Solicitor requesting money 1 year later - Invoice error

bricksalad

Hi there,

I purchased my house a year ago.
I paid the solicitor for conveyancing as outlined in the invoice received.

1 year down the line I'm contacted by them stating that the land registry fees were higher than they invoiced me for i.e. postal cost higher than electronic for land registry. They would like me to pay the difference.

I think that's unfair as I was invoiced a certain amount and it's not really my problem if they didn't inform me correctly at the time.

The land registry fee I paid is the one that was always presented to me i.e. from the very initial quote on which I made my decision to go ahead with the solicitor.

Any thoughts on my position?

marliepanda

bricksalad wrote: »

Hi there,

I purchased my house a year ago.
I paid the solicitor for conveyancing as outlined in the invoice received.

1 year down the line I'm contacted by them stating that the land registry fees were higher than they invoiced me for i.e. postal cost higher than electronic for land registry. They would like me to pay the difference.

I think that's unfair as I was invoiced a certain amount and it's not really my problem if they didn't inform me correctly at the time.

The land registry fee I paid is the one that was always presented to me i.e. from the very initial quote on which I made my decision to go ahead with the solicitor.

Any thoughts on my position?

At any point did you request a difference in how your LR was processed?

fromtheshires

You owe the money, pay it. Do you really want to take on a legal firm who will have bigger pockets than you?

Mistakes can and do happen. If you noticed that you had overpaid a year later they would refund you.

You can try a letter but if they have billed you 12 months on, I can probably guess what the answer will be

bricksalad

I didn't request a difference in how I wanted the LR fee paid.

I can see where you're coming from fromtheshires, but I feel it's fundamentally wrong for someone to advertise something at a certain price and then retract that after everything has been paid for.

If they have the ability to send the land registry application electronically and that's what I've been quoted for then why do it by post and tell me 1 year later?

bricksalad

At the same time I appreciate I'm against a solicitor and so I do wonder if there's any point contesting it.

They have said in the letter that I'm entitled to have my charges reviewed by the court.

eddddy

I would certainly ask the solicitors why they chose to make a postal submission, when it sounds like they contractually agreed to make an electronic submission.

How much is the difference in cost?

marliepanda

If you were quoted price X for the LR submission, and they chose to do it a way that cost price Y, I don't think that you should have to pay it, as you never agreed to that charge.

bricksalad

It's £135.

marliepanda

bricksalad wrote: »

It's £135.

Just based on my recent purchase, I agreed to pay £75 LR fee.

If next year they ask me for an extra £135 for something I didnt ask for, I would not be paying it.

Ask them why they changed the way they did the LR submission as you neither asked them to nor agreed to them doing it... you may find they backtrack.

LEJC

How much are you now being asked to pay?

I seem to remember that when we purchased a property around 18 months ago we were told by our solicitor that the charge could be £x or £y dependant on how something was submitted....I think LR may have been going through a reorganisation process or something.

We paid the higher amount and when it subsequently was confirmed that the registration had taken place the other way we received a refund of the difference.

I have no idea if this is what has happened to you ...but it may appear that you had the opposite happen during your purchase.

perhaps you could raise your question with the LR representative who frequents the LR questions thread to see if they can clarify why your registration may have cost more.

bricksalad

LEJC wrote: »

How much are you now being asked to pay?

I seem to remember that when we purchased a property around 18 months ago we were told by our solicitor that the charge could be £x or £y dependant on how something was submitted....I think LR may have been going through a reorganisation process or something.

We paid the higher amount and when it subsequently was confirmed that the registration had taken place the other way we received a refund of the difference.

I have no idea if this is what has happened to you ...but it may appar that you had the opposite happen during your purchase.

Essentially the reverse as you say. I don't know if the reason is the same.

I'll do as has been suggested and report back.