Conveyancing fee bill higher than quote by nearly 50%

LTNRW

Just had my conveyancing bill for the purchase of my house.

my quote was for £1041.50 total

ive paid £300 on account for searches 

yet have today received a bill for £1541.89
I can not make sense of the number difference 
the only thing I can see different is an indemnity policy for £88 ( which I have no knowledge as to what for ) and I raised no queries about the house etc. ( buying from family member ) 

am I missing something or should the fees be

legal fees + searches = total
(Minus searches on account , legal fee then remains outstanding)

very confused , as I’m exchanging and completing Friday , this bill needs paying tomorrow but can’t help feel confused

Especially when I have seen the sellers legal fees as they are my relative and their sale and purchase combined with the very same solicitors as me is only a few hundred quid more.

Royoftherovers2024

I sold my property last year and was quoted one figure to then be given a bill hundreds of pounds more, I queried it and got it reduced somewhere in between. Some of these firms go in with low fees to attract the business and then sting you at completion. It will probably be in the small print somewhere but some of the fees they added on for me were just crazy.

user1977

You'll need to give us the breakdown of both your quote and the latest total for us to make sense of it.

Tiglet2

When you obtained your quote, you probably told them some information about what you were buying.  However, at that time, neither. you nor your solicitor would know much about the property. 

If you advised that, for example, it was a freehold property and then the solicitor finds out that the property is freehold but there is a management company to look after the communal areas, your solicitor will charge a further fee for liaising with the said management company.

If you thought the property was registered at the Land Registry and then you discover it's not, there would be a further fee to be added to your quote.

If you didn't advise that you have a LISA at the time of the original quote, and they need to liaise with the LISA provider, there will be an additional fee for that.

If you said it was a cash purchase and then decide to obtain a mortgage, there would be an additional fee for dealing with the lender.

When you got your welcome pack, there should be something in it regarding "additional work",  Have a look at that and see what, if anything, applies to your case.

Don't forget that VAT will be added to the fees, which is not always on the quote.

propertyrental

you need to quote here the original estimate in full and also the final bill in full.

LTNRW

As above.

the only thing I can gather is that my mortgage payment is effectively included there. As my mortgage is £100,000 but the net pay in the document states £99,465

however my mortgage monthly is £664 not £530 odd
other than that - not a clue.

eddddy

So it looks like they quoted legal fees of £859.50, but charged you £942.

If you want, you can ask what the extra £82.50 was for. (Maybe it was their fee for arranging the £88 indemnity policy.)

As you say, the key difference seems to be that you were expecting a £100,000 mortgage advance, but you only received £99,465.

Could the £535 difference be the mortgage application fee and valuation fee? Or did you pay those in advance?


I expect your mortgage broker or solicitor will be able to explain why there was the £535 deduction.

user1977

So the total fees and disbursements are £1,310.25 versus £1,104.50 then, with the main difference being that their legal fees are £942 rather than £859.50, plus the £88 indemnity policy (you sure they never mentioned what that was for?).

Hoenir

user1977 said:

 with the main difference being that their legal fees are £942 rather than £859.50

Of this difference. 20% will be VAT on top of the additional time spent costs. 

slackgarry

Should they not tell you if there are any extra fees or costs change before they go ahead ?

OutdoorQueen

I always thought a quote was the exact figure you would be paying after the supply of a service, and a legally binding document.  An estimate was a guide price that could change.  

 As you have been given a quote, that is the amount you should pay.  I would ask why you have been given a quote and then are being asked to pay more.  It should l have been labelled an estimate if there was a chance the price would change.  

https://www.justanswer.co.uk/property-law/l702b-legal-difference-estimate-quote.html