Making a complaint to solicitors after selling - Any advice?

StillWelsh

I recently sold a property. It was the only property in the chain as there was no forward purchase and I sold to first time buyers. Just before completion, the solicitor sent me a bill which was incorrect as they overcharged me for their fees and did not include the retention fee which had been agreed with the buyer's solicitor. Had I not made them aware and the buyer's had claimed the retention at some point this clearly could have caused an issue. Just under a week after 'completion' I discovered they hadn't paid off my mortgage and that they hadn't got me to sign the transfer of deeds document. I am planning to put in a formal complaint as I think these were pretty big oversights and would like to request some money off their fees based on this but wondering if anyone with legal knowledge can give any advice on how to approach this or advise me what the consequences would have been if the transfer document hadn't been done.

ReadingTim

So, there were a couple of errors, but they were spotted and sorted. What was your actual loss? - no, not what might have been the case, what did you actually lose?

Solicitors are human beings, and human beings make mistakes. You might try and get some sort of reduction in the fees on account of these mistakes, but I suspect that short of a 'goodwill gesture' of (say) £50, you're probably on a hiding to nothing, given you haven't actually suffered any disadvantage.

G_M

As ReadingTim says.

No harm in a letter expressing disapointment with the service, listing the issues, and highlighting any that are ongoing/still need resolving.

But I'd word it politely rather than as a formal complaint - more likely to engender a sympathetic response and gesture of goodwill.

Make it a formal complant and it will be dealt with formally - and dismissed.

eddddy

As others say, if their mistake has caused you to suffer a loss (e.g. you paid extra interest on your mortgage, because it was repaid late) - then you can claim for that.

If you were inconvenienced by their mistake (e.g. you had to write lots of letters/emails, make lots of phone calls), you could suggest that they pay you a few pounds as a goodwill gesture.


But as an individual, you have no legal powers to 'fine' a solicitor for making a mistake.

StillWelsh

Apologies, formal complaint was incorrect wording. I meant send an email direct to the solicitor outlining why I was unhappy with the service rather than formally complain via ombudsman, I'm certainly not attempting to 'fine' the solicitor.


I will be getting a reduced refund on my mortgage due to this error as my mortgage account was open for longer than it would have been but my bigger concern was that when I did some reading, some sites were suggesting that the completion wasn't valid without the transfer document.


I'm not trying to be difficult or gain financially but I did feel that they were quite significant errors given that they are (as far as I am aware) standard procedures when selling a property and they were only corrected because I had spotted them and informed the solicitor. As such, I didn't think a small reduction of their fee was unreasonable but it seems that the general consensus is that I'm overreacting. Thanks for the replies.

G_M

StillWelsh wrote: »

Apologies, formal complaint was incorrect wording. I meant send an email direct to the solicitor outlining why I was unhappy with the service rather than formally complain via ombudsman, I'm certainly not attempting to 'fine' the solicitor.
You cannot make a formal complaint to an ombudsman (the SRA ) until you have made a formal complaint to the firm of solicitors. Only if that complaint is rejected can you approach the SRA.

But as advised, you can express your concern witthout following the firm's complaints procedure.

I will be getting a reduced refund on my mortgage due to this error as my mortgage account was open for longer than it would have been
So you really have suffered no financal loss yes?

but my bigger concern was that when I did some reading, some sites were suggesting that the completion wasn't valid without the transfer document.
Well if that's true - lucky you!

You have (I assume) received the money from the sale (and eventually got your mortgage paid off) and yet you still own a property worth £X00,000 ! You could now sell it again and be quids in. You should be sending the solicitor a letter of thanks!

(your buyer, on the other hand, really would have grounds for a complaint against his solicitor).

Hope you get a small gesture of goodwill. Let us know.

steampowered

A billing error does not sound significant to me.

However failing to discharge a mortgage would be extremely serious. I do not understand how the buyer would have been able to complete without the mortgage being discharged?

StillWelsh

I have had contact with the buyer throughout and I know that they experienced some issues with their solicitor. Should I inform them of what's happened and get them to check from their side that all is well? My biggest worry genuinely is the legal side and I don't want the buyers to experience any issues as a result of this. Equally, I don't want to contact them and worry them unnecessarily.

TBagpuss

Not paying off the mortgage and not getting you to sign the trnasfer properly are fairly large oversights.

As with any complaint, a good approach is to be clear and factual.

Set out
- what they did (or didn't do)
- why you feel that is an issue (e.g. the failure to pay off the mortgage on completion day meant I incurred additional interest charges, and I believe was also a breach of contract between me and the buyer)
- what you want them to do to correct their error (e.g. provide you with proof that the mortgage has now been discharged, and confirmation that the transfer has been properly registered, reimburse you for the additional costs / losses you have suffered,

If you want an apology and/or explanation of how the errors occurred, say so.

If you think they should reduce your fees then say that, too

check your original client care letter or terms of business - normally this will set out what the complaints process is, and if so, follow that. If not, then send the letter marked as 'complaint' to the person you have been dealing with, and either way, ask for a response within a set time (5 working days would be reasonable.

it would be reasonable for you to expect them to correct the errors and provide confirmation that that has been done, to reimburse you for any actual losses and to refund/reduce your bill by a small amount for the inconvenience

dannim12345

I complained about my solicitor (I was buying), various issues including trying to overcharge me, being so hard to contact (by all parties) the seller was treating to pull out etc.

Ther was no lose but I believe the service I received was very poor so after complition I followed their internal complaints procedure and I was offered a good will gesture of around 25% of the fee.