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Original poster

Conveyancer negligence

110 replies

amazighman · 03/03/2020 21:48

Hi.
This my first post and sadly It is a negative one.
Has anyone had experience with dodgy conveyancers?

We think we have been misled by our previous conveyancer , They told us in the search letters that house was with an absolute title , However We recently found out that the property only had a posessory title .
We would not have bought it if we were told the truth about the title....

Thanks in advance

OP posts:

Spickle · 14/03/2020 15:58

My last house had possessory title. The vendor had to purchase an indemnity policy at their expense and also swore statutory declarations. The house wasn't unusual in any way, other than the land it was built on was unregistered and the neighbour had fenced off the land for 12 years and then proceeded to build three houses on the plot. At no point did I think the house was worth less, merely that there was a small risk someone could come forward and claim the land as their own, hence the indemnity policy. However, with the passage of time the risk was less. We had the title upgraded to Absolute after 5 years (previous owners had been there 7 years).

Original poster

amazighman · 14/03/2020 16:27

Hi.
If I was told it had a possesory title I possibly would have pulled out.
I am nit against buying a property with a possesory title... The only thing thats bugging me is the solicitor + estate agent stitch up.

I should have got a solicitor who had no connection to the agent....

OP posts:

Original poster

amazighman · 08/07/2020 21:26

Hi all

Sorry but I have to resurrect this old thread.

The things haven't moved anywhere due to lockdown, We got in touch with an online no win no fee solicitor who initially said that he could take on the case upon reviewing our file.
However He wrote me today stating that he couldn't get hold of the file , Our previous conveyancer has moved her job and she us somewhere else , and the firm name has changed , However it still states in their website that they incorporate my old solicitor firm , I guess its all same just different name.
The conveyancer that dealt with our purchase has now moved from that firm and works somewhere else.

As I have legal cover on my Home insurance , I asked for advice and they said that YES I have got a professional negligence case , However they wont fund it because I wasnt insured with them throughout the conveyancing process.

I dont know what to do , I got lost

OP posts:

minorcurry · 09/07/2020 08:26

Why haven't you gone to your original conveyancing firm and raised a query/complaint? It doesn't matter if the conveyancing solicitor has moved on, your files will still be there.

That is the first step in resolving this. It is pointless doing anything else until you do that.

Original poster

amazighman · 09/07/2020 08:51

Would raising an internal complaint affect my case in case I decide to take it further?

OP posts:

DollyPomPoms · 09/07/2020 16:42

@Peppermintpasty that is correct. Both parties would have to be aware and sign a disclaimer.

DollyPomPoms · 09/07/2020 16:50

You would have received a copy of the Title Register with your report on title. Did you not read it then? It’s very obvious when a title is possessory.

The estate agent wouldn’t have known so they haven’t ‘scammed you’.

I would push for the indemnity policy from the solicitors that’s acted for you. This would have/should have been paid for by the Seller. Without contacting the solicitors that acted for you how do you know there definitely isn’t a policy already and it just hadn’t been sent to you by accident?

Call the solicitors that acted for you. May well be an indemnity policy was agreed upon exchange, it’s been paid for and is active and you just didn’t receive a copy.

You could be making a huge mountain out of a molehill and you will only know by calling the solicitors that acted for you.

monday1983 · 09/07/2020 17:02

We had similar problem when we bought a flat with absent freeholder and alsa we had a charge on the freehold that was not removed. When we bought our solicitors didn't check this ,we only found out when we were selling. We sold in the end but we had to knock off 15k as we were in a rush to buy another property and no one wanted to buy it with absent freeholder and charge on the title. We had to sue them in the end as they didn't want to admit they were negligent. We used no win no fee solicitors and they won the case for us but it took nearly 2 years

Original poster

amazighman · 09/07/2020 21:43

Wrong advice = negligence.

The estate agent was related to the solicitor firm as they strongly recommended us to go with them.

There has being no mention of indemnity policy or the house having a possesory title.

Talking about molehills , Then monday1983 should have sucked it up and lived with it just because solicitor always do the right thing.

I took my paper work to a local solicitor for advice , He looked at it and said this is an absolute mess ,

I learned an expensive lesson not to go with estate agents recommended solicitor.

OP posts:

prh47bridge · 10/07/2020 00:33

Would raising an internal complaint affect my case in case I decide to take it further?

Yes. It would help you. If you want to go to the SRA or the Legal Ombudsman you will have to exhaust their internal complaints process first. If you want to go to court you need to give them a chance to put things right first, so you still need to raise an internal complaint. However, as has been pointed out to you by a lawyer on this thread, if you go to the courts you will only be compensated for your financial loss which, on the basis of the information you have posted here, sounds like the cost of an insurance policy.

Original poster

amazighman · 10/07/2020 04:52

We will see

OP posts:

SomethingLikeAPhenomenom · 10/07/2020 05:57

What did the contract say? The front page about half way down should have stated whether you were contracting to purchase with absolute or freehold title (and should have been drafted by the sellers solicitor). Do you know that the seller used a different firm?

DollyPomPoms · 10/07/2020 08:20

You need to call the office that acted for you. I would be incredibly surprised if there isn’t already an indemnity policy in place and you just didn’t receive a copy in error following completion. When a policy is provided by a seller it is paid for on completion and some companies provide it immediately and some companies want a cheque and provide the policy some days after completion. Sometimes this is missed post completion.

It would be incredibly unusual for this not to be picked up, as someone said upthread, even a secretary would spot this.

You would have received a copy of the title and contract that would have referred to possessory title. Did you read them?

You have been told what to do and you are just ignoring it.

You don’t know anyone has been negligent yet.

If I had a pound for every time a client called me with a complaint and it is actually because they didn’t read/understand the paperwork...

Original poster

amazighman · 10/07/2020 08:52

Seller used a different firm.. and I dont know anything about any contract as I haven't seen any.

The fact that the solicitor didn't advice us about the quality of the title made us purchase the property... If their advice was clear we would have walked away.

So is it perfectly fine for a solicitor to conceal the title quality as to get the sale through as they were related to the estate agent?

As for Indemnity policy , They never said a word about it , If they mentioned it before completion I would have asked for what it is and then pulled out immediately.

When you hire a solicitor you expect them to act on your behalf and in your best interest , That why I hired them , Otherwise would have gone DIY conveyancing .
You dont hire a solicitor and then hire another solicitor to check what the previous one has done.

Its Same as going to the doctor and having blood test and find out that you have a problem , only to be given a paper with some scientific stuff on it and say , Well you Should have read it and acted accordingly.

OP posts:

Original poster

amazighman · 10/07/2020 08:53

Is the sale contract kept at the solicitor or it should have been given to me coz I haven't seen one in the pile of papers I got from them.

OP posts:

DollyPomPoms · 10/07/2020 09:23

Well you would have signed the contract in order to exchange...

You think they didn’t advise you, but maybe they did. If you have forgotten that you have seen the contract then you may have forgotten that they did advise you.

You really need to speak to the conveyancing firm that acted for you.

eurochick · 10/07/2020 10:13

You have received some good and some poor advice on this thread. The key point is that your starting point needs to be making a complaint to the firm that acted for you. It is irrelevant that the individual has left the firm - your contract would have been with the firm and they will be able to review your complaint.

WhoKnowsBaby · 10/07/2020 10:14

You can out your legal position for free: www.freesolicitoradvice.co.uk

Badbadbunny · 10/07/2020 10:20

Why havn't you contacted/lodged a complaint with the firm that you engaged to do the conveyancing?

Why would you go straight to a "no win, no fee" claims firm without contacting your conveyancing firm first?

None of this makes sense.

You can't possibly have bought a house without seeing the contact - you will have signed it. How can you sign something you've not seen.

As asked by others, what does the conveyancing firm's letter of engagement/contract say about complaints? You must have agreed to their terms of business at the outset before they started acting for you.

As said by another, the professional bodies require a client to have gone through the firm's own complaints process before they will take on a complaint about a member firm.

Badbadbunny · 10/07/2020 10:21

No "no win no fee" claims firm will take on a case if you've not already gone through the normal complaints procedures directly with the firm.

HeddaGarbled · 10/07/2020 10:22

There is no law in this country then

Drama 🦙

jellybean85 · 10/07/2020 10:31

Without knowing the full details it's hard to say but I work in property law (mostly) commercial and it does really sound like there might be a case, when you sag conveyance are they a solicitor? Or Cilex?

jellybean85 · 10/07/2020 10:33

I disagree with PP there absolutely is a case for financial loss because it will be much harder to re sell!

Although op if you could stop deliberately misunderstanding people and carping on about "so it's absolutely FINE for a solicitor to misrepresent on purpose" that would helpful. Clearly no one said that and you just get people's backs up so they're less likely to advise

jellybean85 · 10/07/2020 10:35

I really would advise avoiding no win no fee. Complaints procedure first then you can go to legal ombudsman/SRA

DameCelia · 10/07/2020 10:36

@amazighman
As another (ex) property lawyer I can only add.
You have to go back to you original conveyancer FIRST.
No-one else can get involved until you have exhausted your original conveyancers complaints procedure.
And I can tell you that if they were negligent they will be falling over themselves to put this right.
They have no choice but to refer it to their own insurer, any financial burden is covered by the conveyancing firm and the insurer.
They also have to refer it to their professional body, if they are a solicitor, and will be disciplined accordingly.
If all you want is to sell the property you could just buy an indemnity policy.

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