Strange situation.

BNB_2

Help needed.


I have been sent the invoice by my solicitor for the purchase of my new house. The invoice shows all the money I owe which include her charges, Stamp duty, minus the deposit I have paid.

All the above is clearly laid out with its values.

However when you total up the whole invoice the sum is wrong. She has forgotten to add the stamp duty on the final total even though she has specified it on the invoice.

Cheekily, I have paid the total amount she has asked for and not pointed out the mistake to her as its in my favour. 2 days later when she received my cheque she thanked me and said the completion of my house is going ahead smoothly.

My question is can she now ask for the money ?????
PS i have checked the calculatins 1000 times and have had other people check them too they are deffo wrong!

homer_j_3

Well the mistake will come to light when they have to send the money off to pay the stamp duty.

I am guessing when they spot it that they will send you a letter asking politely. If you refuse then I am sure they will chase you for it. You owe the money and admin mistakes can happen and just because they have made an error like this, it does not mean you get out of paying it. Solicitors are not the best people to be trying it on with to be fair.

I would put the money to one saide earning you interest and wait for them to ask. If they dont ask, you have a call to make and live with the consequences of whatever that call may be.

Just be prepared to be chased for it at somepoint when they realise.

BNB_2

I have no intention of spending the money and is in a high savings account and ready to pay when asked for but when asked do i have to pay ??

dunstonh

BNB wrote: »

I have no intention of spending the money and is in a high savings account and ready to pay when asked for but when asked do i have to pay ??

Yes. You are liable to pay. An error like that doesnt remove your liability.

Strangely enough, it is actually quite a common error. I dont know what type of calculators they use at solicitors but they arent that reliable

Scott

I've joked many times about sending calculators to all the solicitors I have to deal with. It seems that adding up a few figures is beyond them....

In short, they'll be in touch shortly for the money, and you may actually cause a bit of a delay in getting the whole thing sorted out.

Jonbvn

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes. You are liable to pay. An error like that doesnt remove your liability.

Strangely enough, it is actually quite a common error. I dont know what type of calculators they use at solicitors but they arent that reliable

This aligns exactly with my experience. When I got the final invoice from the solicitor, they conveniently forgot the 25k deposit I had already paid!!!!

BNB_2

just a quick update. Two weeks after completion of the house. I have moved into my house. Still no call from the solicitors asking for the money. The money is in a high savings account earning me much needed intrest!! I wonder when they will come to me ~:)

Vincenzo

BNB, If I were you I would contact your solicitor to sort this out. By law YOU are liable to pay the stamp duty on your purchase. My brother recently had to pay a fine for late payment of stamp duty, despite it being the solicitor's failure to forward the funds to the tax office in time.

Jammasterjizz

BNB, I agree with Vicenzo. Somebody will catch up with you eventually, and it may not be pretty.

Personally, I find most solicitors almost criminally incompetent. For a so- called 'profession' the service you get is generally awful.

Rick62

Jammaster, you are not allowed to promote your business in your tag, please read the guidelines for brokers.

BNB_2

Can i find out for myself if it has been paid or not. I really dont want to go back to her. She was probs the worst person i have ever delt with in my entire life. She was bad at everything she did!!!