Completion day disaster

BH95

Hi Everyone,

I am just wondering if anyone has ever been through the same situation that we are currently going through. 

We have recently moved into a new property. We were in a chain of 8 houses and we were second from the bottom in the chain. 

Our solicitor requested our mortgage funds to be in their account the day before completion to ensure we had enough time to pass the funds up the chain to complete. 

The cooperative bank did not release the funds the day before and instead decided to transfer the funds on the completion day. As a result, the funds didn’t clear until 4pm and we did not have enough time to complete and had to try again the next day. 

Everyone in the chain had to pay for overnight storage and an additional day of removal fees. As we were the breaching party, we have now received a bill of circa £5,000 that we are apparently liable for. 

Our solicitor says they believe the fault fully lies with the coop as they have it in writing that they guarantee the funds will be in the account if 5 working days notice was given. Accordingly to our solicitor 6 working days were given. 

My solicitor only decided to call the bank at around 5pm the day before completion once they realised the funds weren’t there and therefore, there wasn’t enough time to make the payment. I have questioned my solicitor on why it took so long for them to react to this however, they have said it’s not normal practice to do this.  

I and my solicitor have put a complaint in with the cooperative bank but I am worried what happens if they deny any responsibility. 

I feel that it was coops fault but I feel my solicitor could have done more to prevent it. 

I’m just looking for some advice and wondered if anyone has been through the same situation and how it planned out. 

Thanks

Ben

user1977

BH95 said:

My solicitor only decided to call the bank at around 5pm the day before completion once they realised the funds weren’t there and therefore, there wasn’t enough time to make the payment. I have questioned my solicitor on why it took so long for them to react to this however, they have said it’s not normal practice to do this.  

I would say that's fair enough - if you're expecting the funds to arrive, you don't also spend the day pestering the bank on the phone. They can take until late in the day to process it.

ACG

I dont think you can blame the solicitor from what you have said. Assuming co-op had everything required within their timeframes then it is co-op at fault I would say. 

I know the worst bit is the stress of not knowing, but I think you just need to let co-op investigate it and see how it plays out and then go from there. Unless you are happy to put your hand in your pocket for the £5k, there is not much that can be done until that happens. I am not saying you are wrong, but you seem happy enough to blame anyone so long as it is not you (which I agree with, how can it be your fault), but tensions are high for you. Just let it work itself out and then go from there if it is not in a way that you would like. 

penners324

Lodge a complaint, if denied then take to the FOS.

Or start legal action against the CoOp

Hoenir

penners324 said:

Lodge a complaint, if denied then take to the FOS.

Or start legal action against the CoOp

Alternatively just hold fire for the moment. The matter is likely to be resolved without unneccesary fuss. 

BH95

We lodged a complaint straight away with the coop but they have an 8 week response time to investigate it. We're concerned in case people up the chain take legal action for us not paying the fees within this 8 week period. I haven't had any demands for money from my conveyancer yet, they have just given us a rough overall cost. If the coop deny responsibility and we take legal action against them, does anyone know if it's just the small claims court route that we would be best taking? We'll obviously hang fire on taking any action until the complaint is looked into but just want to know for future reference. 

ACG

It might take a little while for you to see any court letters. 
Assuming your solicitor relays the information to the sellers solicitor and so on up the chain, I am sure most people will be understanding. 

If anyone issues a court letter, that might result in the next solicitor down the chain doing the same and so on, but all of that would probably take a couple of weeks. In addition to that, by the time it ever got to court chances are you would have heard from co-op. If co-op do not accept they are at fault then chances are it is your solicitor who is and so they would probably end up dealing with it. 

However you also have the option of the financial ombudsman with co-op but you need to wait until they have come back to you first. Also the 8 weeks is a maximum, not an actual timeframe.