Solicitor mistake- failed to complete

GDB2222

eddddy said:

HanspanCsEw89 said:

I will take on board asking them to cover additional costs rather than compensation. 

Your seller might also claim their 'additional costs' from you.

And their 'additional costs' might include 'additional costs' claimed by their seller - and so on up the chain. 

If the upward chain is long, there might be a lot of additional costs.

HanspanCsEw89 said:

Would it be worth making a formal complaint in order to make sure they they don’t allow this to happen to someone else? 

I expect they'll realise the gravity of their mistake without you having to make a formal complaint.

I suspect the senior partners (or whoever is the top level of management) were fully appraised of the situation on Friday - and their litigation team will be getting geared-up to deal with the claims.

Would they really be involving litigators at this stage. They should involve their insurers, and I expect that they will pay any obviously reasonable costs without an awful lot of discussion. 

eddddy

GDB2222 said:

eddddy said:

HanspanCsEw89 said:

I will take on board asking them to cover additional costs rather than compensation. 

Your seller might also claim their 'additional costs' from you.

And their 'additional costs' might include 'additional costs' claimed by their seller - and so on up the chain. 

If the upward chain is long, there might be a lot of additional costs.

HanspanCsEw89 said:

Would it be worth making a formal complaint in order to make sure they they don’t allow this to happen to someone else? 

I expect they'll realise the gravity of their mistake without you having to make a formal complaint.

I suspect the senior partners (or whoever is the top level of management) were fully appraised of the situation on Friday - and their litigation team will be getting geared-up to deal with the claims.

Would they really be involving litigators at this stage. They should involve their insurers, and I expect that they will pay any obviously reasonable costs without an awful lot of discussion. 

It's because of the risk of them being litigated against. And people don't always play nicely and just ask for "obviously reasonable costs".

People up the chain (and the OP) might claim for Compensation for Distress, Luxury Hotel bills etc.

A litigation team would know exactly what a court would regard as 'reasonable costs' - because that's the job they do every day. So they know what to agree to, and what not to agree to. A conveyancing team would probably have much less idea of what a court would decide.

As you say, the solicitors might choose to involve their insurers. But I suspect that they would be equally 'hard nosed'.

user1977

GDB2222 said:

eddddy said:

HanspanCsEw89 said:

I will take on board asking them to cover additional costs rather than compensation. 

Your seller might also claim their 'additional costs' from you.

And their 'additional costs' might include 'additional costs' claimed by their seller - and so on up the chain. 

If the upward chain is long, there might be a lot of additional costs.

HanspanCsEw89 said:

Would it be worth making a formal complaint in order to make sure they they don’t allow this to happen to someone else? 

I expect they'll realise the gravity of their mistake without you having to make a formal complaint.

I suspect the senior partners (or whoever is the top level of management) were fully appraised of the situation on Friday - and their litigation team will be getting geared-up to deal with the claims.

They should involve their insurers

I doubt they're going to trouble their insurers for paying out a few hundred quid here and there - their excess will be massive.

And I agree there's little point in making a "formal" complaint (in reality, there aren't different levels of complaint!). They'll obviously know that what has happened is unsatisfactory and I expect whoever is responsible has already had a bollocking.

Titus_Wadd

I agree with posts pointing to any losses along the chain from other vendors who were unable to complete.  You may not hear the full story as soon as Monday, as they take action to order completion, and losses cascade down the chain to the OP and their solicitor.

I assume OP's solicitor knows whose account the money went to, and can easily draw it back?

user1977

Titus_Wadd said:

I assume OP's solicitor knows whose account the money went to, and can easily draw it back?

Not "draw it back", I would expect it needs the recipient to send it back - but that shouldn't be an issue if it's another law firm's client account - they're not allowed to keep random amounts accidentally credited to them anyway.

eddddy

user1977 said:

Titus_Wadd said:

I assume OP's solicitor knows whose account the money went to, and can easily draw it back?

Not "draw it back", I would expect it needs the recipient to send it back - but that shouldn't be an issue if it's another law firm's client account - they're not allowed to keep random amounts accidentally credited to them anyway.

FWIW, I was helping out somebody who "accidentally" sent money to a solicitor's client account.  (It was a friend of the solicitor's client, who thought they were helping.)

The solicitor said they wouldn't return the money to the account it came from, without first doing id checks to find out who they were sending it back to (certified copy of passport etc). I don't know if the solicitor was being over cautious.

But anyway, I'm sure solicitors have ways of validating that another solicitors' firm is legit - so probably much less hassle.

kazwookie

I would suggest you don't expect any one, any where, up or down the solicitor's chain to know about this, in detail.

Urgently put in a strongly worded email to the most senior partner of the solicitors you can find, keep to the facts, and what you want from it all, and make it clear you expect them to pay any additional costs up or down the line.

silvercar

I’d concentrate on moving in and hoping that everyone completes on Monday. Once you’ve moved in you and everyone else in the chain can quantify your losses and pursue reimbursement from your solicitors.

GDB2222

user1977 said:

GDB2222 said:

eddddy said:

HanspanCsEw89 said:

I will take on board asking them to cover additional costs rather than compensation. 

Your seller might also claim their 'additional costs' from you.

And their 'additional costs' might include 'additional costs' claimed by their seller - and so on up the chain. 

If the upward chain is long, there might be a lot of additional costs.

HanspanCsEw89 said:

Would it be worth making a formal complaint in order to make sure they they don’t allow this to happen to someone else? 

I expect they'll realise the gravity of their mistake without you having to make a formal complaint.

I suspect the senior partners (or whoever is the top level of management) were fully appraised of the situation on Friday - and their litigation team will be getting geared-up to deal with the claims.

They should involve their insurers

I doubt they're going to trouble their insurers for paying out a few hundred quid here and there - their excess will be massive.

And I agree there's little point in making a "formal" complaint (in reality, there aren't different levels of complaint!). They'll obviously know that what has happened is unsatisfactory and I expect whoever is responsible has already had a bollocking.

I’m sure they have a duty to report it to insurers, but I agree that they are going to want to pay out these fairly modest amounts and just get it out of the way.

If someone has taken the pee and stayed in a swanky hotel, they may not be in a position to contest it, anyway, if it’s a couple of rungs away on the ladder. Plus, there’s no point spending too much time on it.

user1977

GDB2222 said:

user1977 said:

GDB2222 said:

eddddy said:

HanspanCsEw89 said:

I will take on board asking them to cover additional costs rather than compensation. 

Your seller might also claim their 'additional costs' from you.

And their 'additional costs' might include 'additional costs' claimed by their seller - and so on up the chain. 

If the upward chain is long, there might be a lot of additional costs.

HanspanCsEw89 said:

Would it be worth making a formal complaint in order to make sure they they don’t allow this to happen to someone else? 

I expect they'll realise the gravity of their mistake without you having to make a formal complaint.

I suspect the senior partners (or whoever is the top level of management) were fully appraised of the situation on Friday - and their litigation team will be getting geared-up to deal with the claims.

They should involve their insurers

I doubt they're going to trouble their insurers for paying out a few hundred quid here and there - their excess will be massive.

And I agree there's little point in making a "formal" complaint (in reality, there aren't different levels of complaint!). They'll obviously know that what has happened is unsatisfactory and I expect whoever is responsible has already had a bollocking.

I’m sure they have a duty to report it to insurers

There'll be a de minimus principle, I expect the insurers just want to keep an overview about supervision protocols and to be told about big potential losses, not every single c0ck-up.