My Home Move/Premier Property - escalating a case

Galileo_Figaro

Has anyone found a way to usefully escalate a case with these conveyancers?

Our conveyancer has made a mistake which has infuriated the sellers to the extent that they threatened on Monday to pull out of no progress is made this week. All they need is a constructive response, but I can't get MHM/Premier to even send them an email. We're about to lose the whole thing. 

I escalated it to the team manager, who basically said she doesn't take the threat seriously and isn't going to do anything to help, but I can make a formal complaint if I want. When I followed that procedure, I got an automatic reply saying they will respond in 28 days and if your case is still live to contact the team manager! 

I just need someone who cares a bit about customers to unblock this - any ideas please?

Irishpearce26

What was the issue as that may help us understand if its a credible threat or toys being thrown from the pram?

AdrianC

Galileo_Figaro said:

I just need someone who cares a bit about customers to unblock this...

At a pile-high-flog-cheap conveyance farm?

Galileo_Figaro

Irishpearce26 said:

What was the issue as that may help us understand if its a credible threat or toys being thrown from the pram?

It's all around a missing building regs completion certificate for the loft. Basically, the sellers informed us at the beginning that the completion certificate for a 1980s conversion is missing. We're OK with it, our mortgage lenders are OK with it, the sellers have replied an indemnity policy. But the responses they have had from MHM basically ignore previous communication and just repeatedly ask for the completion certificate. So, the sellers have started to feel that there is no way forward for them.

The threat is credible enough to be worth our conveyancer responding (given that also, we are paying them to respond to the sellers solicitor), they might be willing to take this gamble with our purchase and sale but I am not. We just need someone to give them a nudge and say this is important enough to find the time to reply. This is more a question about their system - is there any way to get a helpful manager to take a look at the case?   

Galileo_Figaro

AdrianC said:

Galileo_Figaro said:

I just need someone who cares a bit about customers to unblock this...

At a pile-high-flog-cheap conveyance farm?

Fair point! I didn't realise they were like this when we started. Maybe I should rephrase this as "someone whose role includes business reputation and income and therefore would rather unblock a process than let the thing fall through and get paid nothing".   

ele_91

We used PPL and also discovered they don’t like lofts. I don’t think it’s necessarily a mistake just that they have a blanket procedure with loft conversions where they don’t accept indemnity insurance. Has it been reported to the lender and what did they say? This was the process with us although surprising the lender would not lend on the property without a structural survey which the vendor would not pay for. 

Galileo_Figaro

ele_91 said:

We used PPL and also discovered they don’t like lofts. I don’t think it’s necessarily a mistake just that they have a blanket procedure with loft conversions where they don’t accept indemnity insurance. Has it been reported to the lender and what did they say? This was the process with us although surprising the lender would not lend on the property without a structural survey which the vendor would not pay for. 

The lender is OK with it, and so are we, and they have provided an indemnity policy too - so really all PPL need to do is to tell their solicitors that and we can buy the house!

ele_91

So what’s the reason they won’t progress? Have you tried calling your conveyancer to ask? I’ve always found them helpful to be honest. 

Galileo_Figaro

ele_91 said:

So what’s the reason they won’t progress? Have you tried calling your conveyancer to ask? I’ve always found them helpful to be honest. 

They just keep saying "it's a very busy time" we have lots of customers. They also are not responding to emails, and asking customers not to call!

It's hard because I get that it is not my conveyancer's fault that her caseload is obviously far too high - but (despite telling us before we instructed that this would not be the case) the company have obviously chosen to put profit over quality/service and taken on far too many customers in a predictably pressured period. 

Tiglet2

One of the problems with PPL is that they send out initial enquiries and then every time you reply to them, they then send out the same letter again, with all the enquiries repeated but with various amendments.  It's actually quite difficult to pick out the bits needing further clarification and they will not deem an enquiry  to be answered satisfactorily if you don't give them exactly what they've asked for.

In this scenario, I would instruct your solicitor that as the loft conversion was constructed in the 1980s, you are happy to proceed without this enquiry being answered.  In any case, solicitors are under no obligation to provide paperwork more than 20 years old and therefore an indemnity policy would not be needed.  The sellers cannot supply a certificate they don't have.

Justonemorecupoftea

Not normally a fan of the CC but could you email your conveyancer, CC in your seller's solicitor and estate agents just saying that you and your lenders are happy to take the indemnity in lieu of building regs.