House move delayed

andym1000

Hello. In the process of completing on a house purchase last week, the person two links down the chain (ie. our buyer’s buyer) failed for two days to make the money available that would enable us all to complete the move. This led to us paying out an extra day of removal costs, plus - as all our belongings were already packed up and stored on the removal truck - we needed to buy clothes and toiletries for ourselves and our two children (aged 8 and 1). Luckily we were able to sleep on my in-laws’ floor for a couple of nights.

The chap responsible is apparently a multi-millionaire, and I plainly am not. Realistically, where do we stand when it comes to claiming back any of the money we spent, or compensation for the massive inconvenience caused to us through no fault of our own? People I speak to tend to fall into two camps - hunt down any cash owed as if your life depended on it, or just be glad you’re in the new house and it’s all sorted. I’m really fuming though, esp about the extra removal costs (£650)

Thanks

middleclassbutpoor

You shouldn't book/pay for removals until you have exchanged.

Sounds as though you were doing an exchange/completion on the same day?

If you have moved out of your house and are now incurring additional expense - this is unlikely to be recoverable given no exchange has taken place and no one has breached contract.

If exchange has taken place on completion has failed to take place then this is a different matter altogether.

elsien

I think that you would have to claim from your buyer, and they would then pass the costs on downwards, in addition to their own.
You can't claim off your buyer's buyer as you don't have a contract with them.

eddddy

So just to be clear - are you saying that:

a) You had already exchanged contracts, and when the completion day arrived, your buyer (or their buyer) wasn't ready to complete - and completed 2 days later.

or

b) You were expecting to exchange and complete on the same day, but the eventual exchange and completion day was 2 days later than expected.

If it's a), you should claim your consequential costs.

If it's b), you have no valid claim.

andym1000

eddddy wrote: »

So just to be clear - are you saying that:

a) You had already exchanged contracts, and when the completion day arrived, your buyer (or their buyer) wasn't ready to complete - and completed 2 days later.

or

b) You were expecting to exchange and complete on the same day, but the eventual exchange and completion day was 2 days later than expected.

If it's a), you should claim your consequential costs.

If it's b), you have no valid claim.

Sorry, yes it's A). We had already exchanged and come the day of completion, we were basically all packed up in the van and just waiting for confirmation we could collect the keys. Following our buyer's buyer's failure to make the necessary funds available for 48hrs, this eventually happened 2 days later. The removals company stored our stuff for a couple of nights but we needed to then pay for another days' service when it came to actually moving everything in.

I am presuming we can claim this back via our own buyer (who passes the claim's cost on to the person at fault) as per Elsien's reply - but can we also claim for the toiletries and baby/child clothes we needed to buy while all out stuff was being stored by the removals company?

AdrianC

If you'd exchanged, and one person in the chain failed to complete on time, then he's on the hook for the reasonable and directly incurred costs of the rest of the chain. That simple.

Your solicitor will sort it.

Are specifics included in that...? Depends. Don't take the mickey, and they'll probably go through without being questioned.