No contact from surveyor

pointer77

Morning All,

I was after a little bit of advice.

I am in the process of purchasing a property and I instructed a surveyor on 27.07.26 (signed the consent form and sent it back) and have heard nothing since. They stated in their emails that they would contact the estate agents to arrange.

The estate agent confirmed they have had no contact from them at all, luckily I haven't paid anything to them. I emailed the surveyor yesterday to chase but again nothing.

Am I within my rights to instruct another company and will there be any comeback on this?

Thank you!

Lee

Jemma01

Call them to ask what's happening with it. Don't speculate. Not everything agents say is true, unfortunately.

What does the consent form say? What's their SLAs?

pointer77

Hi Jemma,

I did try and call this morning, no answer.

The contract doesn't give any time frames, lead times or how long it will be before I receive the report.

I also had no acknowledgement that they received my signed contract.

Rodders53

It's the summer holidays**… and it's not even been a fortnight… and if this was a postal (rather than e-mail) "sent back" then only about a week…

Is this a one person band or a large practice with multiple surveyors?

** most would have an 'out of office' response to e-mails. Many would have an auto reply to thank for an e-mail, regardless that no one has read the content. Just to appear more professional.

pointer77

Its a company with multiple surveyors.

They were very quick replying when they were asking for my details and asking me to sign the contract but they never acknowledged the receipt of the signed contract and heard nothing since.

Jemma01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82093855#Comment_82093855

is there anything on their website?

I would call again and give it until Monday. If nothing, and your consent doesn't bind you to anything, then i'd look somewhere else and email them to withdraw consent.

It is summer holidays, and often different ppl deal with different things.

ETA, if I recall correctly when I was buying my house 2024 there was a high demand for qualified surveyors and mine took few weeks. I don't know if the pressure eased off.

pointer77

Nothing on their website regarding lead times etc.

I just don't understand why a company wouldn't acknowledge receipt of the contract, surely that's the most important part to get the ball rolling? they were quick enough to reply to get the contract!

Thanks for your suggestion Jemma, I'll give it until tomorrow as it would have been over 10 days and it doesn't give me much confidence if they suddenly reply, do the survey, I pay them and then I have to chase and chase to get the report.

eddddy

Just to clarify, what kind of business are you dealing with?…

Are you dealing directly with a firm of RICS surveyors?

Or are you dealing with a company with a website that advertises surveys, and takes bookings which they outsource to their panel of surveyors?

(Or, possibly worst case, is it somebody who has decided to call themselves a surveyor, but with no qualifications.)

I guess it would be unusual for a firm of RICS surveyors not to answer their phone, or at least allow you to leave a voicemail. (RICS members have to follow codes of conduct, which includes how they treat customers.)

If it's just a company with a website and outsourcing surveys, it could be that they were very keen to take your booking, but are now struggling to find a surveyor who will do the survey.

pointer77

It is a "Family run firm of RICS Chartered Surveyors"

The contract/consent form has the surveyors name on it and states "I will proceed with the inspection of the property in good faith pending receipt of the signed terms of agreement" but I have had no confirmation that this has been received.

sheramber

Was it sent by email or by post?

pointer77

They sent me it to sign via email, I signed and emailed it back on the same day 27.07.

Thanks,