Solicitors Fees should I shop around?

Jonbvn

cattie wrote: »

They have a quote/advice line: 0800 9777 887
Website is www.Cunnington's.co.uk

The website is http://www.cunningtons.co.uk/

Richard_Webster

Have a look at Cunnington's website.

I have just submitted a request for a purchase quote for £260K freehold property.

If you compare with OP's original estimate this makes interesting reading.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax and Land Registry Fees are fixed so they can come out of the equation.

The Search fees will vary with the local authority and/or with the particular searches that each solicitor does. OP's estimate for searches was about £200 - that sounds about right. Cunningtons itemise theirs and they come to £227.14 - again not far off and not in total unreasonable.

So if you remove those elements you can try to compare like with like. To do this fairly I have assumed a mortgage of £100,000 which for a £260K property is on the low side. You will need to look at Cunnington's terms and conditions which you have to confirm you have read before you accept their quote.

By combining the quote details with the information on the terms and conditions you will see the comparison (you have to add VAT to the figures):

OP's
Legal fees: £490.00
Acting for lender £125.00
Completing SDLT Form £40.00
Bank Transfer Fee £30.00

Total £685.00 add vat £119.88 = £804.88

Cunningtons
Legal fees £349.00
Acting for lender £180.00 (assuming £100K mortgage - see their t&c)
Completing SDLT Form £75.00
Bank Transfer Fee £38.00
Postages, Photocopying And Telephone Expenses £37.50

Total so far £679.50 add vat £118.91 = £798.41

So far Cunningtons are cheaper and if you didn't spot the point about the variable fees for the mortgage then you would have thought them even cheaper!

As a solicitor I know what to look for so I read on and I find:

"the Client will also make a contribution to the Solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance (£30 plus vat)"

and

"and a contribution to the Solicitors' professional indemnity insurance in connection with acting for each lender by whom the Solicitors are instructed (£30 plus vat each)"

and

"Where the Solicitors are required to complete the transaction in fifteen working days or less after exchange of contracts expedition fees will be payable at the rate of: eleven to fifteen working days £98 plus vat plus a further £6 plus vat for each working day under eleven days."

Why do they ask for a contribution to their professional indemnity insurance? It is an overhead, as are postages etc. I would say the average time between exchange and completion is 10 working days and often less, so in most cases they are going to pick up at least a further £158 plus VAT (£185.65) which makes £984.06 against OP's original figure of £804.88.

I hope people will read this and see how important it is to read very carefully what you get when you ask for a quote - OP of course should check that there aren't similar extras hidden away in his/her quote or in documents/web pages referred to in it.


As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

lucyelizabethfryer

@ Richard Webster - Hi Richard, I'm a FTB with very little knowledge or experience of property buying. I'm currently being confounded by the number of conveyancing solicitors out there! Would you be able to point me in the direction of a good one? By 'good' I mean high-quality service and reasonable prices. I am not worried about them being local and am willing to pay more for better service, but not much more! Many thanks

G_M

lucyelizabethfryer wrote: »

@ Richard Webster - Hi Richard, I'm a FTB with very little knowledge or experience of property buying. I'm currently being confounded by the number of conveyancing solicitors out there! Would you be able to point me in the direction of a good one? By 'good' I mean high-quality service and reasonable prices. I am not worried about them being local and am willing to pay more for better service, but not much more! Many thanks

It's a bit hard asking Richard to recommend a (not necessarily local) solicitor. Why don't you PM him and ask him to act for you himself?!!

edit - I hasten to add I do not for a minute believe Richard uses this forum to tout for business - he has provided endless useful advice here.

Yorkie1

lucyelizabethfryer wrote: »

@ Richard Webster - Hi Richard, I'm a FTB with very little knowledge or experience of property buying. I'm currently being confounded by the number of conveyancing solicitors out there! Would you be able to point me in the direction of a good one? By 'good' I mean high-quality service and reasonable prices. I am not worried about them being local and am willing to pay more for better service, but not much more! Many thanks

Best place to start is to ask friends / family / colleagues for recommendations.

I deliberately went for a local, recommended solicitor, so I could just pop in when anything needed signing etc.