Estate Agent quoted incorrect price

RocketRonnie_2

Hi, could anyone offer any advice please.
We are using our estate agent's solicitor to buy & sell our house. The estate agent quoted a price for the solicitor, which we agreed on (and checked with them on two separate occasions that there were no further charges to be added to the quoted price).
We now have a bill for £1000 more than the estate agent originaly quoted. They have admitted it was an error on their part, but have told us we could cancel & get another solicitor. Problem is, everything is now in motion and we don't want to change, does anyone know if we have any right to demand the original price quoted?

Thanks

kingstreet

What did the written quotation from the solicitor say when you received that?

At best, the EA can give a verbal approximation.

Solicitors linked to EAs can offer poor service and even poorer value for money as there may be referral fees of £200 or more, per transaction.

kwmlondon

I changed solicitors about 5 weeks into a sale. However, are you sure you'll get a better deal if you go elsewhere? I can recommend https://www.easier2move.co.uk as being very capable.

zzzLazyDaisy

Are you sure that the additional costs relate to solicitor's fees, and not disbursements such as searches, stamp duty, land registry fees etc?

jacobtheamish

Are the Estate Agent and Solicitor independant businesses?

As Daisy says above, Solicitor fees and disbursements are two different things.

I would always go with an Estate Agents recommendation as they are as motivated as you that the sale proceeds smoothly and quickly.

I used to get a £100 referral fee from the Solicitors we recommended, but I was more motivated by a good firm than the £100 tbh. A bad solicitor can cause a sale to fall through, losing a £3500 fee over £100 is obvious mathematics.

Mallotum_X

jacobtheamish wrote: »

Are the Estate Agent and Solicitor independant businesses?

As Daisy says above, Solicitor fees and disbursements are two different things.

I would always go with an Estate Agents recommendation as they are as motivated as you that the sale proceeds smoothly and quickly.

I used to get a £100 referral fee from the Solicitors we recommended, but I was more motivated by a good firm than the £100 tbh. A bad solicitor can cause a sale to fall through, losing a £3500 fee over £100 is obvious mathematics.

I would always avoid an Estate agents recommendation as the solicitor will either be connected with the agent or be keen to get more work from the agent. Far safer (and often cheaper/better) to use an independent.