The recent explosion in the number of online conveyancing firms has made conveyancing a hugely competitive industry. As a result, many firms out there are employing unethical pricing methods in order to bring in the business. Typical examples include firms advertising “Cheap Conveyancing From Just £89” etc.

A recent example involves a well-known firm of conveyancers advertising their conveyancing services from £89. Seems a great deal on paper, but on obtaining a quote from them we discovered that you can only qualify for this low rate if you are buying or selling a property for less than £40,000. With the average house price in England and Wales currently sitting at £166,798 (source: Guardian Money, 27 Aug 2010) you can see how this sort of advertising can cause problems for people. Indeed, you won’t have to spend too much time online looking for feedback from unhappy clients that were sucked in by these headline rates and then stung with:

a) ‘Extra’ charges on the final bill

b) A painfully poor service, in some cases resulting in their transaction falling through

To help you steer clear of this sort of practice we recommend that you try to look at conveyancing quotes in two separate sections:

1. The conveyancing solicitor’s basic fee
This is the fee charged for the time it takes and the costs associated in order to complete your conveyancing matter. It varies wildly between firms, and as a general rule of thumb High Street solicitors tend to charge more than online solicitors – because of the timescales involved (online solicitors generally process all searches online and will communicate by telephone and email. Local solicitors tend to prefer a more traditional approach, relying on the post etc, which takes longer).

The basic legal fee is usually calculated in one of three ways:

i) A fixed fee

ii) A fee linked to the value of the property

iii) An hourly rate

The fixed fee is almost certainly going to be the most cost effective.

2. Disbursements
These are third-party payments that are made on your behalf. These should be about the same across a range of solicitors as they are not charges levied by your practice, but rather by other parties such as the Land Registry and Local Authorities. Upon instruction some firms will ask you for a small upfront payment for these disbursements. Expect to pay no more than £50 on a sale and no more than around £250 on a purchase. This is completely normal and just ensures that your conveyancer doesn’t have to phone you every couple of days to take small payments for things like bankruptcy searches at £2 – £5 a time.

Beware of conveyancing solicitors getting creative and ‘inventing’ disbursements, that is, taking tasks that would normally be classed as overheads (and should therefore be included in the basic fee) and including them as disbursements. Although you’re going to end up paying for them anyway, unscrupulous firms are able to benefit from this because it allows them to artificially reduce their basic fee and therefore advertise a low fee to draw you in.

The total fee should enable you to compare like for like but unfortunately all too many firms quote a fee then hide the extras in their small print. So the key is to ask the question and obtain confirmation in writing. This will make it more difficult for the firm to add costs later. If they still refuse you have the regulatory body to complain to and as long as you have the paperwork to hand it should follow as a matter of course that you will be compensated.

Things to avoid

If you get a quote that looks like this…

Your conveyancing quote:

Our Fee: £199 + vat

INSTRUCT NOW

…it is usually too good to be true. It looks great value, but there is no breakdown of the disbursements, so who knows what you’ll end up paying?

Learn more on solicitors or solicitors fees for buying a house.


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