around £775.

What EXACTLY were you quoted for at the outset?

G_M

Impossible to say without a breakdown of the bill.

And the quote.

Some items are 'estimated' as the conveyancer cannot know what he'll have to pay to 3rd parties up front (disbursment).

Indeed, your quote may have totally excluded all disbursements, so yes, these have to be added.

Then some (cheap? online?) companies 'hide' extra charges for things that should be included. eg

* completing the SDLT form
* professional indemnity charge
* photocopying!

So get out the paperwork!