Billed for 3x original quote by Conveyancers

benjus

kinger101 wrote: »

And how vague is "dealing with appointments"? Er.....isn't that part of the inclusive service.

It says "apportionments" not "appointments".

I don't think there's much more anyone can say without seeing the full breakdown and the original quote.

kinger101

benjus wrote: »

It says "apportionments" not "appointments".

I don't think there's much more anyone can say without seeing the full breakdown and the original quote.

Oh yeah.

Well, it's certainly not "all in".

TBagpuss

Enquiries raised in title report £96 raising / dealing with enquiries is normally part of the standard conveyancing job. Why is there an extra charge?
TT fee: purchase monies to sellers sol £54 I would normally expect a fee of around £30 + VAt, so this is high, but if they quoted this at the outset you can't argue with it now
TT fee: stamp duty payment to inland revenue £54
Id verification, Lawyer verification, online tracking - I suspect you will find that these were all hidden in the small print print
Chancel repair £20 were you asked whether you wanted this? It is a search fee or insurance?
Search seeker £20 what is this?
verification of buildings insurance fee £35 again, probably in the small print. Mortgage conditions require that there is insurance in place but I have never seen a solicitor charge separately for checking it.
Copy title deeds following completion £51.60 are there actually title deeds? Or just office copy entrys from the Land Registry? Are they charging you for photocopying, or what

I think you are likely to find, if you read through the small print, that all of these things were listed originally. Unfortunately with this kind of company what they end to do is list a low fee to reel you in, and then treat as extras a lot of stuff which a solicitor would include in the original quote.

Of all the things you have listed, I would expect additional fees for

Mortgage lender fee £102
Leasehold property £150

Obtaining/drafting deed of covenant £120 maybe. if this was unusual or nexpected. Its pretty common in kleasholds so should be included in any additional costs charged for the fact it is leasehold not freehold
Preparing declaration of trust £120
Stamp duty land tax return fee £78
TT fee: purchase monies to sellers sol £54 but would expect it to be around £36
TT fee: stamp duty payment to inland revenue £54 but would expect it to be around £36
Electronic client ID fee £48 were you told about this?If it is standard, I would expect it to be included in the headline quote. If it was because you could not attend or send ID documents then it is not unreasonable

No complete no fee product £48 were you asked if you wanted this?
Electronic SDLT submission £18
Copy search fee £36 depends what it is
Chancel repair £20 reasonable if you asked for it or if the property has potential liability

pinkteapot

Most of the things on that list should have been included in the original quote, if they quoted you for the basic legal fee plus all disbursements. Are you sure the quote wasn't £950 for the conveyancing fee alone? (though that would be high!)

Whenever I've had quotes from solicitors, they've listed out all the individual elements and told me which ones can vary in cost. I've moved a few times and have always paid roughly what was quoted.

Only unexpected additional costs due to an unusual purchase should have been added. In your case an extra round of searches and maybe some extra for having to deal with a second mortgage offer being issued.

Have you said to them "Why is this so much more than the original quote?" and what have they said?

Marktheshark

was the quote in writing ?

Catti

A couple of years ago, I acted for some friends when they moved house. They initially got a quote from the same place for peanuts! I suggested that if they really thought that would be the end charges, go with it as I couldn't afford to do it for that even for friends!
On further analysis of the 'quote' they discovered how little it actually covered......

ToeDipper

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's quite unusual for married couples to have a deed of trust? Did you ask for this, and if not, were you actually given one to sign?

As kinger101 said, there is no need to send the SDLT funds by CHAPS - you have 30 days to pay. Also, what's with the fee for the online submission of the SDLT return? Would a paper return have been cheaper - were you given the choice? If there's no difference in the fee for an online vs paper submission, then why on earth have they separated the return fee from the submission fee? What's the point of paying them to complete an SDLT return if they're not going to submit it?!

OrangeMinxy

I wish I had seen these comments when I found Convey Law. I haven't had the bill yet but they've delayed the purchase, failed to identify things about the building which need extra indemnity, insisting on their own chosen (expensive) indemnity whereby it's the vendor's responsibility.

I'm experienced in buying, didn't see it coming and wish reliable reviews were available. They're totally incompetent, shrewd, a rip off and the vendor's solicitor and the estate agent cannot believe they're in business. Legal? Barely. Please avoid. Wish I had.

G_M

Enquiries raised in title report £96 raising / dealing with enquiries is normally part of the standard conveyancing job. Why is there an extra charge?
TT fee: purchase monies to sellers sol £54 I would normally expect a fee of around £30 + VAt, so this is high, but if they quoted this at the outset you can't argue with it now
TT fee: stamp duty payment to inland revenue £54
Id verification, Lawyer verification, online tracking - I suspect you will find that these were all hidden in the small print print
Chancel repair £20 were you asked whether you wanted this? It is a search fee or insurance?
Search seeker £20 what is this?
verification of buildings insurance fee £35 again, probably in the small print. Mortgage conditions require that there is insurance in place but I have never seen a solicitor charge separately for checking it.
Copy title deeds following completion £51.60 are there actually title deeds? Or just office copy entrys from the Land Registry? Are they charging you for photocopying, or what..

I think you are likely to find, if you read through the small print, that all of these things were listed originally.

It is always wise to read quotes, and the associated Terms & Conditions, in detail, to ensure you understand fully what you are committing to, and what the final cost might be.

This obviously applies equally whether using a high street solicitors, or an online company, but where one quote is significantly less than others, as appears to have been the case here with conveylaw, it is prudent to ask yourself why, and ensure you have a full understanding.

speedystill123

I too, wish I had read this before dealing with these idiots ! I will give more details when our house completes on Friday of this week, after weeks of phone calls and sending the same things repeatedly because Convey Law had misplaced files or blamed the other solicitor . Most stress we've ever had moving and the costs are more than double their estimate ???????????????????