conveyancer question

wafer_2

Hi everyone,

Currently in the process of buying a place, when we were looking for a conveyancer my mortgage advisor recommended a name of a conveyancer in a solicitors firm. The conveyancer wrote a letter to explain charges etc and that she was a conveyancing executive and the work would be done under the supervision of a partner of the firm. Being a ftb and reading other people's stories where the some lease details were not checked properly, I started to get concerned as to whether this recommended conveyancer was fully qualified or not. I rang up the partner of the firm to get clarification and he confirmed that she was not fully qualifued but has over 20yrs experience, the day to day work would be carried out by her but the final contracts would be sign off and checked by himself. He said that it was normal practice of how the work is done for conveyancing. Has anyone else come across this before and is this normal?

No searches have been done but the partner offered 3 options:
1) to carry on with the current agreement
2) to switch over to him but at extra cost of £200 but he said this would not make much difference anyway, because the end result is that he still has to check and sign off either way
3) to get a refund on the money we have paid already and to pass the docs onto another solicitor company if we decide not to use them

Any comments welcome, am I worrying over nothing or do I have cause for concern? I am just worried that he may just sign off the docs by just glancing over the contract and signing off rather than thoroughly going the contract.

LittleVoice

I wonder what the Partner meant by the Conveyancer not being fully qualified. Clearly she is not a fully qualified solicitor but what are her qualifications as a conveyancer and what were the 20 years of experience?

As it would be the Partner who would sign off that all was well for you to sign the deeds, he is trusting her to do a satisfactory job and you would have the security of his professional indemnity insurance.

It seems fairly standard to me.

wafer_2

Hi Little voice,

Thanks for the reply, I asked if she was a fully qualified conveyancer but he said no but she has had the experience to carry out the work and as you said it appears that he trusts her to do the work and he signs off which is similar to what many of us experience in day to day working life, we do the work and our boss signs off, they may have a quick look but they are unlikely to go through each

selectcase

It sounds fine to me as well - basically the leg work is being dome by someone else

wafer_2

Hi Little voice,

Thanks for the reply, I asked if she was a fully qualified conveyancer and he said no but she has had the experience to carry out the work. As you said it appears that he gets her to do the work and he signs off which is similar to what many of us experience in day to day working life, we do the work and our boss signs off, they may have a quick look but they are unlikely to go through each detail and double check everthing that I have done.

I think what I will do is ring around a few other solicitors offices and get other quotes and more info on this etc, see if it it standard way of doing things in their offices.

Thanks Little Voice

selectcase

I would politly disagree - i bet they do go through every little thing especially in todays society with litigation everywhere - plus I am not sure wou will get a refund on work allready done.

Mr_Bear_2

it is usual for a less qualified yet very experienced member of staff will deal with your case but as you say she is supervised by a partner who will see incoming and outgoing post and will ultimately sign off on the work!

You are safe dont worry!!

Doozergirl

As long as I could still sue them when it goes wrong, I wouldn't be too concerned if it appeared to be a straightforward freehold purchase.

Biggie

I agree if it's a simple freehold then the risks are low.

i'm currently purchasing and the paper work is done by a trainee, however I get to see a copy of all the stuff which is also signed off by the partners.

Advantages are that you get conveyancing done much faster then if it was one of the partners as they tend to have better things to do. Also you should save a fait but of money as well.

wafer_2

thanks for your posts everybody, the property is not completely freehold, I am buying a flat with a share of freehold, it is a maisionette and we have the first floor flat.

david29dpo

This is very normal. I do a lot of my partners work for him, which he checks and signs off. It keeps cost down in a very competitive market. Legal secretaries, as there called, are normally very good. They are very keen to clime the ladder, so to speak!