Litigation against surveyor and conveyancer - how to find a decent solicitor?

bobilishious

said:

Was there any mention in your free supplied Scottish home report "Single survey" that the seller pays for? Would be a different surveyor? surprised neither picked up on this. So two surveyors perhaps liable?

Sorry. You need to discuss with a professional / solicitor that deals with these cases.

As per the link at bottom or others that you think would be better for you.

For info only:

"The Single Survey will include a surveyor's assessment of the condition of the property and a valuation.  The Single Survey has generated much controversy, including correspondence in the Journal of the Law Society of Scotland.  One concern expressed in the past queried whether a purchaser could rely on the survey, and sue the surveyor if the survey was negligent. 

Such doubt as may exist has been addressed by passed at Westminster, and published last week.  This statutory instrument provides that if the surveyor's report is not based on an inspection of the house; or has not been prepared in a fair and unbiased way; or has not been prepared with reasonable skill and care then a purchaser who suffers loss as a result is entitled to damages."

These seem to advertise a lot around here

Someone more expert will be along shortly.

 

Sorry, importantly I neglected to mention that the same surveying company did my Survey as well as the original one from a few years earlier when  I purchased - they contradict each other and the newest one states I need loads of certificates and additional information in order to say the property has been upgraded in accordance with an approved PRC scheme - documentation which doesn’t exist but is apparently needed for any lender.

GDB2222

I don't know any solicitors in Scotland dealing with this, but your google search term is "professional negligence solicitor Scotland". 

It could be *extremely* expensive to sue. Think in terms of £10k-100k, although you may find a NWNF solicitor. Does your house insurance cover legal fees, perhaps? If so, they'll probably want you to use their own choice of lawyers. 

Legal cases like this depend almost entirely on the expert evidence, ie whether an expert surveyor is able to say that your original surveyor was negligent. If, for example, the construction method was disguised/covered up, it might not be the surveyor's fault if he was duped. 

bobilishious

GDB2222 said:

I don't know any solicitors in Scotland dealing with this, but your google search term is "professional negligence solicitor Scotland". 

It could be *extremely* expensive to sue. Think in terms of £10k-100k, although you may find a NWNF solicitor. Does your house insurance cover legal fees, perhaps? If so, they'll probably want you to use their own choice of lawyers. 

Legal cases like this depend almost entirely on the expert evidence, ie whether an expert surveyor is able to say that your original surveyor was negligent. If, for example, the construction method was disguised/covered up, it might not be the surveyor's fault if he was duped. 

Surely it would be a little simpler given the same surveyor contradicted their own survey from a few years earlier? The burden of proof must be pretty low to prove they are wrong given they have contradicted themselves?

bobilishious

PS. On the note about using my home insurance to pay for the legal fees, I’m still trying to decide what to do re my home insurance given that the information I’ve given them as regards the construction of my property would now seem to be incorrect so I’d assume my home insurance may be void?

davidmcn

bobilishious said:

GDB2222 said:

I don't know any solicitors in Scotland dealing with this, but your google search term is "professional negligence solicitor Scotland". 

It could be *extremely* expensive to sue. Think in terms of £10k-100k, although you may find a NWNF solicitor. Does your house insurance cover legal fees, perhaps? If so, they'll probably want you to use their own choice of lawyers. 

Legal cases like this depend almost entirely on the expert evidence, ie whether an expert surveyor is able to say that your original surveyor was negligent. If, for example, the construction method was disguised/covered up, it might not be the surveyor's fault if he was duped. 

Surely it would be a little simpler given the same surveyor contradicted their own survey from a few years earlier? The burden of proof must be pretty low to prove they are wrong given they have contradicted themselves?

Possibly. You're also assuming that it's the first survey they got wrong rather than the second one!

In any event as above first step would really be to get a second opinion about what would have been reasonable for them to disclose given their remit and what would have been apparent during their inspection of the property.

bobilishious

Would my mortgage lender not be a bit !!!!!! off they have lent on a property which given the correct information they would not have lent on? I’m not sure I should phone them though as if they deem it’s no longer suitable security what happens then? Can they withdraw my mortgage?

thearchitect

If you don't mind me asking, which non-traditional form of construction is it?

davidmcn

bobilishious said:

Would my mortgage lender not be a bit !!!!!! off they have lent on a property which given the correct information they would not have lent on? I’m not sure I should phone them though as if they deem it’s no longer suitable security what happens then? Can they withdraw my mortgage?

No, they can't "withdraw" their mortgage. They could sue the surveyor if they make a loss on a repossession. Any reason why you want to discuss it with them anyway?

bobilishious

thearchitect said:

If you don't mind me asking, which non-traditional form of construction is it?

It’s Dorran, it was upgraded in the 90’s but don’t have any certification to say it was done correctly.

bobilishious

davidmcn said:

bobilishious said:

Would my mortgage lender not be a bit !!!!!! off they have lent on a property which given the correct information they would not have lent on? I’m not sure I should phone them though as if they deem it’s no longer suitable security what happens then? Can they withdraw my mortgage?

No, they can't "withdraw" their mortgage. They could sue the surveyor if they make a loss on a repossession. Any reason why you want to discuss it with them anyway?

I just assumed that given that the survey they lent on omitted quite a lot of information relevant to their lending criteria they might be a bit miffed they are lending on a property which - if all the information has been disclosed - would be deemed unmortgageable.