£5000 Solicitors Fee is this too hight?

From_Cordoba

In my first comunication with the firm I was quote 1,130 plus VAT by the moment of completion now the bill is almost £5K. seem high What do you think?  there is anything I can do?

FINAL BILL 
Our Firm's Legal Fee for Purchase  £1,130.00 VAT £226.00  £1,356.00 INC VAT
Our firm's Stamp Duty Processing Fee £90.00 VAT £18.00 £108.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Search Admin Fee £100.00 VAT £20.00 £120.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Fee related to additional review of searches £150.00 VAT £30.00 £180.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Leasehold Supplemental Fee £175.00 VAT £35.00 £210.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Electronic ID Search £38.00 VAT £7.60 £45.60 INC VAT
Our Firm's Lender Legal Fee £350.00 £70.00 £420.00 INC VAT
Agreed Fee for Our Additional Legal Work £750.00 VAT £150.00 £900.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Fee for a Deed of Covenant £120.00 VAT £24.00 £144.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Bank Transfer Fee (x2) £94.00 £18.80 £112.80 INC VAT
Our Legal Fee for Service of a notice of assignment £150.00 VAT £30.00 £180.00 INC VAT
Land Registry Fees £270.00 
Searches (being Local, Enviro, Water etc) £264.12
Electronic ID Search £14.40
SIM Search £4.00
Homground Fee for Notice Of Assignement £162.00
OS1 Search £3.00
Bankruptcy Search  £4.00
Savill's Fee for Notice of Assignment £198.00
Savill's Fee for Restriction Certificate (DOC) £150.00
Homeground's Fee for Restriction Certificate (DOC) £115.00
TOTAL £4,960.92

JGB1955

What do the other quotes say?  Most of these seem like 'optional' extras - how many extras are you likely to need?  Have you really employed solicitors working for Savills?  if  so, why?

davidmcn

From_Cordoba said:

In my first comunication with the firm I was quote 1,130 plus VAT 

With no caveats? Much of their surcharges appear to be things which could have been predicted at the point of instruction. 

Note there are third party costs in there too, which aren't your solicitors' fees.

"Agreed fee for additional legal work" - was it "agreed"?

From_Cordoba

Guys I'm asking  your pesonal opinion. Would you be happy in paying £5K in legal fees inc Searches. Is this something you've heard? my expectation was around  £2K for a £600K property. 

[Deleted User]

If you agreed for the additional work to be done, I'm afraid you will have to pay, happy or unhappy.  Of course you have to pay for searches etc any solicitor will do.  I think its the extras that you need to investigate and ask for proof that they were agreed.

However also bear in mind that while £5k is high for a property purchase, it looks like it wasn't a straightforward purchase.

HampshireH

Does the value of the house make a difference?

I paid just shy of £1500 for my legal fees and it was all broken down in the quote beforehand

[Deleted User]

HampshireH said:

Does the value of the house make a difference?

I paid just shy of £1500 for my legal fees and it was all broken down in the quote beforehand

The legal fees quoted for our purchase were said to be based on our house being bought for £200k 

I’ve no idea how they work it out though in all honesty. 

davidmcn

HampshireH said:

Does the value of the house make a difference?

Yes, it does. Greater responsibility and risk - buy a £1m property and the solicitors risk being sued for up to £1m, etc.

AdrianC

From_Cordoba said:

In my first comunication with the firm I was quote 1,130 plus VAT by the moment of completion now the bill is almost £5K. seem high What do you think?  there is anything I can do?

FINAL BILL 
Our Firm's Legal Fee for Purchase  £1,130.00 VAT £226.00  £1,356.00 INC VAT

There y'go, there's that £1,130+vat.

Then there's this "agreed fee for additional work"...

Agreed Fee for Our Additional Legal Work £750.00 VAT £150.00 £900.00 INC VAT

I presume you know what that's for - you say you expected £2k total, but that plus the basic is £2,256 before anything else, with the VAT in.

Then there's their fee for a few other bits on top of that basic fee.

Our firm's Stamp Duty Processing Fee £90.00 VAT £18.00 £108.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Lender Legal Fee £350.00 £70.00 £420.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Fee for a Deed of Covenant £120.00 VAT £24.00 £144.00 INC VAT
Our Legal Fee for Service of a notice of assignment £150.00 VAT £30.00 £180.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Search Admin Fee £100.00 VAT £20.00 £120.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Fee related to additional review of searches £150.00 VAT £30.00 £180.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Leasehold Supplemental Fee £175.00 VAT £35.00 £210.00 INC VAT
Our Firm's Electronic ID Search £38.00 VAT £7.60 £45.60 INC VAT
Our Firm's Bank Transfer Fee (x2) £94.00 £18.80 £112.80 INC VAT

aka the "Ryanair extras"

Then there's various disbursements - things they've paid for on your behalf...

Land Registry Fees £270.00 
Searches (being Local, Enviro, Water etc) £264.12
Electronic ID Search £14.40
SIM Search £4.00
Homground Fee for Notice Of Assignement £162.00
OS1 Search £3.00
Bankruptcy Search  £4.00
Savill's Fee for Notice of Assignment £198.00
Savill's Fee for Restriction Certificate (DOC) £150.00
Homeground's Fee for Restriction Certificate (DOC) £115.00

Homeground seem to be the management company - I presume this is a flat?
Where do Savills come into it?

Add all that together, and inc VAT it comes to...

TOTAL £4,960.92

Bet if you go back to your original £1,130+vat quote and read the small print, it spells all the additional fees out - and the disbursements are always on top of their fee.

Lemme guess, you went for the lowest headline quote without reading what was and wasn't included...?

tacpot12

Yes, complaint in writing, tell them which of the additional fees were not pre-advised or agreed with you, and offer to settle  for the amount of the fees that were pre-advised to you or that you agreed to. Confirm that if they provide evidence that they have paid out money on your behalf to third-parties you will reimburse these, but complain that you were not kept informed of these costs when they became aware of them. I would suggest you argue that they should forfeit the fees for making such payments because of their woeful communication. You might need up having to pay them a little bit for their time to make such payments if they can evidence that they have them.  

You need to query why there were two bank transfer fees, did they have to send money to two accounts?
Did you ask for a Deed of Covenant and was one necessary? If you asked them to prepare you, you will need to pay something, it would never have been part of their original quote, BUT they should have told you the cost of the work before starting it. 

onyx911

I used to do conveyancing and there is a lot here I would be querying. However it does sound like you were aware there was additional works.
I’d query the fee for reviewing the searches, the admin fee for searches - neither seem reasonable should be part of the original work quoted. The bank transfer fee is also higher than most banks charge. 

£45 for ID search? I think we paid £20. The fee for registering an assignment should really be included in the leasehold supplement. 

I wouldn’t be happy with this bill. I paid £1900 for a property twice the price albeit freehold.