Ever changed a conveyancer / solicitor in the middle of buying a house?

mirand

Hi all,

Based on Trusted pilot five stars feedback I instructed an online company to assist with buy my house. 

They assigned the conveyancing work to a firm of solicitors whose performance leaves a lot to be desired.  

Took nine weeks to be assigned a conveyancer, a week later am now informed the person is not available and another one will be assigned. 

The seller is frustrated and I don't blame him. Neither of us are part of a chain and am a cash buyer having sold my old place. 

With the the searches and survey reports all ready (done by the original company) I am seriously considering leaving and instructing another solicitors to continue my purchase before the seller pulls out.

Do you know what does such process involves and if you have been through this before please advise what the steps are and how long does it take?

thank you, 

[Deleted User]

If the new solicitor hasn't done anything then just walk away. I had to change mine but it was at early stage. There was no issue as long as everyone is kept in the loop. Make sure to tell them you no longer wish to use their services in writing. 

Nine weeks? I would have been gone after two!

Thrugelmir

Was your criteria using an online company to find a conveyancer, one of sourcing the cheapest cost? 

Tiglet2

mirand said:

Hi all,

Based on Trusted pilot five stars feedback I instructed an online company to assist with buy my house. 

They assigned the conveyancing work to a firm of solicitors whose performance leaves a lot to be desired.  

Took nine weeks to be assigned a conveyancer, a week later am now informed the person is not available and another one will be assigned. 

The seller is frustrated and I don't blame him. Neither of us are part of a chain and am a cash buyer having sold my old place. 

With the the searches and survey reports all ready (done by the original company) I am seriously considering leaving and instructing another solicitors to continue my purchase before the seller pulls out.

Do you know what does such process involves and if you have been through this before please advise what the steps are and how long does it take?

thank you, 

What did they do in the nine weeks before a conveyancer was assigned?  In many firms, there is a "pre-legal" team that does all the preliminary work, e.g. sets up the file, sends out all the initial paperwork, to you, the EA and the other side solicitor.  They would also deal with your ID and take payment and order searches.  The "conveyancer" does not need to be handling this work, so your file wouldn't reach his desk until the pre-legal work was complete.

Is it possible that your assigned conveyancer has too much work and they have passed your file to another conveyancer with capacity?

Sounds like you're early stages, so you could change solicitors.  As Thrugelmir mentioned, did you appoint this solicitor based on price?  Negative Trustpilot reviews can be taken down in certain circumstances, such as wildly inaccurate statements or reviews made by people who were not clients of the firm.

mirand

Thrugelmir said:

Was your criteria using an online company to find a conveyancer, one of sourcing the cheapest cost? 

cost was one of the criterions but the overall performance was the important aspect. 

Phantom151

We changed from an online one early on as it was a frustrating experience. Best bet is to have someone local. Local means you can pop in to get things done instead of paying someone to notarise signatures, for example. Chasing solicitors was the single most frustrating time of my life!

mirand

Phantom151 said:

We changed from an online one early on as it was a frustrating experience. Best bet is to have someone local. Local means you can pop in to get things done instead of paying someone to notarise signatures, for example. Chasing solicitors was the single most frustrating time of my life!

And am going through it now. Never ever will I recommend these online firms to anyone. NEVER

Phantom151

mirand said:

Phantom151 said:

We changed from an online one early on as it was a frustrating experience. Best bet is to have someone local. Local means you can pop in to get things done instead of paying someone to notarise signatures, for example. Chasing solicitors was the single most frustrating time of my life!

And am going through it now. Never ever will I recommend these online firms to anyone. NEVER

Ours lost documents and all sorts. I do most things online for convenience but a lesson was learned for next time.

Thrugelmir

mirand said:

Thrugelmir said:

Was your criteria using an online company to find a conveyancer, one of sourcing the cheapest cost? 

cost was one of the criterions but the overall performance was the important aspect. 

Then I would go for personal recommendation every time. In particular find a local one.