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Solicitors complaint
brianhewitt
Posts: 6 Forumite
We have had terrible service from our conveyancing solicitor which resulted in losing both our buyer and the house we were buying as neither wanted to deal with it anymore. We raised an official complaint but one of many since she took our cases on and she has now sent us a bill for almost the whole amount demanding it be paid within 14 day although she has 8 weeks to respond. Do I have to pay it or should I dispute it? I've also noticed a number of people have had similar experiences with her could we also complain to anyone else about the service other than the ombudsman.
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Is that the whole story? Lacking some meat.1
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Consult a solicitor for advice perhaps?0
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brianhewitt said:We have had terrible service from our conveyancing solicitor which resulted in losing both our buyer and the house we were buying as neither wanted to deal with it anymore. We raised an official complaint but one of many since she took our cases on and she has now sent us a bill for almost the whole amount demanding it be paid within 14 day although she has 8 weeks to respond. Do I have to pay it or should I dispute it? I've also noticed a number of people have had similar experiences with her could we also complain to anyone else about the service other than the ombudsman.
You need to dispute the bill, in writing.
If you don't pay it, all the solicitor can do is issue proceedings against you. Possibly, she's far more skilled and efficient at that than she is at conveyancing. If so, proceedings may be issued in a few weeks. You'll have to put in a defence. There is then the backlog in the courts to consider. About a year, I hear. So, you have over a year for the ombudsman to consider the case.
No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
It's rare to consult a solicitor over a dispute of say £1k, surely?Thrugelmir said:Consult a solicitor for advice perhaps?
No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
There is so much detail and problems she caused it would be a very long post ie file left on an ex employee desk for 4 weeks, no communication, lost emails, delaying tactics.0
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Have you exhausted the firm's complaints procedure?4
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Without any detail it sounds like the process took longer than each party expected and they pulled out. Grounds for compensation - No.
We cant advise without any detail as to any negligence the conveyancers may have attributed to.0 -
Based on what timeline? Conveyancing takes as long as it takes, files delayed in transition isn't grounds for negligence. 4 weeks isn't that long in the scheme of things unless your expectations were based around the SDLT holiday which for conveyancers is irrelevant as they work against how long the process takes not a discount holiday.brianhewitt said:There is so much detail and problems she caused it would be a very long post ie file left on an ex employee desk for 4 weeks, no communication, lost emails, delaying tactics.1 -
Did you check reviews of this company before you chose them or after when things didn't go to timescale ?
Probably next time do the checks first0 -
Poor service is still reasonable grounds for reducing the fee, there doesn't need to be negligence involved.1
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