First time buyers solicitors fees

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82047163#Comment_82047163

Not sure it's worth paying a solicitor to tell you what the fees your conveyance are charging you are. Conveyancing is a different branch of law with a different regulator etc, solicitors can perform conveyancing, in which case they are still covered by the SRA, but licensed conveyancers can also conduct conveyancing and they come under the CLC instead; both fall under the LSB. Firms like PPL use conveyancers not solicitors, their salaries are about half that of a solicitor.

Surprised Gemini didnt also call out that they are well known for their not charging fees for a non-fault non-completion. Obviously how they achieve low prices, waiving fees etc is by being a highly process orientated organsations with high case loads per person.

The OP seems not to have appreciated that the charge is made up two component, the fee and the disbursements - the later are a simple pass through of costs they incur. We used a different factor firm, they were very clear the fee was fixed, disbursements were whatever they are and that the fixed fee was for a vanilla purchase with any deviation (eg leasehold rather than freehold) came with an additional fixed fee.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with factory firms, for straightforward cases using a solicitor and paying a lot more is a case of simply paying more for a similar para-legal to do most the work. Some may argue that if things get messy then a solicitor could be better than a conveyancer but Im not necessarily convinced thats the case… certainly solicitors have a much broader qualification in law but conveyancers are experts in their narrow field and given you are operating in their field…

MeteredOut

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82047209#Comment_82047209

I suggested asking the convenyancer for a breakdown of their fees, not engaging their solicitor to do the same. If someone is presented with a bill with a list of 15 items and a single figure, they are 100% within their right to ask for a breakdown.

(I referred to PPL as a solicitor as that's what the OP referred to them as in their first post, and it seemed petty to correct them on that point. To the lay person, they are the same thing.)