What to do if you are affected by the PPL/ DC Law breach?

tryingmybest99

For those of you that have been affected by the security breach, what actions are you taking? With a few weeks to go to my proposed completion date I don't know if I should try to move conveyancer or if it's too late. I also don't know if I should get in touch with the seller's estate agent to provide reassurance. What steps are other people taking (beyond crying, I've already ticked that off the to-do list)?

MSE_Laura_F

I'm so sorry to hear that you've been affected by this.

I've just spoken to my colleague who deals with mortgages etc. They say, "Contact the seller (and/or buyer)'s solicitors and make sure they're all in the loop. Possibly contact your lender too, and make them aware of the situation."

tryingmybest99

Thanks Laura! I will do that.

user1977

I expect all conveyancers already know about it (and are thanking their lucky stars it's not them), as will the lenders. I'd hope it's not so serious that it would actually be worthwhile starting from scratch with a different firm.

johnny182

We are currently instructing another conveyancing firm and will cancel all dealings with PPL as soon as they are contactable. Fortunately we are still very early in our purchase/sale and not even had any searches done yet. I feel lucky that this happened now rather than after exchange for example but at the same time I feel for the people who should be completing/exchanging this week. 

roxhas123

I am staying put. I havent had any issues with PPL and our situation is complicated as it is.
We are also waiting on a probate grant which could take a while so we are just bobbing around waiting for a call... I think I would be lucky to have any kind of contact in the next two weeks due to PPL playing catch up with completions and exchanges

amarshe

Nightmare.  Our buyer signed up with PPL when they put an offer in late September.  We had our offer on a house accepted mid-October.  Our solicitor expects to be in a position to exchange contracts with our vendor's solicitor by the end of November, but is "very concerned" about PPL - who have all the paperwork they need, but haven't raised any queries.

Our EA is contacting our buyer tomorrow to try and get them to switch to a solicitor or at least a reputable conveyancer.

 I'm fortunate I suppose not to be in-between exchange and completion, and my heartfelt sympathies for those who are at the thick end of this.

Fingers crossed PPL get back to normal - at least they won't have any new customers for a long time to give them a chance.  

The current selling process in England/Wales process is completely not fit for purpose.