Conveyancing fees significantly more than quoted

aligator136

Isthisforreal99 said:

Playing Devils Advocate why didn't you query the original quote when it incorrectly said freehold?

It does not say freehold anywhere on the quote??

Tiglet2

I'll try to break some of this down:

Initial Quote

Legal Fees £1020 (includes VAT)
Lifetime ISA £180 (includes VAT)
Telegraphic Transfer x 1 £54 (includes VAT)
Land Transaction Tax Administration Fee £60 (includes VAT)
Land Registration Fee £100
Land Registry Search Priority £7
Bankruptcy Fee (per purchaser) £6
Preparing Deed of Gift £120 (includes VAT)
Dealing with Lifetime ISA requirements £180 (includes VAT)

Total = £1747.00


Final Quote (Completion Statement)

(Legal Fees? Blanked out) £850 (doesn't include VAT)
Leasehold uplift £300 (assume it doesn't include VAT) 
Lifetime ISA £150 (doesn't include VAT)
Telegraphic Transfer x 1 £45 (doesn't include VAT)
Telegraphic Transfer x 1 £45 (doesn't include VAT)
Land Transaction Tax Administration Fee £50 (doesn't include VAT)
Land Registration Fee £100
Land Registry Search Priority £7
Bankruptcy Fee (per purchaser) £24 - includes giftors 
Third Party Gift Requirements, i.e. Preparing Deed of Gift) £120
Dealing with Lifetime ISA requirements £150 (doesn't include VAT)
WLTT Return £50
Arranging Indemnity Insurance £50
VAT thereon £815

Lease Assignment Fee (notice for Landlord) £250
Certificate of Compliance Fee £125
LMS Case Fee £42 (includes VAT)

Total = £2651.00 


The items above in bold are the additional fees not included in your original quote.

It looks as though the original quote was based on a purchase of a freehold property, whereas your transaction was actually a leasehold transaction.  Maybe you didn't know the property was leasehold when you obtained the quote, but leasehold transactions are more complicated and do cost more than a freehold purchase, hence why there is an uplift fee to take account of this.

You have been charged one extra TT fee, so there have been two transfers rather than just one you were originally quoted for.

Bankruptcy fee - they quoted you for one fee (i.e. a bankruptcy search on you, the purchaser), but because you have a gifted deposit, the solicitor is required to do bankruptcy searches on your giftors too.

WLTT Return - you may not be liable for Land Transaction Tax, but the solicitor has to submit a return to HMRC - probably should have been on the original quote

Arranging Indemnity Insurance - the original quote can't include fees for indemnity insurance because in the beginning of a transaction, this would be unknown.   You should have been aware that if indemnity insurance is needed, that there would be a fee for it.

Lease Assignment Fee and Certificate of Compliance Fee - these is not your solicitor's fees, but fees charged by the Management Company of the property.  This, again, is unknown at the time of your original quote.  The seller provides a Management Pack, where all the leasehold fees are stated within, but no-one will know what each Management Company charges until the pack is supplied, some time after the legal conveyancing work has started.  You should have been provided with a copy of the Management Pack.

I am unsure of what items include VAT or do not include VAT unless stated, but overall, the quote and the final quote (completion statement) seem reasonable to me.

There are always unknown factors when initially providing a quote, before anything is known about the property.  It is only as the transaction progresses that other matters crop up and the solicitor's quote will usually state that there may be additional fees for any additional work involved.

saajan_12

So going through the list, here's what doesn't match: 
Exodi has gone through why the leasehold fee wasn't included in the quote - if you're right, then maybe you could negotiate splitting that. Reason being, they did do the work and if they'd included in the quote, at best you'd have shopped around and gotten it cheaper but not free. 

Some comments or questions on the other items in bold below - if you ask the solicitor and respond, I can suggest further. 


Legal fee £850 - match
Leasehold fee uplift £300 - missing
Lifetime ISA £150 - match
Gift cert £100 - match
WLTT return £50 - match
Arranging Indemnity Insurance £50 - new requirement?
WLTT TT Charge - £45 - is this needed if there's no WLTT needed? 
TT Charge - £45 - match

Searches £195 - match
Lease assignment notice fee £250 - new requirement? Is this a disbursement or the solicitors' fee? 
Deed of covenant £0
Certificate of compliance fee £125 - what is this for?
Land Registry Registration fee £100 - match
AML fee £0
LMS Case fee £42 - what is this?
Land Registry Priority fee £7 - match
Bankruptcy search fee £24 - match (assume you had 4x instead of 1x in the quote)
Welsh Land Tax £0

TBG01

saajan_12 said:

So going through the list, here's what doesn't match: 
Exodi has gone through why the leasehold fee wasn't included in the quote - if you're right, then maybe you could negotiate splitting that. Reason being, they did do the work and if they'd included in the quote, at best you'd have shopped around and gotten it cheaper but not free. 

Some comments or questions on the other items in bold below - if you ask the solicitor and respond, I can suggest further. 


Legal fee £850 - match
Leasehold fee uplift £300 - missing
Lifetime ISA £150 - match
Gift cert £100 - match
WLTT return £50 - match
Arranging Indemnity Insurance £50 - new requirement?
WLTT TT Charge - £45 - is this needed if there's no WLTT needed? 
TT Charge - £45 - match

Searches £195 - match
Lease assignment notice fee £250 - new requirement? Is this a disbursement or the solicitors' fee? 
Deed of covenant £0
Certificate of compliance fee £125 - what is this for?
Land Registry Registration fee £100 - match
AML fee £0
LMS Case fee £42 - what is this?
Land Registry Priority fee £7 - match
Bankruptcy search fee £24 - match (assume you had 4x instead of 1x in the quote)
Welsh Land Tax £0

"Lease assignment notice fee £250 - new requirement? Is this a disbursement or the solicitors' fee?" - Disbursements, its the fee the management company/freeholder charge for updating their records.

"Certificate of compliance fee £125 - what is this for?" - There'll be a restriction on the title that requires the freeholder/management company to provide a certificate for.

"LMS Case fee £42 -what is this" - Sounds like OP has a lender who uses the LMS portal to manage the mortgage offer. The fee LMS charge for that is usually passed onto the client