Security of Funds Lodged with Solicitor

HelpMe65

Hi there,

When transferring funds to a solicitor in preparation for exchange/completion, are these monies secure in the event that the solicitor ceases to trade?

I just have visions of the solicitor seeing £150,000 of my money appearing in their account one morning and thinking "Bahamas, here I come!'

I may well be paranoid, but that money took me ages to save and I trust no-one!

Solicitor is BPL Law (and I state here for the record that I am NOT doubting their integrity - it is more of a general question).

Any guidance much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pete

Yorkie1

The funds are held in client account and protected by the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (or whatever it's called now) in the hugely unlikely event of anything going wrong.

If a solicitor ran off with it, they are looking at years and years in jail. They really aren't going to risk it.

Relax.

Dan-Dan

God almighty and i thought i was uptight about the whole buying process!

ognum

I agree as above the funds are kept in a Client Account.

However for the first time ever I heard of a solicitors firm going into liquidation earlier this year. I am sure it happens I had just never come across it.

I was buying a house and the vendor used this solicitor, it took a while to extract the documentation and move on, no money had been handed over except the vendors money for searches etc, they didn't get that back as far as I know!

Lord_Baltimore

HelpMe65 wrote: »

I just have visions of the solicitor seeing £150,000 of my money appearing in their account one morning and thinking "Bahamas, here I come!'

With respect Pete, no solicitor is going to jump for £150k. It is a lot of money to you and me but to risk jail? No, I don't think so.

If anyone does a runner, and it's not unheard of, it will be for a lot more than that.

HelpMe65

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

With respect Pete, no solicitor is going to jump for £150k. It is a lot of money to you and me but to risk jail? No, I don't think so.

If anyone does a runner, and it's not unheard of, it will be for a lot more than that.

They might not jump for £150k, but if there are 10 other people at the same stage as me, jumping for £1.5 million may be more tempting !

I know I'm being paranoid, but that money took me 20 years to earn, so I'd rather avoid financing a jolly-up for a solicitor if I can help it

G_M

If the firm goes bust, your money is safe - it is held in a seperate 'client account'.

If the solicitor does a runner (highly unlikely but feasible) their indemnity insurance would pay out.

Don't wish to scare you, but a far greater risk is your solicitor is duped into sending the money to the "vendor's" solicitor, only to find that the account details provided are fraudulant and the vendor is not actually selling at all!

See recent case...

http://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/mortgage-solutions/news/2231818/new-solicitor-search-tool-aims-to-combat-fraud

Lord_Baltimore

HelpMe65 wrote: »

......but if there are 10 other people at the same stage as me, jumping for £1.5 million may be more tempting !

That's an active imagination you have there Pete. How do you sleep at night?

I'm guessing that if needs be you are tooled up and ready to go postal if that sneaky solicitor of yours heads for the hills with your hard-earned?

LadyLavender

Hi. I'm in the same situation as Pete. I am purchasing a new property with cash and I'm not very happy with the company of solicitors that I'm using due to their habit of not returning calls, not acknowledging emails, not passing on messages and generally not communicating with me or each other. This has caused my mind to work overtime and become worried about the security of my money once it has been transferred to their account.

This is probably a silly question but is there any way of ensuring that they do have indemnity insurance? Or should I just ask them to see a copy of their certificate?

Thank you.

Rachel

zzzLazyDaisy

LadyLavender wrote: »

This is probably a silly question but is there any way of ensuring that they do have indemnity insurance? Or should I just ask them to see a copy of their certificate?

Thank you.

Rachel

If this is a firm of solicitors, you can be assured that they do have liability insurance because solicitors have to renew their practicing certificates annually and liability insurance is a condition of this. In any event it is a striking off offence to practice without insurance, so this is a high priority for all firms of solicitors (ie where a group of solicitors work together in the same practice). Having said that, if you ask, they should provide you with some proof of this.

tim123456789

Yorkie1 wrote: »

The funds are held in client account and protected by the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (or whatever it's called now) in the hugely unlikely event of anything going wrong.

If a solicitor ran off with it, they are looking at years and years in jail. They really aren't going to risk it.

Relax.

my cousin's did

But as has been said, the funds are protected by the professional body and she got her money back

tim