Solicitor asking for fee when transaction fell through

akashkuk

Hello, 
I am a first time buyer. I offered on a property which got accepted, however, the transaction finally didn't go thru because of missing leasehold documents from the seller. 
I was using services of a soliciting firm who advertise 'No sale No fee'. They charged me £300 in advance which I duly paid for carrying out searches which seemed fair. 
Now after 3 months of the deal falling thru, these solicitors have sent me an invoice of £550 for the services/calls that I had with them. Admittedly, I had 2-3 calls with them each lasting 5-10 mins. Can anyone pls advise if I am liable to pay this fees? 
Really appreciate some advise here. 
Thanks
Akash

ChewyyBacca

What does your contract say?

Grumpy_chap

What exactly were the "no sale no fee" terms?  That is more common for estate agents than solicitors.  Also, you are a buyer only, so will not pay selling fees in any case.

It is common that the solicitor is to be paid for work done until the process stopped, even though it didn't conclude.

davidmcn

akashkuk said:

I was using services of a soliciting firm who advertise 'No sale No fee'. 

But you were buying, not selling. 

What did their terms of business say?

Rambosmum

Seems high, but it depends on what they did for you - the calls to you wouldn't be the only work carried out. 

No sale, no fee would only apply if you were selling, unless stipulated otherwise. 

akashkuk

These are the terms on the contract they are invoking.

Yes, I was buying and these are solicitors I am referring to not the agents. 

akashkuk

Here is the bill statement, £495 in legal costs seems too high to me

Comms69

But you withdrew from the purchase? 

akashkuk

Comms69 said:

But you withdrew from the purchase? 

Yes, on the advise of my solicitors. As the leasehold paperwork from seller side was not in order.

SMR710

No sale no fee.... 
Not no purchase no fee....

whirlyhead

I just paid £595 for the legal fees on a remortgage.  Depends on a lot of things.  My normal conveyancing solicitor charges £495 but that's just for a standard residential conveyance.  Did you not get a quote from them, or a fixed fee?