subject: VAT Increase - Has Your Conveyancer Met the Challenge? [print this page] VAT Increase - Has Your Conveyancer Met the Challenge?
From 4th January 2011 legal fees, like the majority of other products and services in the UK, will have faced a 2% VAT increase. Following the Land Registry's previous fee rise, this was yet another bad timed kick to the housing market.
But despite the negative doom and gloom media stories, houses are still selling, and in great quantities all over the Country. After all, what better time to both sell and buy, as falling prices are simply relative in that situation, and moving up the property ladder can be easily secured.
Yet, for people faced with paying a slightly higher legal bill for moving home, the temptation may be even greater to save this VAT increase, and perhaps extra on top for good measure, by going 'cheap' when shopping around for a conveyancer. But alarm bells should ring.
Conveyancing is a 'service', and unlike the same can of beans, no two legal firms are the same. Quite markedly different in quality in many instances - yet often this is found out too late.
However, many conveyancing firms have realised that rather than cut corners and go cheap - and therefore disrespect their paying customers which so many 'we are cheap' shouting outfits are doing right this minute - they can, especially in the current climate, make their customers' money work that bit harder.
Test before you buy. When shopping around, guard yourself against basic failings or lack of standards which can include:
Closed for lunch, or at 5pm sharp
No direct email address or direct dial telephone numbers
Multiple conveyancers handling your move
Your conveyance is not in fact who you think they are - neither a solicitor, legal executive, licensed conveyancer or even a person with much more than a few years conveyancing experience
Hidden 'pure profit charges' such as completing a stamp duty form, carrying out searches, acting for a mortgage company, repaying a mortgage
Not beginning work until money on account is received
Not prepared to communicate by email or fax with the rest of the lawyers
Not a member of Lexcel
Even the Law Society, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Association of Building Societies realises common conveyancing failings and as a result and supported by the latter two, the Law Society announced that their new Conveyancing Quality Scheme kite mark for conveyancers comes into effect. Guess when, the same month VAT rose. January 2011.
Let us hope that temptation leads to better conveyancers, not worse.
