Premier Property Lawyers

babyblade41

I decided long ago that I won't continue on with a purchase who use these conveyancers .

`Thankfully my solicitor has always been excellent and was able to navigate this company but it was still like pulling hens teeth throughout

TheJP

babyblade41 said:

I decided long ago that I won't continue on with a purchase who use these conveyancers .

`Thankfully my solicitor has always been excellent and was able to navigate this company but it was still like pulling hens teeth throughout

I have used PPL twice for a purchase and a sale and had no problems, both transactions took 12 weeks or under to complete. Your experience with your  solicitor was good but someone else may have thought they were a nightmare and useless.

GoogleMeNow

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.

So, the fact that your vendor took months to send his initial paperwork back to PPL to start the ball rolling with the sale of his property to you, was entirely PPL's fault?  Because of this, they should have the plug pulled on them?  OK.....

amarshe

They’ve been offline now for seven working days, and are manually processing completions. 

Social media is awash with horrendous stories of people out of pocket and homeless. 

There is also a lot of speculation on what the cause is and when they will be up, but seven days is a long time, and there will be a lot of catching up to do.  I predict they never will. 

The best thing would be for the regulator or government to bail them out - safeguard the jobs, save people’s livelihoods and go after the Board who are ultimately responsible. 

This story from yesterday is heartbreaking 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/man-loses-entire-house-65000-25463831.amp

lottagelady

I am affected by this debacle twice! My Mum is purchasing a property through Advantage Property Lawyers who are also in the Simplify Group of conveyancers, and my buyer is using PPL. In 2 weeks, if I am not in my new property my toddler granddaughters will be homeless! This started in June for heavens sake! Someone somewhere has said if it's that serious it could take MONTHS to sort out .... I am at the point of having a nervous breakdown dealing with the buying and selling of 4 houses!

One thought I am having is that APL have had my Mum's money now for 6 weeks - (they state that everyone's money IS safe, but also, what sort of interest is she losing out on that amount as the time goes on? Can anyone advise please?

johnny182

Latest from CLC (their regulator)

https://www.clc-uk.org/information-for-clients-of-premier-property-lawyers-js-law-dc-law-and-advantage-property-lawyers/

MrsBrush

GoogleMeNow said:

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.

So, the fact that your vendor took months to send his initial paperwork back to PPL to start the ball rolling with the sale of his property to you, was entirely PPL's fault?  Because of this, they should have the plug pulled on them?  OK.....

I so wish that the explanation for months of lies and unreasonable delays was that simple! My vendor trusted a legal team who were not providing any guidance or support. How can that not be their responsibility as the conveyancing experts?

I genuinely feel sorry for anyone caught up in the mess here, and it must be a total nightmare for their staff - being totally honest I really felt for them when my purchase was going through., even though I was so hacked off. The staff are battling against a fundamentally flawed business model with no back up and support, and I am sure are under the most horrendous pressure.  And with a 7 day outage and seemingly no business continuity or disaster recovery in place - to me that just says it all. Just because they are biggest, it doesn't make them the best!

Moneybear

We are effectively left with the choice to either sit and wait hoping that they will restore systems soon OR try a new firm and start from scratch. 

lottagelady

Moneybear said:

We are effectively left with the choice to either sit and wait hoping that they will restore systems soon OR try a new firm and start from scratch. 

Yes it's just causing abject misery for thousands of people and that advice isn't that useful either .... unreal! 

babyblade41

God I really feel for everyone going through  this ,I can't imagine the stress .

I do hope now there will be more regulation for these on line conveyance firms where PB et al push people to use their services .
Considering the amount of money and personal data at risk it has to be the most shambolic event in the history of conveyancing.

I'd like to think for everyone caught up in this they are well and truly compensated but I somehow doubt this will happen any time soon.