WIBU to make a fuss about this: conveyancing solicitor gone on annual leave without telling us.

[notamum3210]

Jus that really.

We are purchasing a house and the solicitors have been taking their time to respond to our e-mails and phone calls. Last we heard, the seller hasn't sent their solicitor the right documents and without that our solicitor will not order the searches. We were told to transfer the cost of the searches to the solicitor anyway so that they had the funds to start straight away. We did so. This was on Wednesday.

Today, I thought I would send an e-mail to follow up and ask for an update. I did not expect a reply today but thought it would be picked up on Monday morning. I then got an auto-reply message saying that our solicitor was on annual leave for the next 12 days and that no e-mails will be picked up during that time. The message contained contact details for somebody to phone/e-mail if something is urgent. I checked the name and there is no record that this individual is a solicitor for the firm (not on the law society database) or on the website. I assume they are an assistant or secretary. I'm just quite surprised that we were not informed. When we received the welcome pack from the solicitor a few weeks ago, we were told that we would be informed immediately if our solicitor had to be absent and that our case would be immediately passed on to another solicitor within the firm. This clearly has not happened.

I'm now not sure whether it is worth making a fuss or just leaving things be. I sent a quick e-mail to the urgent contact, forwarding the message I had sent to the solicitor and for an update on who will be handling our case. I'm concerned we were not told and that they have already been slow at responding to us. Would I be unreasonable to complain at this stage or is this normal? We have paid a deposit for the legal fees and the a several hundred pounds for the searches (although these searches have not actually been carried out yet).

Any advice would be great. We are first time buyers so not very experienced.

Glad to hear it's sorted, notamum.

I've worked as a legal PA, and have taken calls from so many clients who forget that their conveyancing solicitor is actually dealing with upwards of 50+ clients at the same time - minimum. Not on for them not to get in touch if that's what they said they'd do in the welcome letter.

But that doesn't say you'll be told if they go on holiday to my reading. That is about if they are unable to handle the case. A solicitor on holiday is still handling the case - they've just passed cover over to someone else for a few days. I am not sure it's clear cut that they promise to notify everyone before they take a holiday.

And taking control of the case doesn't mean doing each and every item of work on it. So it's entirely permissible to give you contact details for someone else. That person will still be supervised by a solicitor.

I'm pleased your searches are now underway.

I will just say though that the quote from the letter 'If, for any reason, I become unable to handle your case (e.g. sickness), you will be informed immediately and another qualified solicitor will promptly take control of your case' is clearly only intended in a situation where the solicitor in charge is unable to continue with your file at all and "sickness" in this instance refers to a long-term absence, not the 'flu.

Can I ask if your solicitors are dealing with lots of clients based all over the country or is it a small firm mainly used to local clients? I ask because some firms have upwards of 150 clients per solicitor/team and for obvious reasons cannot reasonably deal with every client, every day, particularly when there is nothing new to tell you. These types of practices usually offer a very cheap fee but the limitations of client contact on a regular basis is apparent because they are expected to deal with many more clients.