Common conveyancing issues – and how we deal with them

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent and impartial body that offers consumers recourse if they are unhappy with the services of a law firm or legal services provider. It is a vital scheme which offers protection against poor legal advice and customer service.

Sadly, nearly a quarter (23%) of complaints received by the Ombudsman relate to residential conveyancing. Common problems that feature in complaints include:

1. A higher-than-expected legal bill
2. Firms offering a ‘no move, no fee’ deal and charging if the transaction falls through
3. Firms offering a fixed fee deal and still charging unexpected extra costs
4. Delays that cause the client to lose their sale or purchase
5. Failure to provide adequate advice on issues that later cause the client problems
6. Failure to identify or explain the property or garden boundaries
7. Failure to remove charges remaining on the property from a previous owner.

Lack of transparency

The first three issues relate to a lack of transparency surrounding fees, which can seriously erode a client’s trust in the conveyancing profession. Despite the introduction of new rules on transparency introduced in 2018 by the SRA, which required law firms to display prices and service information for residential conveyancing and a number of other practice areas, it clearly remains an issue for some firms.

At Attwaters, we resolve this with a policy of complete transparency in relation to the fees we charge our clients. In addition to publishing our fees on our website, your conveyancing solicitor will always tell you exactly how much you’ll owe before commencing any work. If anything comes to light during the conveyancing process that may lead to additional costs, they will discuss this with you at length and explain why the additional work is necessary before proceeding.

Delays in the conveyancing process

In a recent survey, ‘feeling overworked’ was rated as one of the top three frustrations of conveyancing solicitors. Unfortunately, it seems that many firms prioritise profit over client service and employee wellbeing, leading to delays and mistakes as conveyancers struggle to cope with their caseload.

We don’t believe in making our conveyancing solicitors (or our clients!) miserable, so we have invested in a large team of skilled solicitors and highly experienced conveyancing assistants, who are able to dedicate to each transaction the time and resources it deserves. Although we can’t eliminate delays altogether – after all, the nature of property transactions means a reliance on many third parties – our team will always do absolutely everything in their power to minimise delays on our end.

Poor advice

There will always be aspects of the conveyancing process that are beyond anybody’s control. Buyers and sellers backing out of a purchase or sale, or even the rare practices of gazumping and gazundering, cannot always be avoided. But at Attwaters Jameson Hill, we believe that there is no excuse for poor legal advice.

It’s our job to scrutinise all the legal documents pertaining to your property transaction and make you aware of any issues that may have an impact on you in the future, for example:

• Any issues relating to a leasehold property, such as restrictive covenants, excessive ground rent and unfair terms or a short lease
• Any issues with the property uncovered by local authority or environmental searches, such as outstanding financial charges against the property, listed status and risk of flooding, etc.
•  Planning restrictions, i.e. due to the fact that your property is a listed building or is located in a conservation area
• Any issues that may cause disputes down the line, such as disputed property boundaries.

A quality service – guaranteed

Buying a property is stressful enough without experiencing issues with your conveyancing solicitor. That’s why we make a pledge to each an every one of our clients – our Service Pledge – outlining the client experience our lawyers promise to deliver. It is a pledge to treat you with courtesy and respect, to provide you with all the information you need about your property and our own progress on your case, to be proactive and communicative, and to accompany any and all problems we identify with a workable solution.

We are also accredited members of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices.

To get in touch with a Residential Conveyancing team that won’t cause you (even more!) stress, please do get in touch with us on 0203 871 0140 or email enquiries@attwaters.co.uk.