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Original poster

Have the solicitors dropped the ball, or me?

32 replies

Suprima · 22/05/2022 13:31

Ready to be told either way…

I recently moved into my property and have found out that the house needs a complete rewire, which is a surprise expense.

On the L2 survey we had done- it recommended that an electrician perform a safety check if an electric safety certificate was not available. I forwarded it to my solicitor in an email saying that there were ‘enquiries to raise with the other side regarding certificates’. My solicitor never replied and was generally hard to pin down.

When I did manage to speak to them, I asked
if everything was ok regarding the survey and they stated everything was fine so I assumed the certificates had been received and all was in order.

Completion day arrived and we’ve moved in- and have discovered pretty quickly from looking under the floorboards that some
wires have melted. A sparky friend has said that it needs a rewire. When I have checked the bundle of documents sent over- I cannot see the electrics safety certificate that should have been requested from the other side.

Have I been too trusting here? Contact was just so terrible and I just assumed everything was fine.

Is there anything I can do recoup some
of the costs?

OP posts:
Johnnysgirl · 22/05/2022 13:33

I'd have absolutely expected that to be flagged up.

Thewayshetalks · 22/05/2022 13:34

I had all my certificates and documents provided via my solicitor prior to completion so I could check everything, he then asked me to confirm all was okay.
your solicitor does seem to have dropped the ball on that but I think you needed to be asking for those things also before you exchanged and completed. Solicitor probably won’t do anything now it’s all done.

Original poster
Suprima · 22/05/2022 13:44

Thewayshetalks · 22/05/2022 13:34

I had all my certificates and documents provided via my solicitor prior to completion so I could check everything, he then asked me to confirm all was okay.
your solicitor does seem to have dropped the ball on that but I think you needed to be asking for those things also before you exchanged and completed. Solicitor probably won’t do anything now it’s all done.

definitely- in normal circumstances I would have been so much more meticulous and acted exactly as you have done. Just had so much going on around the purchase and we were under real time pressure to move so were not as thorough.

we are repeat customers the solicitors and previously had a really good experience so were just far too trusting.

I just am just a bit appalled that this wasn’t checked up on as I requested and told everything was in order when it clearly wasn’t. I didn’t know if there was any way to get a goodwill refund of fees- even 10% put towards the rewire is fine. Thankfully we can do lots of the labour ourselves and know the trades but this would have been a very expensive learning curve for others.

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 22/05/2022 13:53

Hmm I would have expected to organise my own electrician to do check the electrics as it is not a legal obligation for the seller to do so.

Original poster
Suprima · 22/05/2022 14:03

Lonecatwithkitten · 22/05/2022 13:53

Hmm I would have expected to organise my own electrician to do check the electrics as it is not a legal obligation for the seller to do so.

The survey said that an electrical safety certificate within 10 years should be requested, and if not- then to do this.

my solicitors never requested the certificate- but told me everything was fine regarding the survey, so I assumed they had received it.

so I didn’t think I needed to arrange the electrician as the safety certificate had been received.

OP posts:
NotDavidTennant · 22/05/2022 14:07

I think you needed to be more explicit about what you wanted. The solicitor doesn't read the survey, that's your job.

InkySquid · 22/05/2022 14:08

The survey said that an electrical safety certificate within 10 years should be requested

Pretty much every survey will say something along these lines. Did you specifically request an electrical safety certificate? It would be something you would arrange and pay for yourself normally. It's not something the seller would provide as standard

cabbageking · 22/05/2022 14:09

You need to ask the solicitor what questions and actions you want.

They don't know if you are happy with the survey or wish to chase up any issues

Original poster
Suprima · 22/05/2022 14:11

InkySquid · 22/05/2022 14:08

The survey said that an electrical safety certificate within 10 years should be requested

Pretty much every survey will say something along these lines. Did you specifically request an electrical safety certificate? It would be something you would arrange and pay for yourself normally. It's not something the seller would provide as standard

I forward the survey to my solicitor and said that enquires needed to be raised regarding the certificates.

when I called to confirm that the necessary enquiries had been raised- they said it was fine and they weren’t waiting on anything else.

OP posts:
lassof · 22/05/2022 14:13

I'd expect you to organise an electrics check if you were bothered, after the survey. Or ask the buyers via solicitors to get one.

HotDogKetchup · 22/05/2022 14:14

If the surveyor hasn’t seen any evidence of electrical safety certificates (which they never do) the survey will always say this, it says the same about gas and always says about the solicitor ensuring there is adequate right of access to the property.

Unless it expressly says works have been done and there is not a building regs certificate there is nothing to ask for. The property information form asks if the seller has carried out any such work and if they say they have, the solicitor will ask them to provide the relevant certificates.

Its the buyers responsibility to check they’re satisfied with the state and condition of the property. The solicitor is not a surveyor and it is for you to interpret your own survey and act accordingly, solicitors look at them to check there aren’t any legal elements they have missed that arise. This wasn’t a legal issue.

lassof · 22/05/2022 14:14

Oh ok if you specifically asked about the electrics one and chased it up, then I'd get back to your solicitor about it.

underneathleaf · 22/05/2022 14:16

Solicitor probably won’t do anything now it’s all done. Well obviously they're not going to offer anything and hope you go away but if they are at fault the OP can pursue. Our solicitors missed something in our house purchase and paid for indemnity insurance regarding the issue when we sold 6 years later and the issue was discovered. My parents got back their full conveyancing fee when their solicitor missed something.

Fireflygal · 22/05/2022 14:17

What would you have done if there was no electricial cert?

DelphiniumBlue · 22/05/2022 14:24

You should have received copies of all certificates which were available with your pre-exchange report from the solicitor. That report would normally state what certificates had supplied.
What do the property information forms say about electrics and electricity certificates?
In your case, it sounds as if you weren't very clear about what certificates you wanted to see, and didn't ask to see them prior to exchange.
I do think the solicitor should have followed up, but if you just said "certificates" they may have thought you were referring to eg Building regs certificates. Solicitors would not normally get involved with electricity certificates, however if the survey states that a certificate should be obtained then it's possible they haven't complied with the mortgage conditions if they have confirmed it's all in order when it isn't.
I would raise it with the solicitor in writing, maybe in a kind of " you forgot to send me the electricity certificate with the papers" kind of way.. it may be that they have on file. See what they have to say. If they don't reply within a reasonable time, contact the senior partner.

easyday · 22/05/2022 14:25

Even if you explicitly asked your solicitor about the electrical certificates, it is still up to you to review the paperwork and make sure it's all there then chase him for it if not (or commission one yourself). Sellers don't HAVE to provide a certificate.
It's like your accountant will ask you to review your return to make sure it's accurate - the onus is on you, not them (even though that's what you are paying them to do in one sense).

mrsm43s · 22/05/2022 14:39

If you specifically asked the solicitor to ask for the electrical certificate to be requested, and they specifically told you that they had been requested and received but they hadn't, then you might have a case.

Otherwise, it is your responsibility to read the survey, decide whether or not you are happy with it, and raise enquiries regarding any further investigation that you want. It would have been up to you, not your solicitor, to arrange the electrical safety check, if required, or to confirm that you were happy with the certificates received. If you didn't receive certificates for your approval, then you should have chased this.

I think it is you that dropped the ball, not your solicitor.

70kid · 22/05/2022 15:14

When I sold my parents house
I paid for an electric check and gas check myself
sent copies of it to both the solicitor and estate agent
i know I didn’t have to but I wanted to make everything go as smoothly as possible

user1487194234 · 23/05/2022 07:08

It’s really not something solicitors would get involved with

pilates · 23/05/2022 07:15

It is up to you to carry out all investigations as to the structural state and condition of what you are buying before exchange.

TomatoorChips · 23/05/2022 07:40

You are blaming the solicitor for something that is your responsibility
We bought in feb and the solicitor only sent our certificates this week- was waiting for the land registry.

WeAreTheHeroes · 23/05/2022 07:44

In England it is not a legal requirement to provide an electrical safety certificate. It's up to the buyer to arrange for the electrics to be tested.

Quartz2208 · 23/05/2022 08:06

Yours I think - solicitors arrange searches not surveys so it would be up to you

Everything legally was in place with the survery - the electrical survey isnt a legal requirement

The other thing is is that even if they had found it and it needed rewiring then your sellers didnt need to drop the price either

Thursday37 · 23/05/2022 08:11

I think this is on you. We have just completed and it was entirely up to us to specifically request to see the electrical report before exchange to see what it said.
You must have known you hadn’t seen it, if you didn’t know what it had said.

But electrical safety reports are only valid for
max 5 years now normally, 10 years doesn’t apply now. So there’s something out of date with your survey I’d say which doesn’t bode well!

Thursday37 · 23/05/2022 08:14

We were buying thatched though so electrical safety is a requirement for house insurance- hence the seller having one and we couldn’t have proceeded without one. But in a different house we owned we requested an electrical report was done as we suspected a rewire would be needed and used it to negotiate on price. We had to pay for it but it was a prudent £100 spent!

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