The Top 15 Ways to Ensure You Secure the Right Conveyancer?
The Top 15 Ways to Ensure You Secure the Right Conveyancer
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Does a family member or friend recommend any particular conveyancing firm? Does the local Estate Agent? Irrespective, then ask yourself:
1. Do you want an actual solicitor Firm, whose address and reputation can be established, or are you tempted by a cheap headline internet price where you may leave your move to chance, and find it hard to obtain redress if things go wrong?
2. Are you tempted to dismiss a particular conveyancing firm because you think they might be expensive - the bigger they are does not mean they will be expensive, and so you can end up securing their clout and expertise, often for life, and for a surprisingly competitive fee.
3. Try emailing your chosen firm or firms, and see how prompt they are in coming back to you, as that is their chance to impress you and win your business.
4. Does the conveyancing firm just shout how 'cheap' they are, rather than filling you with confidence that they will do an excellent job. The lower their price, the less your money will buy.
5. Avoid national estate agents who may pressure you to use a Firm of solicitors even outside your County! Perhaps to the other end of the Country because they own a share of the solicitors or they are bound by their Head Office to refer out.
6. When contacting a conveyancing firm:
a. do they sound knowledgeable
b. do they listen to you or are they busy in the background
c. do they fill you with confidence
d. do they sound human!
e. do they do what they promise (e.g send you a quote)
7. Ask them to confirm that you will receive the same individual conveyancer throughout, not a conveyor belt of people causing confusion, duplication of work and stress for all.
Ensure your conveyancer is not called a 'case handler'!
8. Will your conveyancer be legally trained with a good set of years experience behind them, and therefore have the expertise to find solutions to issues that might arise during your move, and potentially hold things up. Or are they junior and soon out of their depth. You might think all conveyancers are legally trained, but as in all service providers, the quality varies wildly. From virtual secretaries performing a legal role, to junior paralegals, to the best trained solicitor or legal executive. Does the conveyancing team made up of solicitors legal executives and senior executives, or is their experience a little vague?
9. Will your conveyancer be part of a Firm with a good reputation and surrounded by competent fellow lawyers. Or are they a small High Street practice, in a small Team possibly the only real conveyance, and therefore with potential for getting overworked and your move slowing down? Or maybe the opposite being too big and have a factory feel?
10. Will your conveyancer be contactable particularly via their personal email, their direct dial telephone number, and their office does not close for lunch, or dead at 5pm.
11. Do they try and sell the red herring of publicised late evening or weekend opening, ye fail to tell you that no conveyancing law firm can transact dealings at that time anyway, as virtually all lawyers are closed then, as are banks.
12. Look for a guarantee of no hidden charges. By this we mean the conveyancer attempting to charge extra for things that form part of what they should be doing anyway - as part of their normal fee E.g you should never agree to a separate charge for:
a. Filling in a stamp duty form
b. Acting for a Lender
c. Repaying a main mortgage
d. Postage and photocopying
e. Submitting normal conveyancing searches or reading the search results
f. Filling in a stamp duty form
13. Do they have their email address on their letterhead so that other lawyers can keep in touch with them as promptly as possible - or are they in the Dark Ages insisting on letters all the time.
14. Do they have a website and does it:
a. demonstrate they are up to date with technology
b. that they are widely trained as a Firm with regular legal news, articles and guides - ideally in the area of house moving
c. that the Firm has 'Lexcel' accreditation and recommendation of 'The Legal 500' - two Kite Marks that efficient and dedicated solicitor Firm's aspire to
d. identify the people in the conveyancing Team, and your own conveyancer with details about them so you can see for yourself who they are and how experienced they are
15. Can they look after your wider legal needs (e.g wills, family matters, disputes, tenancies) providing a complete support and assistance to you.
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