Is a 9-week delay on a drainage & water search normal?

EssexHebridean

Sometimes further information is needed for the search to be carried out if there is an issue with the property address provided - as I said previously, most commonly this is where a water account is still set up under a plot number on a development, whilst naturally the address given for the search will be the postal address. Some search providers ask for the water account number for this reason although we don’t usually bother requesting that if the other side because we can always ask later if needed. It may be that some search providers ask for a bill as the easiest way of confirming account details when these issues arise. 

Echo101

Chief_of_Staffy said:

Utility bills aren't required for searches. They are irrelevant to the process. The water company is the body that would have sent out the bill in the first place, so there's no reason for them to require that bill be sent back to them to check what's on it.

"My solicitor says the water company rejected the seller’s bill as illegible and needed a clearer copy." This sounds like something out of Fargo. What does it even mean? I'd get onto your solicitor and instruct them to explain exactly what they're attempting to do.

I thought this! It sounds a bit like BS to me. My other searches came back through SearchFlow. When I spoke to the staff at my solicitor, they kept repeating that GoTo (who we were referred through via our Mortgage Broker) hasn't accepted the format of the bill, and so they haven't been able to request the water and drainage search. 

My last update was that the day before yesterday, a new one was sent off, since then, both me, the estate agent and the sellers' solicitors have chased an update, but apparently nothing has come back.

I'm pretty confident my solicitors have f'd up somehow, though.

In any case it's caused us to miss our requested exchange/completion date by two weeks and counting as this is the only issue left outstanding. I've given up asking about it now though it's too frustrating to get different answers each time I ask. 

Echo101

Update: This is still ongoing  They said the bill was required and it has only been sent on the 26th November which is almost two months after the searches were initially ordered. They said it can take 10-12 working days from that date. 

Chief_of_Staffy

Echo101 said:

Update: This is still ongoing  They said the bill was required and it has only been sent on the 26th November which is almost two months after the searches were initially ordered. They said it can take 10-12 working days from that date. 

They'll charge you extra for all that - circuses aren't free and the clowns have to get paid.

Echo101

Chief_of_Staffy said:

Echo101 said:

Update: This is still ongoing  They said the bill was required and it has only been sent on the 26th November which is almost two months after the searches were initially ordered. They said it can take 10-12 working days from that date. 

They'll charge you extra for all that - circuses aren't free and the clowns have to get paid.

Legit! I've spoken to our broker who recommended them via Goto who have picked this up and basically said this should have been sorted weeks ago and they don't know what our solicitors have been doing so fingers crossed the end is in sight! 

EssexHebridean

Echo101 said:

Update: This is still ongoing  They said the bill was required and it has only been sent on the 26th November which is almost two months after the searches were initially ordered. They said it can take 10-12 working days from that date. 

Have you asked them what the reason was for a bill being required at all? That will be an interesting answer I suspect. 

I wouldn't worry about being charged extra - although this has been dragging on, it doesn't sound like something that would trigger the additional charging clause for most conveyancing firms. That's generally more inclined to be relevant if there ends up being significant toing and froing between the buying and selling solicitors, or protracted correspondence with - for example - a freeholder or management company over and above what might have been expected. 

Echo101

EssexHebridean said:

Echo101 said:

Update: This is still ongoing  They said the bill was required and it has only been sent on the 26th November which is almost two months after the searches were initially ordered. They said it can take 10-12 working days from that date. 

Have you asked them what the reason was for a bill being required at all? That will be an interesting answer I suspect. 

I wouldn't worry about being charged extra - although this has been dragging on, it doesn't sound like something that would trigger the additional charging clause for most conveyancing firms. That's generally more inclined to be relevant if there ends up being significant toing and froing between the buying and selling solicitors, or protracted correspondence with - for example - a freeholder or management company over and above what might have been expected. 

They just said the search company requested it to verify the details and said they couldn't give me any more information. Once this is all over I think we'll be putting a complaint in to try and get someone to give me the full timeline of what actually happened. Just for my own sanity more than anything. 

Echo101

Update: This is finally sorted and we have a completion date of next week! Buzzing but still annoyed something so simple lasted such a long time 

paulintheprocess

Nine weeks is not normal for a drainage and water search. Most come back in a week or two, sometimes a bit longer depending on the water company, but nowhere near this long. A rejected bill should not hold things up for this amount of time unless nobody chased it.

It sounds like the delay is down to poor handling rather than the search itself. Your solicitor should have spotted the rejection much earlier and followed it up instead of waiting until now.

Sadly you don’t really get compensation for being given wrong info, but you can complain to the firm and ask the supervising solicitor to take over so things stop going in circles.

You might still make Christmas, but only if the search is pushed through this week. Keep chasing daily and ask for a clear update in writing.

EssexHebridean

I'm glad it's sorted - but if I were you I would definitely be asking for the details of why a bill was needed because it's a long way from standard. If there is some form of glitch about the address, better you know about it now, rather than after completion when you're trying to set up utility accounts! 

Good luck with next week, and getting settled in ahead of Christmas, if you celebrate!