Solicitor over-charging for house purchase, as they already have my business for house sale

Manabouttown55

I recently sought quotes for both House Sale and House Purchase from a range of solicitors/conveyancers.

I went with a firm that provided a reasonable quote for both Sale and Purchase, and had good reviews. I instructed them for the sale straight away, and everything has been going fine. Three weeks later, I am now ready to instruct them for purchase, having finally had an offer accepted, so sought a new quote with the most up to date information (eg exact value of purchase house, which is 10% higher than for my original quote).

They have now supplied a Purchase Quote in which the 'Legal Fees' element has been tripled from around £1,000 to around £3,000. Including supplements and disbursements, their total fee is now £5,500.

It's quite clear to me that they are gouging me, because they already have my business for the House Sale, and know I'll be reluctant to instruct anyone else for House Purchase for fear of complicating the transaction. Some questions I'd really benefit from answers to:

1) Has this happened to anyone else? Is it common practice?
2) How would you respond? I am tempted to walk away from them entirely, and instruct a new firm for House Purchase and House Sale. But fear about losing the deposit I've already paid for conveyancing work on the sale, and going back to square one in that transaction.
3) How sane would it be to instruct a new firm for House Purchase, but stick with the original firm for House Sale?

Grateful for any advice/guidance.

user1977

What of the "supplements and disbursements" are actually their own fees? Because that's all they can really negotiate on.

Other than the increased price are there no other complications which have been clarified since the original quote? Have they broken down their fees at all?

Manabouttown55

user1977 said:

What of the "supplements and disbursements" are actually their own fees? Because that's all they can really negotiate on.

Other than the increased price are there no other complications which have been clarified since the original quote? Have they broken down their fees at all?

Their 'supplements and disbursements' are broken down in detail, and I don't really have any issue with them - they are for expected things like searches, money-laundering verification, land registry fees etc etc. It is the separate 'Legal Fees' (ie their costs and profit) hike that angers me. It has tripled, even though value of house being purchased is only 10% higher than in the original quote. 

DE_612183

what did they say when you asked them to explain the difference?

Manabouttown55

DE_612183 said:

what did they say when you asked them to explain the difference?

They said that because the value of the purchase home was now 10% higher, it had passed a threshold whereby the work would have to be reviewed by a Partner. When I said this seemed an implausible reason to triple their fee, they agreed to knock £1,000 off the price. It's so clearly price gouging, knowing I don't want the hassle of instructing someone else, now my sale is progressing.

Hoenir

A £1,000 fee for both sale and purchase is extremely low. 

TBG01

You are free to instruct another firm in the purchase.

Manabouttown55

Hoenir said:

A £1,000 fee for both sale and purchase is extremely low. 

I think you misread my post. The original £1,000 quote only related to Purchase, and did not include searches, land registry fees, bank admin fees, VAT etc etc. The total original Purchase-only quote (which I was happy with) was around £2,300.

m0bov

There is nothing stopping you moving to another solicitor for the whole process 

DE_612183

So their original quote based on price X was £1000, you now have a value of price Y which has triggered more work for an extra £2000.

When you had the original quote - did they also supply a Terms and Conditions and Letter of Engagement ? If so the pricing schedule should be in there about how the price can vary if circumstances change - did you read this?

user1977

Manabouttown55 said:

Hoenir said:

A £1,000 fee for both sale and purchase is extremely low. 

I think you misread my post. The original £1,000 quote only related to Purchase, and did not include searches, land registry fees, bank admin fees, VAT etc etc. The total original Purchase-only quote (which I was happy with) was around £2,300.

You need to take all of the disbursements out of the equation. Your solicitor isn't pocketing any of the SDLT, registration dues etc.