Solicitor asking for more money

TBagpuss

as PPs have said, you need to look at what the oiginal quote and terms of business say.

If they originally quoted £1500 for their costs but your final bill said £500, then you should pay.
If the original quote was for £500 and they now say it should have been £1500 then that is their problem, not yours.
If the figure is not for their costs, but for something such as Stamp Duty, or clearing an outstanding mortgage on your behalf, then you will have to pay.

If the scenario is the first or third one I have outlined then you have to pay, but can also make a complaint about their failure to check the figures and about the delay in informing you.

If you were paying their costs on an hourly rate rather than a fixed fee (unusual in conveyancing, but possible) then you can ask them for a break down showing how the costs have been calculated.

Is this actually a solicitor or is it a conveyancing farm?

kimbyanne

Same thing has happened to us. A couple of weeks before completion, our solicitor emails the bill over and its less than we expected. I even queried the fact it was less but was told it was correct to paid and thought no more of it.

Two weeks later, I get an email to say there has been a mistake and we owe them another £500. They also tried to pin the blame on the other parties solicitors, which I uncovered was total lies - it was their fault.

I tell them that I queried the bill and they told me it was correct and covered everything so I am not stumping up another £500 and that they made the mistake, they can cover it.

They refused, it got nasty. They said if we didn't pay, they wouldn't register our purchase with the Land Registry....

In the end I told them that considering we are first time buyers and plowed every penny we had into the house, if they want the money - they will have to agree to a payment plan as we don't have £500 spare. I now pay them £20 a month (could have done more, but they annoyed me so I went in with a low offer) but I intend to pay it off entirely in a few months. I just like making it difficult for them.

Ebany

We had a call from ours a couple of weeks after we completed saying they had miscalculated and owed them more money - given I had looked very carefully at the final statement as I was quite annoyed with all the extra charges they had lumped on, I was pretty sure this was wrong. I said if they could show me where the mistake was made I would be happy to pay, but I wasn't just going to take a random request for more money as reason to send them several hundred pounds.

Oddly enough, a short while later they called back to say they made a mistake in thinking they made a mistake, and actually we were all paid up. I remain very suspicious, and wonder how many people who are less detail oriented and unwilling to argue just accept what they are told...

Thrugelmir

foxsake123 wrote: »

Nothing specific. Just that the invoice was wrongly calculated by them.

Most people could surely do this in the real world also. Go back to customers and say: 'Sorry we miscalculated, you owe use more' I would've expected this not to be possible.

The costs and disbursements are fully detailed. So the difference should be obvious.

A fair chunk of the costs of conveyancing aren't fees. Just disbursements which the solicitors pay on your behalf then seek reimbursement. So it's not as if the solicitors are making any money on the additional costs levied.

C_Mababejive

Typical ripoff solicitor. They give you a quote and then try and fleece you with hidden charges. Get Dom Littlewood onto them....oh iforgot,hes too cowardly and prefers to chase builders..

45002

foxsake123 wrote: »

I've paid all that they billed me for.
But, they are saying i owe an extra £1000 due to their miscalculation.

Hello foxsake123.

Due to there miscalculation, there fault leave it for a while and see what happen don't just cough up !

May be worth your while popping along to one of your local CAB offices/ local law center and show them all the paper work see what they say .

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

45002 wrote: »

Hello foxsake123.

Due to there miscalculation, there fault leave it for a while and see what happen don't just cough up !

May be worth your while popping along to one of your local CAB offices/ local law center and show them all the paper work see what they say .

They will say this:

"As it was a miscalculation, you have to pay"

Do you seriously think because it's their fault that they can't correct a mistake?

When my employer accidentally paid me twice in one month because I have the same name as a colleague, do you think I was able to tell them to get stuffed because it was their mistake?