Premier Property Lawyers

Moneybear

I spoke with my conveyancer today and although there are no timelines, she seemed quite confident they can catch up with the current weeks backlog. Just need to see how long before everything is restored to understand fully the problem. 

Feduphomemover

We were due to complete last Tues, didn't happen, buyer paid her money on Wed. , nothing appeared in our account until this afternoon, we kept calling to find any updates, has been so stressful, thankfully we had a very understanding buyer and were going to rented until our purchase completes later but the dread of data theft and resulting fraud potential together with problems potentially in retracing all of the onwards purchase information completed so far such as search results, enquiries etc. is not something we can face right now, maybe next week but not now!
FYI Legal ombudsman has 6 week delay in email responses, CLC suggest we need to make complaints to company, but can't do this until there is a route to be able to make a complaint! Vicious circle at the moment! Anyone concerned about exchange, sorry but those who are awaiting completion are being done first, and rightly so to be honest.
We took legal advice from our home insurance cover, beware of breach of contract, not saying any more but keep records of every contact you attempt, date, method, who and outcome, even if it failed. You might need it!!! I hope all those waiting to complete get sorted soon, it's been hell and we feel for every one of you.

urban469

Moneybear said:

I spoke with my conveyancer today and although there are no timelines, she seemed quite confident they can catch up with the current weeks backlog. Just need to see how long before everything is restored to understand fully the problem. 

They told me the same thing on Tuesday. And Thursday. And Friday. They always seem confident that the problem will be fixed later today "or tomorrow at the latest". And here we are, going into the weekend with no idea when the system will be up and running. 

They're working off pen and paper, using personal mobiles and have no access to customer files. 

I know the staff are working hard but there's zero transparency on whether this is an "almost done" situation or a "few weeks" thing. 

The longer the system is offline, the bigger the backlog, and the longer it will take to catch up. So 2 weeks offline could end up being 4 weeks without touching my file (I'm pre-exchange). 

I'm giving them a few more days, but if we're still hearing "we're working hard to restore our systems" on Mon/Tue, then I'm leaving. 

mattyprice4004

We’re in the same boat as many others - due to exchange in about a week and now no ETA at all. 

Had a call from our conveyancer yesterday but they seem completely in the dark too. 

Moneybear

Still no access to eway. I know I don't have a firm exchange date but I am worried about what the delays might possibly mean further down the line. 
The latest update from my home move conveyancing facebook page 3 hours ago doesn't really give anything useful either. 

mancdude

Were caught up with this too, fortunately though ours is a remortgage (paying off H2B). Our existing mortgage ends 2nd Jan and I'm conscious of the weeks ticking away. We have a new mortgage offer ready to go, but the paperwork needs sorting between PPL, the lender and Target Help to Buy - might take a few weeks to do so, but given the crisis I'm not convinced it'll be sorted before our mortgage expires and we're put on the standard rate. 

metalstardust

We had a lucky escape. We were due to exchange the week before the outage. PPL screwed up our buyers paperwork and failed to exchange. So thank goodness we had no completion last week. They lied to their client as to why the exchange did not happen. 

Now PPL are not responding to phone calls from anybody. 

Chain of four will collapse and everyone will be out of pocket. 

chalky_white_2

For those who are concerned, Simplify (the owner) through its regulator has been keeping other solicitors informed of progress.   So all parties in your respective transaction will be aware as to why there is a delay in exchange outside of YOUR control.   They have advised that 'completions' for exchanged contracts are of course being prioritised above all other work.

Check out their regulators (Council for Licensed Conveyancers - CLC) website here for updates: https://www.clc-uk.org/section/news/

MrsBrush

I really feel for anyone caught up in this mess, what a horrible situation for all concerned. Having recent experience of PPL, I wouldn't be expecting some miraculous catch up to happen any time soon. Add another month or 3 to your timeline!

We completed a month ago, and the previous owner of our house used PPL - I can quite safely say they were shockingly poor throughout the process, even with no IT issues! The simplest of things took weeks, we tried exchange 9 times before it finally happened (radio silence, not answering phones, then finally deciding on day 6 that they hadn't completed their own client's ID checks... It was constant lies and blame assigning (i.e. their client not doing X, my solicitor not sending back paperwork - both of which totally untrue). I pushed out our completion date by a week at this point as I was not prepared to allow a simultaneous exchange and completion, because I didn't think they could pull it off, and my solicitor also advised against that given their track record! Thankfully we finally got there, but it was an experience I never ever want to repeat. I still cant figure out how this company have got away with being so awful for so long, with such a shocking disregard for the people affected by their frequent s***shows. I have no idea how they are still in business. With this latest fiasco the regulators really ought to pull the plug on them.

mcpitman

MrsBrush said:

I really feel for anyone caught up in this mess, what a horrible situation for all concerned. Having recent experience of PPL, I wouldn't be expecting some miraculous catch up to happen any time soon. Add another month or 3 to your timeline!

We completed a month ago, and the previous owner of our house used PPL - I can quite safely say they were shockingly poor throughout the process, even with no IT issues! The simplest of things took weeks, we tried exchange 9 times before it finally happened (radio silence, not answering phones, then finally deciding on day 6 that they hadn't completed their own client's ID checks... It was constant lies and blame assigning (i.e. their client not doing X, my solicitor not sending back paperwork - both of which totally untrue). I pushed out our completion date by a week at this point as I was not prepared to allow a simultaneous exchange and completion, because I didn't think they could pull it off, and my solicitor also advised against that given their track record! Thankfully we finally got there, but it was an experience I never ever want to repeat. I still cant figure out how this company have got away with being so awful for so long, with such a shocking disregard for the people affected by their frequent s***shows. I have no idea how they are still in business. With this latest fiasco the regulators really ought to pull the plug on them.

Hang on, one bad experience doesn't make them a bunch of wrong 'uns. And believe me, every word your solicitor said wasn't exactly gospel truth either.

As regards to pull the "plug on them". They are the biggest home conveyancing group in the UK. Pulling the plug would have far and wide reaching impacts on the industry. Let alone immediately ceasing c45-50k transactions.

Whether you like them or not, that'll be 2,000 jobs on the line by "pulling the plug" too.

I feel for the conveyancers and staff there, this must be a living nightmare, there will be people working 18-20 hour days trying to sort this out.

Be kind.