Paying solicitor fees if sale falls through

queenbee4000

Hi, 2 weeks before I was due to move house my seller decided not to sell. I have given my solicitors £1000 upfront to deal with both my sale and purchase but I am not sure if I will be moving at all now. Is it likely I could get any of that money back? I have had friends who have used solicitors with no sale no fee clauses but I didn't check that before using them and it is not clear on the terms and conditions. I'm also worried if I raise it they may charge me even more. I'm in a bit of a mess at the moment as I have already lost the money for the surveys which was a lot. Thanks for any advice

bolwin1

Sorry to hear about the lost house purchase.

Regarding the solicitors fees, without seeing the terms & conditions you signed up to, no-one on the forum will know. Different solicitors will use different contracts. 

Some of the solicitors fees will have gone towards various searches & it's very unlikely that you would get those back.  

You'll need to contact the solicitors & ask them. They won't increase your fees by answering this simple query. 

user1977

And nor are they likely to forget about their fees if you don't ask them! If they have done most of the work for the transactions, you can generally expect them to charge most of whatever the fees would have been. They may go easy on you if you are going to continue and complete your move (after all, much of their work on the sale can be rehashed if you find another buyer).

googler

Depends on the T&Cs that you agreed to (signed?) when you hired the solicitor.... if they're not clear, you have to ask them, not the internet ....

lookstraightahead

Ask yourself solicitor, but remember they've done most of the work already. Think about it in any context.

canaldumidi

There are two likely possibilities

1) you have a 'no sale no fee' contract, though this is unlikely. I imagine you'd know if this wee the case. That won't cover 'disbursements' ie things the solicitor had to pay for to 3rd parties like searches

2) you had a fixed price quote for the complete job. If the sale falls through, the solicitor willprobably change on an houry basis for te time spent so far (but not more than the fixed quote).

Both the above will be defined in the terms of business you received at the start.

Raising the matter won't change aything and nor will keeping quiet avoid a bill!

london21

You will have to contact the conveyancing company.

Might get something back or they might say can use towards your next transaction.

Might not be much or nothing because charges such as searches are non-refundable once done.