Solicitor overpaid on completion - now want money back

eleyevee

HHarry said:

I had this when dealing with an Aunts estate.  I can’t remember the exact amount, but the 6 Beneficiaries all received a bit too much which the Solicitors wanted back.

It was a simple arithmetic error in the accounts - I suggested that when being charged £200 an hour it was reasonable to expect the accounts to be correct, and double checked before publication.  We eventually agreed to pay back 75% of the over payment.

I don’t think it’s fair or reasonable to expect all of the money back. I questioned the overpayment several times, even face to face, and it was confirmed that it was all fine. We are 4 weeks on and they’ve only just realised their error… like you said it’s reasonable to expect the accounts to be correct. 

I will try opening discussion about recouping some of the amount that we’ve spent out already as we thought we had this additional money. 

TheJP

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

eleyevee

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

TheJP

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

So you admit you received funds that you shouldn't have, then spent the money? Either way you are going to have to pay the money back.

eleyevee

TheJP said:

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

So you admit you received funds that you shouldn't have, then spent the money? Either way you are going to have to pay the money back.

We received funds that our solicitor told us we were owed, so we have ring fenced those funds to be spent on building work. 

We have spent our own separate savings on trivial things that we wouldn’t have done if our solicitor hadn’t said that we were owed other money as our own savings would’ve been used for the building work.

I’m not for one second thinking that we won’t have to pay a large proportion back but at best, our solicitor has been negligent. I’d just like to think that we could maybe come to some form of agreement that they forfeit the conveyancing fees as this isn’t the only issue that we faced.  

Shaztastic3000

Just send them 6k and tell them that’s the end of the matter. Don’t waste any more time worrying about this.

user1977

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

So you admit you received funds that you shouldn't have, then spent the money? Either way you are going to have to pay the money back.

I’d just like to think that we could maybe come to some form of agreement that they forfeit the conveyancing fees 

As I said above, the biggest concession you can expect them to make is in relation to their own fees. They're not going to repay £9k+ of your mortgage out of their own pocket.

TheJP

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

So you admit you received funds that you shouldn't have, then spent the money? Either way you are going to have to pay the money back.

We received funds that our solicitor told us we were owed, so we have ring fenced those funds to be spent on building work. 

We have spent our own separate savings on trivial things that we wouldn’t have done if our solicitor hadn’t said that we were owed other money as our own savings would’ve been used for the building work.

I’m not for one second thinking that we won’t have to pay a large proportion back but at best, our solicitor has been negligent. I’d just like to think that we could maybe come to some form of agreement that they forfeit the conveyancing fees as this isn’t the only issue that we faced.  

Due diligence lays with you. I expect you'll have to pay the full balance of what you owe, reclaiming damages via solicitors is another matter. I spent hours working out what i would get back from my sale, i was pennies out. Let this be a lesson learnt do your own diligence. 

GDB2222

TheJP said:

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

eleyevee said:

TheJP said:

I think a key point here is if the OP thought they had £x after sale to pay for £Y in the new house throughout the process. The solicitors have made an error and that is accepted. However I'm not clear if the OP saw bonus money and spent it, legally they have to pay it back. 

If the OP cant pay back in full or disputes the claim its only going to damage the OPs credit file.

Its reasonable to expect accounts to be correct but in law it also expects you to realise that if monies are paid in error you have a duty to pay it back. 

So we didn’t think we would have any money coming back from the solicitors at all. We had our own savings for important stuff that needed completing straight away (which we’d saved for separately). 

When the solicitor told us that we had this new money coming in, it was told to us that they weren’t 100% sure but Halifax hadn’t recouped some of the money regarding the redemption and that was why. I asked several times for an explanation and if they were absolutely sure as we weren’t expecting anything back. To me, that was the time for the solicitors to review what the statement they’d received from Halifax. It’s not a nominal amount that we got back, it is 9k +.

We aren’t privy to the redemption statement from Halifax as that’s been sent directly to the solicitor - that’s why I think it’s unreasonable to expect that we should have known. Surely that is what we pay the solicitor for?

Not only that but it was also 4 weeks ago. Surely this reconciliation should have been noticed before now?

Just to finally add - the amount that we are being asked to provide back does not equal the amount we were given - which again, is confusing.

So you admit you received funds that you shouldn't have, then spent the money? Either way you are going to have to pay the money back.

We received funds that our solicitor told us we were owed, so we have ring fenced those funds to be spent on building work. 

We have spent our own separate savings on trivial things that we wouldn’t have done if our solicitor hadn’t said that we were owed other money as our own savings would’ve been used for the building work.

I’m not for one second thinking that we won’t have to pay a large proportion back but at best, our solicitor has been negligent. I’d just like to think that we could maybe come to some form of agreement that they forfeit the conveyancing fees as this isn’t the only issue that we faced.  

Due diligence lays with you. I expect you'll have to pay the full balance of what you owe, reclaiming damages via solicitors is another matter. I spent hours working out what i would get back from my sale, i was pennies out. Let this be a lesson learnt do your own diligence. 

Not everyone is as good at figures as you. The OP queried this refund with the solicitors, and he's perfectly entitled to rely on them. I don't think there's a court in the land that would suggest that it's the client's duty to double-check his solicitor. 

Given that there's £9k+ at stake, it's sensible for the OP to get a solicitor to advise him. 

penners324

Solicitor made a mistake on the redemption of your old mortgage by the sounds of it. What does the mortgage statement show?