Conveyancing Explained

July 11, 2008

Is the conveyancing solicitor initially providing you with an estimate of costs, or a quotation?

Of course, when you’re buying a house or selling a house, you’re going to want to know how much your conveyancing solicitor is going to charge you to deal with the matter.

There is a marked difference between an estimate and a quotation.

A quotation is a statement of how much the conveyancing solicitor’s costs will be. This means that the conveyancing solicitor cannot then increase his charges to you in the future if the matter is prolonged or complicated. He can however ask you to pay for extra disbursements needed that were previously unforeseen. The disbursements are fees that are not paid to the conveyancing solicitor, they are paid by the conveyancing solicitor on your behalf to a third party, e.g. search fees.

An estimate is just that. The conveyancing solicitor does not know exactly how the transaction will proceed so he might reserve the right to increase his fees during the transaction if it becomes unduly complicated or prolonged. He should still notify you of this in advance.

Bear in mind that the conveyancing solicitor should always be willing to provide you with the details in writing, whether or not he is providing you with an estimate or a quotation, after you make the initial enquiry by telephone. If they won’t do this, I would question why they will not do so. Is it because they don’t want you to be able to compare like for like fees? Costs should always be separated from disbursements.

Remember to ask when you call the solicitor’s office what the actual conveyancing solicitor’s costs will be and what the total amount of the disbursements will be. Then even if they won’t provide the figures to you in writing until you instruct them, you can still compare the costs and disbursements with other firms.

In any event, when you instruct a solicitor to proceed, he should always provide you with full details of the costs and disbursements in writing.

Be aware that some conveyancing solicitors will add extra fees in on top of their own usual fees, often for work that in my opinion should be included in their actual costs. For example, I have seen some conveyancing solicitors in a written quote indicate that their costs would be say 400 pounds, but they added a fee under the disbursements (remember these should only ever be third party fees) for them to prepare the Stamp Duty Land Tax Form on your behalf! In my opinion, the fee for preparing this form should be included in the allover conveyancing solicitor’s fees since it is a task undertaken by the firm, but by doing it this way, it makes their solicitor’s costs look cheaper.

The best way to make sure you are getting a good deal when getting quotations for buying a house or selling a house, is to insist on having a quote in writing. If they’re not willing to do that, forget it. You can only properly compare and check that you are getting like for like quotations if you have it in writing in front of you.

If there’s anything you don’t understand or want to ask about, then don’t hesitate to call the conveyancing solicitor’s office for an explanation! If they can’t or won’t explain this to you, be very wary about instructing them to deal with a case for you, as they’re likely to have the same attitude when you get further down the line.