Solicitor increasing fees at last minute

rtho782

Just to update, the solicitor agreed to drop the £200 increase, and all is right with the world again.

I'll edit the original post for privacy but hate it when posters don't give me closure on what happened with a story!!

System

I would ask why they didn't let you know when you were incurring additional fees as they should have agreed anything outside of their original scope with you prior to undertaking the work.

davidmcn

the_r_sole wrote: »

I would ask why they didn't let you know when you were incurring additional fees as they should have agreed anything outside of their original scope with you prior to undertaking the work.

They're some way off completion so essentially they are agreeing what the fee will be before they carry out the remaining work. Nothing in theory wrong with that, though if as the OP suggests they have been wasting time with spurious queries then no harm in arguing with them how much of their work has actually been necessary.

observations_from_a_hill

Are you buying a property with no vehicular rights of access at all?

rtho782

observations_from_a_hill wrote: »

Are you buying a property with no vehicular rights of access at all?

The front of the property has been tarmaced by the current owners, but was originally lawn. There is a drop kerb but it is slightly offset from the property, it originally had only onstreet parking (which most of the properties still depend on, there is no shortage of it, with bays etc).

This has lead them to the opinion that we also cannot walk from the public footpath to the tarmac, and our gas/electrcity/water/sewerage has no consent to cross the public highway.

observations_from_a_hill

I assume this is a conventional street with road & pavements, & present owners have hard-surfaced the front garden to provide unauthorised off-road parking. If so, of course you are entitled to walk across the pavement ("footway" in Highways language) to reach the house. If the dropped kerb wasn't provided to access the front garden then you're not entitled to drive vehicles over the pavement, & would be liable for the cost of any damage caused by doing so, but I expect you already know this. Indemnity policy would be stupid for this IMO, & I would challenge any attempt to charge you for the time spent (wasted!) pondering this nonsense.

dc197

rtho782 wrote: »

If they have spent lots of time dealing with indemnity polcies, it's because they are trying to argue things like "we have no right of access to the property", which they backed down on

Costs aside.

Why are you arguing with your legal rep, whose interest is to protect you, when he is warning you about a possible access issue? They're on your side, they're not the opposition.

Arthritic_Toe

In my view, they offer a fixed price quotation to win your business. This quote is a gamble on their part and is presumably based on an 'average' completion. Some will turn out to be simpler than average and some will turn out to be more complex. Overall, they will be setting their fixed price to be low enough to win business and to deliver a profit over time. To then turn around and moan about the complicated ones and ask for more money is out of order. Damn right you should challenge it.

alchemist.1

If it is a fixed fee matter I think it's very cheeky to ask for extra 200 plus vat. It was their risk to take.

ReadingTim

Suggest you read the quote and the accompanying T&Cs to see what it actually says, rather than what you think it says - for example:

• is it a fixed fee, a quote, or merely an estimate? You might find the amount is actually an average, assuming no major hiccups along the way
• other costs, eg relating to the help to buy ISA - included or separate from the quote. If separate, are they listed and itemised?

It sounds like your case hasn't been straightforward, and complexity adds time, and time is money! It seems you've also been a little argumentative in your dealings with them, given they're duty-bound to have your best interests at heart - whether you recognise this or not!

That said, sometimes you, as the client, needs to tell them what to do, and make a commercial decision to accept a risk (or whatever), rather than have endless legal exchanges with the other side. Furthermore, it's a bit cheeky of them to only let you know now that they'd busted their fee cap, and need more money - it would have been better had they informed you when they'd reached that limit, rather than got several hundreds of pounds over it.

In terms of remedy, there's little you can do without wasting more time and money - as solicitors, they're going to be fairly well up on the law in terms of drawing up contracts, billing etc so you're unlikely to have any luck here. Furthermore, by signing them, you've agreed to them, regardless of what you now think of them. I suppose you could complain (via their internal complaints route first and then to the SRA or legal ombudsman) but I doubt it'll result in much more than a mild slap on the wrist for the firm.

Finally, how much is the property costing you? And you're arguing over a few hundred quid...?!? I know every penny counts, but really.... It's likely to be a drop in the ocean in the grand scheme of things, so get over it.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this thought - future buyers may encounter the same issues as you did. Get them sorted now, otherwise you'll experience them again when you come to sell it.

stator

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