Solicitors doubled my fees: what can I do?

lb00

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding unexpected fees from my solicitor. After a lengthy 4-month conveyancing process, contracts were finally exchanged on Wednesday, with completion set for September 25th. Yesterday, I received the invoice from my solicitor, and to my surprise, my fees have effectively doubled. While I was informed of some additional costs, many others were not disclosed at all, leaving me quite frustrated. I will ask him clarifications but wanted to hear thoughts on here as well.

When I began the conveyancing process, my solicitor stated the following in their terms:

"These are only an estimate of costs based on the matter proceeding through on a normal course. If, however, the matter becomes complex and/or protracted, or the nature of the transaction alters, I reserve the right to increase my estimate. I shall, of course, let you know as soon as I am aware of any increase in my fee."

Here's a breakdown of the fees, including 20% VAT:

1. Fee for dealing with Undervalue Transaction: £300.00
2. Insolvency Declaration: £180.00
3. Fee for dealing with HM Land Registry delayed Registration: £300.00
4. Fee for Gifted Deposit Queries: £420.00
5. Deed of Covenant: £180.00
6. Fee for Freehold Company: £300.00
7. Fee for Management Company: £300.00
8. Bank Transmission Fee: £42.00
9. Copying Charge: £24.00
10. Land Registry Search Fee: £8.40
11. ID/AML Check (x3): £126.00
12. Local Authority Search: £305.40
13. Stamp Duty Return Fee: £120.00
14. Indemnity Insurance Fee: £150.00
15. Incidentals (Postage, Telephone calls, etc.): £48.00
16. Fee on Purchase: £2,340.00

I mainly have issues with fees 1, 2, 3. In particular:

1. Fees 1 and 2 relate to the sale of the flat from the previous seller to the current seller being at undervalue. My solicitor initially advised me to consider withdrawing from the purchase due to this and later settled on insurance. However, I later discovered, through a friend and this forum, that the relevant period to reverse an undervalue transaction between unconnected parties is only six months. The undervalue transaction took place in April, so if I had known the risk was limited to six months, I wouldn't have been as concerned or delayed the transaction. I feel that my solicitor's advice was misplaced and superficial, and he did not notify me of this risk adequately. Therefore, I am inclined not to pay these fees.
2. Fee 3 was for a delayed Land Registry registration. However, this was due to the sellers initially not sending a copy of the title register because their sale was completed only a month before our conveyancing began. Eventually, after a few emails, the sellers did provide it, so I'm puzzled by this fee. My solicitor merely sent a couple of follow-up emails; he didn’t examine any previous transfer documents while waiting for the title register. This seems like an unnecessary charge.
3. Fees 5, 6, and 7 are my solicitors' additional charges on top of the third-party fees that the management and freehold companies are charging (£60 for each of the membership certificate, £300 for the Deed of Covenant). Is this standard practice?
4. Additionally, my solicitor has included in the completion balance a "reserve of £5,000 to cover any apportionments that the vendors have paid in advance and are seeking reimbursement, e.g., Rates or service charges if the property is leasehold. Obviously, any part of this reserve not utilised will be returned to you immediately on completion." Is this standard practice, and should I agree to this reserve?

Obviously, I don't want to delay completion, but at the same time, I feel some of these fees are quite unreasonable. What would you do in my position?

Thank you so much.

housebuyer143

Did she make you aware of the increased costs as she said she would? Are these fees anywhere in their TOB?
I had this with my solicitor, not too the same extent and she removed a charge that was wrong, just to add a different one that she "forgot"!

I would ask her to explain where the fees you are unhappy with have come from and why and then if they don't budge on them, pay them under protest and make a complaint later. They have you over a barrel and they know it unfortunately, because they won't complete your transaction without the fees being paid.

lb00

housebuyer143 said:

Did she make you aware of the increased costs as she said she would? Are these fees anywhere in their TOB?
I had this with my solicitor, not too the same extent and she removed a charge that was wrong, just to add a different one that she "forgot"!

I would ask her to explain where the fees you are unhappy with have come from and why and then if they don't budge on them, pay them under protest and make a complaint later. They have you over a barrel and they know it unfortunately, because they won't complete your transaction without the fees being paid.

No, he didn't notify me properly for 1,2,3. For example, with the gifted deposit declaration (4), he did let me know, but even then, I was the one who had to chase down all the lawyers in Italy to confirm the transactions related to the gifted funds. Essentially, all he did was receive and read three emails.

He did notify me about fees 5, 6, and 7, so I would be willing to pay those. What I would not agree to pay are fees 1, 2, and 3—especially 1 and 2, as his advice on those was misguided - especially as he did not notify me.

Wonka_2

Given the complexities of the case evidenced by your numerous posts on here there’s no surprise it wasn’t classed as a simple transaction as per the original brief. 

Presumably each of the added elements have a checking risk to the conveyancer. 

Whilst there may have been limited communication from them re additional charges you have a responsibility to ask/know the cost of additional work being carried out. 

How you take this forwards depends on your relationship with the conveyancer and potential future dealings with them but I suspect you’re not in a position of power if you still want to exchange/complete on this property 

lb00

Wonka_2 said:

Given the complexities of the case evidenced by your numerous posts on here there’s no surprise it wasn’t classed as a simple transaction as per the original brief. 

Presumably each of the added elements have a checking risk to the conveyancer. 

Whilst there may have been limited communication from them re additional charges you have a responsibility to ask/know the cost of additional work being carried out. 

How you take this forwards depends on your relationship with the conveyancer and potential future dealings with them but I suspect you’re not in a position of power if you still want to exchange/complete on this property 

Yes I want to complete so will just ask for clarifications and then see what he says. 
But what I am unhappy with is mainly 1, 2, 3 for the reasons I outlined above.
1 and 2: if he had told me the risk was just for 6 months I would have just lived with it and gone ahead with the purchase without fussing about insurance, asking the sellers for an insolvency declaration etc. My point is his advice was misplaced and in the end I won't take out the insurance policy.
3: all he had to do was wait an additional week and send a couple of follow up emails - and in the end I got the title register sent to him phoning the EA. He didn't have to do any additional work - say investigate the previous sale going through the papers. So what is that fee for?

Thank you very much for your help.

housebuyer143

It's frustrating I agree. I had to pay £200 for a statutory declaration, which I wrote myself and she just read over! She couldn't even be bothered to write it.. 
I got stung with a second property charge, when that had 0 baring on the work she did. Then a second mortgage deed charge, when I changed lender because my sale collapsed. It was like £60 when all she did was print the deed for me to sign. I could go on and on tbh. She probably notified me about 2 and added about 6 😡 
In the end I queried it, got fobbed off and just paid it and moved on. 

Hoenir

housebuyer143 said:

It's frustrating I agree. I had to pay £200 for a statutory declaration, which I wrote myself and she just read over! She couldn't even be bothered to write it.. 
I got stung with a second property charge, when that had 0 baring on the work she did. Then a second mortgage deed charge, when I changed lender because my sale collapsed. It was like £60 when all she did was print the deed for me to sign. I could go on and on tbh. She probably notified me about 2 and added about 6 😡 
In the end I queried it, got fobbed off and just paid it and moved on. 

Your own situation has no bearing on that of the OP. 

housebuyer143

Hoenir said:

housebuyer143 said:

It's frustrating I agree. I had to pay £200 for a statutory declaration, which I wrote myself and she just read over! She couldn't even be bothered to write it.. 
I got stung with a second property charge, when that had 0 baring on the work she did. Then a second mortgage deed charge, when I changed lender because my sale collapsed. It was like £60 when all she did was print the deed for me to sign. I could go on and on tbh. She probably notified me about 2 and added about 6 😡 
In the end I queried it, got fobbed off and just paid it and moved on. 

Your own situation has no bearing on that of the OP. 

I was simply pointing out that solicitors do this stuff, it seems to be common place. The options are to accept it or dispute it - that's really it. 

propertyrental

housebuyer143 said:

Hoenir said:

housebuyer143 said:

It's frustrating I agree. I had to pay £200 for a statutory declaration, which I wrote myself and she just read over! She couldn't even be bothered to write it.. 
I got stung with a second property charge, when that had 0 baring on the work she did. Then a second mortgage deed charge, when I changed lender because my sale collapsed. It was like £60 when all she did was print the deed for me to sign. I could go on and on tbh. She probably notified me about 2 and added about 6 😡 
In the end I queried it, got fobbed off and just paid it and moved on. 

Your own situation has no bearing on that of the OP. 

I was simply pointing out that solicitors do this stuff, it seems to be common place. The options are to accept it or dispute it - that's really it. 

Or quote the original terms, plus the new charges, and ask on the forum not for others' irrelevant/unrelated experience but for guidance on whether acceptance or dispute is appropriate in this case.

lb00

Thank you all for your replies. What I'll do is just politely call and ask clarifications about fee n.3 - essentially the seller, who bought the flat himself in April, made my solicitor wait a couple of weeks to provide a copy of the title register because their application at HMLR had not been completed yet. Personally I don't see how that justifies an extra £300, as my solicitor just had to wait and send a couple of follow up emails.

On the issue of the reserve he asked me to pay a "reserve of £5,000 to cover any apportionments that the vendors have paid in advance and are seeking reimbursement, e.g., Rates or service charges if the property is leasehold. Obviously, any part of this reserve not utilised will be returned to you immediately on completion." 
Is this standard practice? 

Thank you very much for your help.

Jellynailer

I have successfully complained about solicitors bills twice but only because of failings in service that caused me detriment.  As this does not seem to be the case for you it may be best if you pay up to avoid delaying completion but at the same time ask for a breakdown of how items 1-3 have been calculated. This is because delay on your part could result in a higher bill.