Solicitors Error with completion Statement

stokeingy

I hope someone can help with this.

3 months ago we had an offer accepted for the house that we currently live in. We employed a local solicitor to carry out the conveyance on recommendation of our broker.

They took two months to get to the stage where we were ready to complete and we followed all advice given to the letter as we are first time buyers. They sent over a completion statement which I queried as it did not include the £500 cash back from the mortgage company and also it showed that we owed search fees and a couple of other things that we had paid during the previous 3 months. I went back to the solicitors with what I thought to be the correct figure that we needed to transfer to them to cover fees and the deposit etc.

A day or two later they came back with another completion certificate and an apology for the error on the first but this figure was still less than what I calculated. As we had already queries this and we are no experts in how this works we duly took this revised statement to our bank and arranged the transfer of the fees owed and the deposit as per the statement.

Today I have received a mail from the solicitors saying that they had made a mistake on the completion statement and that we owed them £995. Now we have been living in the property for a month now and had no reason to doubt that the mortgage and the solicitors were dealt with and we have, as you do, bought new furniture and appliances for the house and do not have the £995 they are asking for spare.

Where do we stand with this as it is not our fault we paid less than we should, we paid exactly what they asked for after I queried the first statement. I would assume that we are laible for the payment still but can they demand that I pay £995 right now to settle this? If I have paid what they asked for do I have to pay this at all? I don't really know our rights etc on this one and hope someone on here can help. After all you dont go into Tesco buy a loaf at what they ask for only to be chased a week later as they sold it at the wrong price.

davidmcn

stokeingy wrote: »

you dont go into Tesco buy a loaf at what they ask for only to be chased a week later as they sold it at the wrong price.

That's mainly because a loaf doesn't cost £995.

If you owe the money then you owe the money. Providing a wrong statement and asking you for it late might be an argument for a bit of a discount on their fee, but they're not going to contribute £995 out of their own pocket towards your house move.

hazyjo

stokeingy wrote: »

After all you dont go into Tesco buy a loaf at what they ask for only to be chased a week later as they sold it at the wrong price.

No, but you might have an inkling it was wrongly priced!

I know you said you queried it, but a grand?! I was out by a couple of hundred quid or so as the solicitors miscalculated something or other and sent me a cheque several months after moving in. Would you be expecting a cheque if they realised they owed you money?

They may (if you're lucky) agree to staggered amounts or some sort of payment plan, but that amount is huge and I really can't see how you could be that much out re costs/expenses!

You owe it, so unfortunately you are obliged to pay it.

Sibz

The first thing would to be to seek an itemisation of what they claim you have not paid - especially in light of them previously having missed payments you made to them.

kingstreet

Which lender and where's the cashback?

Posted on M&E as well but no traffic on there, so ignore.

Thrugelmir

stokeingy wrote: »

Where do we stand with this as it is not our fault we paid less than we should, we paid exactly what they asked for after I queried the first statement.

What was the cause of the discrepancy?

ReadingTim

Given they're a firm of solicitors, I guess they're going to be fairly familiar with the process necessary to take you to court to get it back....

Suggest you start finding the money from somewhere, 'cos court fees ain't cheap.

Sibz

ReadingTim wrote: »

Given they're a firm of solicitors, I guess they're going to be fairly familiar with the process necessary to take you to court to get it back....

Suggest you start finding the money from somewhere, 'cos court fees ain't cheap.

You'd think so - but sometimes they're chancers too.

ReadingTim

Sibz wrote: »

You'd think so - but sometimes they're chancers too.

If by "chancers" you mean whether they'd pursue it in a court of law when a more sensible/pragmatic firm might simply write it off, then I'd agree with you. However, pursuing a client for money they don't owe is likely to be fairly poorly regarded by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, and therefore rather unlikely.

The "chance" is therefore the likelihood the firm will get the money back, not the principal that it's owed. The chance the OP has to take is whether they're aggressive or pragmatic in terms of pursuing their unpaid invoices...

amnblog

Why would a ‘sensible’ firm not ask a Client to pay £995 when due?

If the bill had instead turned out to be too high, I doubt a response to Stokingy of ‘sorry chum we spent our spare money on a new reception desk’ would hold much water.

G_M

It's simple. Either you owe the money or you do not. The fact that there was an error in the 1st, or 2nd, statement is irrelevant. What matters is whether what is now being asked for is correct or not.


If you had suddenly realised that they had over charged you in error, I have no doubt you would be demanding, and expecting, a refund.


So go throught the statement, item by item, as you should have done in the first place before paying such a large bill, and check.


Is the statement now correct?
Or was the previous one actually correct?
Or is there still an error?