Expensive solicitors bill!

max1805

Hello everyone, new here and currently in the process of buying a flat.

The other day I received a draft bill from my solicitors stating how much my final bill was looking to be. In the beginning I received a quote from them which outlined some costs. The new draft bill is over £650 more! And that is before you take into account we've already paid £475 on account. I was expecting it would probably be slightly more, but this is considerably more than I was originally quoted. There are items such as 'Tax Return: £100' which were never included in the quote. Surely that isn't specific to my case and is a requirement for all property purchases??

We're buying a leasehold and naturally I understand that there will be a few more additional costs, but things like 'Gift Administration Fee: £75' seem absolutely crazy! It's littered with fees like this, some of which sound like they would only require a simple email or phone call from their side of things.

They're convenyancing fee is £750+ and our final bill is £2,600+! Does this sound about right? There is nothing extraordinary that we've had to pay for. There are no additional searches on the property or things like that. It's just a straightforward leasehold property. They were made aware I was purchasing a leasehold property from the beginning so surely they would have factored any additional costs in their original quote?

Having spoken to people who have recently moved, they said this bill sounds very high.

Any advice / opinions on this?

TIA!

Comms69

max1805 wrote: »

Hello everyone, new here and currently in the process of buying a flat.

The other day I received a draft bill from my solicitors stating how much my final bill was looking to be. In the beginning I received a quote from them which outlined some costs. The new draft bill is over £650 more! And that is before you take into account we've already paid £475 on account. I was expecting it would probably be slightly more, but this is considerably more than I was originally quoted. There are items such as 'Tax Return: £100' which were never included in the quote. Surely that isn't specific to my case and is a requirement for all property purchases??

We're buying a leasehold and naturally I understand that there will be a few more additional costs, but things like 'Gift Administration Fee: £75' seem absolutely crazy! It's littered with fees like this, some of which sound like they would only require a simple email or phone call from their side of things.

They're convenyancing fee is £750+ and our final bill is £2,600+! Does this sound about right? There is nothing extraordinary that we've had to pay for. There are no additional searches on the property or things like that. It's just a straightforward leasehold property. They were made aware I was purchasing a leasehold property from the beginning so surely they would have factored any additional costs in their original quote?

Having spoken to people who have recently moved, they said this bill sounds very high.

Any advice / opinions on this?

TIA!

It sounds like it 'could' be on the high side. I always estimate £1500 for conveyancing, but that's up north where things are generally cheaper.

2bFrank

A £2,600 bill is very extremely high bill for simple conveyancing, but it depends what is included in that bill. If disbursements are included in the bill (things like leasehold transfer costs, which the solicitor would not be able to know from the start) then £2,600 maybe about right.

There is the extra admin for things like gift deposits, HTB or lifetime ISAs etc, so I would expect them to add this cost.

SmashedAvacado

This is shoddy.
I would query it with them.
Was it a quote (ie fixed fee) or an estimate?
They are obliged to be very clear in relation to what you are charged for.


Without seeing the scope of work you agreed with them (and the other documentation they sent), its difficult to say for sure whether you have a cast iron objection. But i would object regardless.

davidmcn

Hard to tell without a breakdown, but I would expect a fee quote to include any complications which they already know about.

"Gift administration" is I presume because of a gifted deposit - that would normally involve checking the donor's ID, the source of their funds, and getting confirmation from them that it's a gift - £75 isn't necessarily outrageous for that.

Charging separately for the SDLT return is fairly normal (no, not every transaction requires one).

G_M

Was this a cheap online firm? Many will quote low fes to get business, but exclude various aspects which they charge extra for.


Completing the SDLT form (tax) is classic. Yes, it is part of conveyancing as every transaction requires the form, but some firms exclude it (you could DIY if your lender permits) and add on £50 (£100 !!!!) for doing it.


Other non-standard activities require extra work and get aded on.


The leson here for next time, and for others, is o compare quotes very carefully. Those additional charges should have en listed somewhere in the quote - maybe deep in the T&Cs not the quote itself.

max1805

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Just to clarify on a few points, these solicitors were recommended to us by our mortgage advisor but we were by no means obliged to go with them. The only thing we were advised on was not going for someone who seemed 'too cheap'. To speed things up we just went with their recommendation. I don't think I can name business' on here can I? Anyway, the solicitors seem to be very reputable and are one of the leading ones in the UK. They work on a remote basis, so we just exchange emails / phone calls rather than face to face meetings.

To give you an idea - our original quote, titled 'Illustration of fees and anticipated expenses' came out at £5,917. That includes stamp duty which we are not paying as we're first time buyers. That therefore brings the amount down to £2,167. We have then made a payment on account of £475 which should now bring it down to £1,692.

Our latest bill titled 'Draft' is coming out at £2,684.80. This does include disbursements like 'Dead of Covenant Fee' etc, but I'm surprised this was all left out in the original quote despite them knowing we were purchasing a leasehold. I understand they can't give us exact numbers, but an indication as to these types of charges should have been disclosed.

I would expect this from a cheap solicitors - but I intentionally went with them because they weren't the cheapest and didn't expect them to land all these extra disbursements on me.

anselld

max1805 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for your replies.

Just to clarify on a few points, these solicitors were recommended to us by our mortgage advisor but we were by no means obliged to go with them. The only thing we were advised on was not going for someone who seemed 'too cheap'. To speed things up we just went with their recommendation. I don't think I can name business' on here can I? Anyway, the solicitors seem to be very reputable and are one of the leading ones in the UK. They work on a remote basis, so we just exchange emails / phone calls rather than face to face meetings.

To give you an idea - our original quote, titled 'Illustration of fees and anticipated expenses' came out at £5,917. That includes stamp duty which we are not paying as we're first time buyers. That therefore brings the amount down to £2,167. We have then made a payment on account of £475 which should now bring it down to £1,692.

Our latest bill titled 'Draft' is coming out at £2,684.80. This does include disbursements like 'Dead of Covenant Fee' etc, but I'm surprised this was all left out in the original quote despite them knowing we were purchasing a leasehold. I understand they can't give us exact numbers, but an indication as to these types of charges should have been disclosed.

I would expect this from a cheap solicitors - but I intentionally went with them because they weren't the cheapest and didn't expect them to land all these extra disbursements on me.

I doubt that the recommendation was really with. View to speeding the process, it is because the mortgage adviser gets. Referral kick-back.

Disbursements are not "landed on you" by your Solicitors, they are necessary result of the property you decided to purchase. Freeholders, management companies, etc are the ones who come in with surprise fees which cannot be known until enquiries are made by your Solicitors. Fair enough they could have warned you, but it is not them larding it up at least as far as disbursements are concerned.

FreeBear

max1805 wrote: »

T They work on a remote basis, so we just exchange emails / phone calls rather than face to face meetings.

The solicitors will have a 'per time unit' charge for dealing with every phone call, email, and letter opened. Depending on their rates, it could be as little as £25, or as much as £100. On top of that, they would charge for the time taken to respond to each email/letter/phone call - These little snippets of time quickly add up especially if you have been badgering them constantly.

max1805

I can certainly confirm I have not been 'badgering' them throughout the process, (I've made 1 phone call and 5 emails in the 5 weeks since the process started) and their fees were fixed for conveyancing. It's all the additional costs relating to leasehold property that were never disclosed or projected in their original quote. They knew I was purchasing a leasehold from the outset so should have disclosed any potential expenses.

Anyway, I have since followed up on this with the estate and agents and my mortgage advisor, both of which agree there is a significant discrepancy in the final draft bill.

I have also emailed the solicitors regarding my concerns, so fingers crossed I hear back from them soon!

studentguy

FreeBear wrote: »

The solicitors will have a 'per time unit' charge for dealing with every phone call, email, and letter opened. Depending on their rates, it could be as little as £25, or as much as £100. On top of that, they would charge for the time taken to respond to each email/letter/phone call - These little snippets of time quickly add up especially if you have been badgering them constantly.

Only if the contract stated those fees. I badgered my solicitors pretty often as they were useless and nothing would have gotten done if we hadn't - they had all the figures wrong in the completion statement for gods sake! However, we weren't charged for this, and if we had I would have hit the roof as it wasn't in any contract.