Solicitor ombudsman advice

[noodles44]

Hi,

I wondered if anyone on MN has had this situation or similar before and just wanted a bit of advice...

I moved home earlier this year, my solicitor exchanged before completion and then when she asked for the monies from the lender, they refused to give them as there was a condition on the mortgage that asked for a further survey which had been missed.This should have been spotted by my solicitor and she should never have exchanged with this outstanding.

I can see how it happened as I lost my initial buyers and then when I went under offer again, was able to still buy the place I was purchasing. The way the mortgage company presented the offer did not highlight anything outstanding other than a general "check conditions" apparently they have changed how this is presented now, so I mustn't be the only person this has happened to.

I managed, with 2 days before completion, to get this survey done and a rough estimate for the works. The lenders sat on the request and the monies didn't look like they would come through in time (if at all) so family members clubbed together to make up the shortfall as it was not a huge amount mortgage wise, but big enough. We moved as planned still on the day.

I realise I am in a fortunate position in that I was able to salvage the situation thanks to a temporary loan from my family as after a month of to-ing and fro-ing the mortgage lenders paid the mortgage and I was able to pay my relatives back. The solicitors contact has been abysmal. The solicitor concerned has only spoken to me over email, not on the phone. Once monies sorted didn't chase effectively with the lender. I could have lost my deposit which was £10's of thousands.

After receiving the mortgage, I complained to the solicitors and they advised my bill had been reduced by £500 to cover the surveyor and offered £150 as a good will gesture. We have gone backwards and forwards at a glacial rate (them) as I felt given what I could have lost it was a paltry sum and them doing the exchange with this outstanding gave me no other alternative but to proceed. This is still going to potentially be an issue should I come to sell.
Anyway, I have a final offer from them now which if I don't accept, it means I go to the ombudsman. I wondered if anyone has dealt with the legal ombudsman before in this type of situation and what a likely outcome could be...

I realise this is hopefully a fairly rare situation, but someone on MN may have had a similar experience.

The solicitors have dragged this out I feel to make me lose interest with my complaint. It was very stressful, I and my children could potentially have been homeless, but, we didn't actually lose any money (no thanks to the solicitors) and are happy in our new home, so a part of me just wants to draw a line under this and put it behind us.

What would you do?
Final offer is £500 plus the relatives fees for loaning me the money.

That’s a reasonable offer. How much are you hoping to get. You’re moving into grabby gouging territory.

I was hoping for the purchase fees back, but did not know if that was reasonable or not.

Not sure but the legal ombudsman does publish cases so you could take a look and see what level of reward you might get.

The ombudsman will put you back in the position you should've been in if the solicitor hadn't made a mistake. A refund for the additional survey (which you would've had to pay no matter when it was noted) and £150 for distress and inconvenience seems fair on the face of it. You got it resolved quickly enough and no ongoing financial detriment or further consequences.

I'm sorry this happened to you, it sounds really stressful. The LeO will firstly consider whether the service provided by the solicitor was unreasonable- if so they will look to put you back in the position you would have been in had that not been the case.

It doesn't sound like you've suffered any financial loss, so the likely remedy would be compensation for emotional distress. £500 would fall within the mid bracket of what they might award - anything over £750 is reserved for the most serious/long term impacts, so it seems like they are probably in the right ballpark.

When your case is assessed LeO will review the offer and may not investigate if they think it's reasonable. Their remedies guidance is on their website so you might find it helpful to have a look at that.

Thanks for the advice, that is really helpful.
To be honest, I am really happy in my new home/area and my children have settled instantly. I will accept their offer and then I can draw a line under it all for what has been an incredibly stressful situation.
I wasn't sure what was reasonable or not really and I thought a refund of their fees for the purchase part of the transaction, given how much I could have lost had it not been for my relatives help, was OK, but I think what they have eventually offered is what the ballpark figure would be if I went to the ombudsman.

Thanks for the advice.