Solicitor not responding - what are my options?

chunkytfg

alsa1 wrote: »

Oh no, I didn’t do it by BACS, I paid by card in their office when I went in to return all their initial client forms.

Surely you need to go visit them in person to make the complaint then?

Thrugelmir

Move solicitor tomorrow. Sometimes complaining isn't worth the trouble.

Is the firm of solicitors you approached on the lenders panel?

G_M

chunkytfg wrote: »

Surely you need to go visit them in person to make the complaint then?

Why on earth? No logic there.


You make the complaint in whatever way their complaints procedure specifies. Read it.


But I agree - the first action is to de-instruct them and instruct an alternative.


If they withhold th money you paid up fro, that is when you make the complaint, which will (probably) take time. But meanwhile the new solicitor will hopefully be gtting on with things.

m0bov

Just change sol, a lot quicker than complaining and they might still not respond to the lender.

GDB2222

I’m not clear how much you have paid them already, but assuming it’s low hundreds of pounds, you need to prioritise the house purchase and worry about the money later.

Of course you are entitled to a refund, although extracting the money may be difficult. Ultimately the law society/ SRA may have to intervene.

alsa1

Update: I made a complaint to their head office, and within a few hours finally got a call from the acting solicitor. She said my file had been misplaced! That still doesn’t explain why my messages to the secretaries & emails went unanswered for weeks but finally there seems to have been some rapid movement so I decided not to change firms. Hopefully there will be no more hassle.

Skiddaw1

Oh that's good! Will keep all crossed it is plain sailing from here onwards.

lika_86

I'd switch firms anyway. Firms will be keenest to respond to clients at the start of the process to get you as a client. Their failure to do that wouldn't give me confidence about their ability to respond promptly later down the line when it gets to crunch time.

Look for a firm which will give you an alternative contact for when your designated contact is unavailable for whatever reason.

alsa1

I’d just like to say I wish I had taken the advice to change firms and not continue!

We have still not completed and had further issues to this day of this solicitor taking a week to respond to some emails. We have had contract paperwork with incorrect names & the lender has again said she has still not contacted them to get the details on our loan in advance of completion!

I complained to a senior partner but they seem to have closed ranks and defended her. Apparently she is the only one who deals with semi commercial builds (it is a converted shop to a house) so effectively I was told it was ‘tough’. Should I accept this?

GDB2222

Is it too late to swap solicitors?

I can understand that the other people in the firm feel they do not have the expertise to take over this case. So, they are, in a sense, just as much in a pickle as you are. They can nag the solicitor, but if this makes her take time off work because of stress, say, this is not going to help.

If possible, move on.