Can we tell them to stick it?!?

ken_and_dot

I don't think the issue here is the £35 at all. As pointed out in an earlier post, the indemnity policy was to cover the extension for defects AT THE TIME OF THE SALE. There is no way that you can be sure they have not carried out further, possibly defective work in the past three years and therefore no way you can be expected to pay for an indemnity policy at this late stage. End of story!!

tomstickland

If you had a clear record of them returning the money then I'd be inclined to pay it back to them.
If you genuinely believe that you did not receive the money, then don't feel too bad about telling them that it's not your problem.

silvercar

Whether they have done work since purchase is irrelevent, if there was a claim it would be for the beneficiaries to sort out with the insurance company whether they are covered. The policy only covers a lack of a building regs certificate and action by the council it never covers rectifying shoddy work.


Someone needs to buy this policy as it was a condition of the sale, the only question is whether it is reasonable for the solicitors to ask the seller to pay up the cost two years down the line or whether the solicitors should themselves pay.

chappers

silvercar wrote: »

Someone needs to buy this policy as it was a condition of the sale, the only question is whether it is reasonable for the solicitors to ask the seller to pay up the cost two years down the line or whether the solicitors should themselves pay.

But only if it was written into the contract, IMHO the buyer has in effect agreed to buy the house without the policy in place. Whether that be knowingly or by the neglect of their solicitor.

Incisor

TheBadaBing wrote: »

... We moved house in May 2005 and at the time were asked by the buyers to provide a Building Regulations Indemnity Policy in relation to a kitchen extension built in 1998 (we had replaced an existing structure and didn't think it needed regs). Our solicitor told us they needed this for completion so we paid the £35 to our solicitor and they sorted it out. We completed on May 13, 2005.

I received a letter a couple of weeks ago from my solicitor saying that "you agreed to provide a Policy to your Buyers upon completion but unfortunately following completion, I returned to you the sum of £36.39 in February 2007...I would be grateful if you would therefore forward to me a remittance in the sum of £35 in order that I can provide the agreed Indemnity Policy". Attached to it was a letter from the buyers' solicitors (addressed to ours) saying "our client has contacted us with a query in respect of the kitchen extension and from looking at the file it appears we have never received from you the Indemnity Policy...we would be obliged if you could let us have this as soon as possible".

If a solicitor charges £140/hr, then this is worth exactly 15 minutes of his time.

Now there are 3 issues at stake here:
1] Did the contract specify that you should provide an indemnity policy?
2] Does your completion statement throw any light on this?

So, before jumping into full blown action, I would write to the solicitor and ask for copies of these 2 documents, which will take 10 of the 15 minutes it is worth to them, to try and get to the bottom of it a bit more.

If after that the problem still stands, and my own bank records shed no light, I would ask them to advise you of the details [especially the number] of their own cheque to you and of their own bank's details of that cheque being cleared.

The more it begins to look to them like their own records might not uphold their position, the less they would be likely to pursue this.

Richard_Webster

If a solicitor charges £140/hr, then this is worth exactly 15 minutes of his time.

So, before jumping into full blown action, I would write to the solicitor and ask for copies of these 2 documents, which will take 10 of the 15 minutes it is worth to them, to try and get to the bottom of it a bit more.

Quite! As I pointed out in my earlier post the solicitors will have easily spent the £35 faffing around with it - they should move on to something more profitable and write it off...

TheBadaBing

Thank you everybody for your comments - they really are appreciated.

I'm going to write to my solicitors today:
- start by saying that I am surprised that they did not immediately purchase the policy upon receipt of the letter from the buyers' solicitors (although they received this on 26 March and they wrote to me on 10 April - I think they may have applied for the policy in this time and are now looking for me to cough up)
- ask them for copies of the contract and the completion statement (as recommended by Incisor) and
- stress that I am more than willing to pay the money back if liable but I require more information before doing so and
- I shall also request details of their complaints procedure in light of the poor service and inconvenience (as recommended by Richard Webster)

The part I'm slightly confused about is that if the policy formed part of the contract (and therefore the completion statement) then am I obliged to provide it now, 3 years after the move? Mind you, if it didn't form part of the contract then I'm still a bit confused?

Thanks.

poppy10_2

TheBadaBing wrote: »

The part I'm slightly confused about is that if the policy formed part of the contract (and therefore the completion statement) then am I obliged to provide it now, 3 years after the move?

No. You already provided the money to your solicitor 3 years ago to do this for you. If they didn't do it, and the buyer's solicitors didn't chase them for it at the time, then it is their fault.

minigirl

I work in a Solicitors and I think both solicitors are in the wrong.

However even if the Indemnity Policy is not mentioned in the Contract, if it mentioned in correspondence then they are obliged to provide it. I would definitely make a complaint and ask for more information but I would ask for confirmation that the cheque they supposedly sent you has cleared. It may have just got lost in the post and therefore has not cleared in which case they can just cancel the cheque and they have the money to provide the Policy now.

terryw

minigirl wrote: »

<snip>

It may have just got lost in the post and therefore has not cleared in which case they can just cancel the cheque and they have the money to provide the Policy now.

A most unlikely scenario, and if a firm of solicitors used this as an excuse to me, I would have grave doubts about their book-keeping practices and audit procedure.
Any firm, legal or otherwise, MUST check the cheque-book stubs against the records otherwise fraud could be rampant.

In this particular case the frightening part is that two punters have paid two lots of fees to two sets of highly-charging professionals and the property has been under risk for years! And the solicitors still expect the punters to sort it out.

terryw