Changing solicitor

Elwyn

I am in the process of purchasing a house. We had an offer accepted around 4 weeks ago. We lost a week with one solicitor when it turned out they weren’t on panel for our lender. They directed us to Home Legal Direct to find one who was. I was impressed with the reviews for HLD so was happy to call them.
Unfortunately the solicitor I have been with for the past 3 weeks has me a little worried. I know things are slow at present, but after the first week or so they’ve stopped responding to all email/queries. 

The online portal hasn’t been updated in 2 weeks. I emailed them last week to inform them we have had our mortgage offer, asking if there’s anything more they need from me and I didn’t hear anything back.
I then read the online reviews and they are pretty worrying (I should have done this on day one). A substantial number of people complaining that they just don’t respond to phone/email. Others complaining that they didn’t look at their case for 3 months and took 5 months to complete a chain free purchase.
Maybe I’m just a worrier but how much is it likely to delay me if I were to find another solicitor? The searches are paid for through HLD so am I right in thinking they could pass them on to a new solicitor without having to go back from the start and request them again?

amandacat

I’m using a local solicitor who have excellent reviews but despite me having instructed them 3 weeks ago and paying the money for searches, I’ve not heard a thing back. I don’t even know if they’ve ordered the searches or even started my purchase. 

I thought about changing solicitor but I think they’re all just so busy currently with everyone rushing for stamp duty cut off at the end of the month that they’re being really slow with new cases. 

Thrugelmir

Solicitors are extremely busy at the current time. Focus at the moment will be on completions due by the 31st March (as as yet the stamp duty holiday extension hasn't been officially confirmed).  

Have your vendors agreed their onward move yet? 
Have the searches been returned yet? 

flashg67

We completed last month and had the same issues with poor or non response from the solicitor, then everything happened all at once. I'm sure you'll be fine - your solicitor should also have received the mortgage offer too. Good luck - It's a stressful time!

Elwyn

Thrugelmir said:

Solicitors are extremely busy at the current time. Focus at the moment will be on completions due by the 31st March (as as yet the stamp duty holiday extension hasn't been officially confirmed).  

Have your vendors agreed their onward move yet? 
Have the searches been returned yet? 

Yes, our vendors are purchasing a house from a friend of theirs. I believe that friend is living in a different home so the chain ends there.
We are just awaiting the local authority search which is understandably delayed with how busy everyone is at present. HLD gave us an estimate of 16th of April for it to come back, which was 12 weeks from when requested! I hope it isn’t that long in reality - the local authority website is estimating 6 weeks.

flashg67 said:

We completed last month and had the same issues with poor or non response from the solicitor, then everything happened all at once. I'm sure you'll be fine - your solicitor should also have received the mortgage offer too. Good luck - It's a stressful time!

That’s reassuring to hear. I hope it is the case. As it happens I had an email back from them this evening. Apparently they are still awaiting the contract pack from sellers solicitor.

Thrugelmir

Elwyn said:

Thrugelmir said:

Solicitors are extremely busy at the current time. Focus at the moment will be on completions due by the 31st March (as as yet the stamp duty holiday extension hasn't been officially confirmed).  

Have your vendors agreed their onward move yet? 
Have the searches been returned yet? 

Apparently they are still awaiting the contract pack from sellers solicitor.

Mortgage most likely hasn't been approved yet. 

Elwyn

So we contacted the seller and apparently the pack was sent to our solicitor 2 days ago. I’ll give it til the end of the week to chase again. 

Do these things usually get sent by post? 

Thrugelmir

Elwyn said:

So we contacted the seller and apparently the pack was sent to our solicitor 2 days ago.

Unlikely to have been Sunday. 

Best communication channel is through the EA. 

Elwyn

Thrugelmir said:

Elwyn said:

So we contacted the seller and apparently the pack was sent to our solicitor 2 days ago.

Unlikely to have been Sunday. 

Best communication channel is through the EA. 

Thanks. I’m still finding my feet with the whole process, I hadn’t realised I could email the EA to chase this stuff up. I guess they know how quick things should be going and will flag up any issues. 

Thrugelmir

A good EA should be in communication with all parties and keep everyone informed. Helping where required to nudge things along. 

amnblog

Thrugelmir said:

A good EA should be in communication with all parties and keep everyone informed. Helping where required to nudge things along. 

Do you know one?