Solicitor overpaid on completion - now want money back

TheJP

GDB2222 said:

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. 

To miss £9k is a pretty big oversight. 

user1977

GDB2222 said:

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. 

It's £9k+ which the OP ought to have paid in the first place though - not a £9k+ loss which they've incurred due to the negligence of the solicitor. I doubt incurring additional legal fees from another solicitor is going to be a money-saving option!

eleyevee

penners324 said:

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

Halifax confirmed that the solicitor should have removed an early repayment charge but they have done it twice. This is why there is a shortfall on the mortgage. 

Halifax actually took 2 lots of mortgage payments (old and new amount) start of last month and I queried with them as to why, they confirmed it was an error and gave the money back. Now they want the old payment that they had refunded back as it turns out, due to this error from the solicitor, we are now 2 months' in arrears on the old mortgage! Just to top it all off.

sheramber

Presumably Halifax had just notified the solicitor of the underpayment.   

eleyevee

sheramber said:

Presumably Halifax had just notified the solicitor of the underpayment.   

The solicitor has sent across a letter from Halifax to them confirming the underpayment on 26th May. They only told us about this issue yesterday (31st).

comeandgo

eleyevee said:

sheramber said:

Presumably Halifax had just notified the solicitor of the underpayment.   

The solicitor has sent across a letter from Halifax to them confirming the underpayment on 26th May. They only told us about this issue yesterday (31st).

I would not expect them to do anything on the Saturday or Sunday so that is only one and half day, not excessive.

sheramber

So it is 4 weeks because Halifax have only advised them  4 weeks later.

I expect the solicitor got more letters that that one on 26th.  They have actioned it when they have read it and  investigated the discrepancy.