What does it mean to "chase" your solicitor?

[Cluelessasacucumber]

I know this is a silly question but there is no manual for this and theres lots of assumed knowledge when it comes to house buying. EA rang today to say our solicitors hadn't yet been in contact with vendors and that ours were know for "being a bit long winded" so we would need to do some chasing. We called today and confirmed our case is being processed but should we follow up again? What does it mean to chase? Phoning? Email? How often? Calls are charged do aren't we just going to be adding to our bill or piss them off? Sorry if this is all very obvious, we havent a clue what we're doing! Thanks everyone, from a long time lurker and clueless ftb

I always emailed as it meant a written response. If you’re in the starting process I would check in every few weeks. As you near completion once a week or so more often if needed. Just a quick hi wondering how we’re progressing etc. But I would be insisting on them contacting the vendor ASAP if the EA is asking for this

I emailed to check in if I hadn’t heard anything for a couple of weeks.

Ended up on the phone almost hourly for the last weeks as it all nearly went tits up, but early on an email for a progress update is fine.

I also emailed weekly. If no response within 3 days I rang.

It is standard for a fixed fee to be charged in a conveyancing matter (in our last house purchase anyway) which means you wouldn't get charged for phone calls - it may be more normal if you've gone for an online firm as they tend to try and boost income. There is a bit of a backlog in conveyancing at the moment as so many transactions are ongoing (which didn't make the June stamp duty) etc. So conveyancers are very busy.

If you've returned your paperwork and paid monies on account then maybe try once a week.

Chase as be on their case about what's happening. Being told your purchase is 'being processed' means nothing. Ask them if searches have been commissioned, if they've checked land registry etc. Have you had your survey back? There are usually recommendations for documents your solicitor needs to request. There is a pause though until certain things come in - your sellers solicitor should be sending things to your solicitor like property firms, building certificates etc. After everything is back your solicitor writes a report explaining everything. Meanwhile you may get asked to sign the contract.
A few phone calls should not cost any extra.

Thanks all, really helpful. We returned everything over a week ago but had heard nothing (no confirmation of fees received) until we called today. I'll start emailing every couple of weeks to keep things on track

I'd be asking the solicitor exactly what is left for them to do, when (based on their experienced) do they expect to complete those tasks and what your target exchange and completion dates are. Don't be satisfied with "processing" otherwise they take an age!

Ours took forever, I also found her out a couple of times as she claimed not to have receive a document in the post until a certain date, unfortunately for her I'd dropped it off personally 2 weeks ago, things like that make it drag on. She also didn't respond to requests or phone calls asking for updates. In the end I went on their website and emailed the partners of the firm saying "I was so sorry to trouble them and if there were significant issues I'd would of course understand but why were there these delays (described them)?" After that a flurry of apologies and it went through double quick and no hold ups.

@TillyTopper that's shocking! Glad you got it sorted

Think of it like a project that needs to be completed- you need to know specifics that the solicitor has already done, you need to know what they are waiting on from the other side, and when they expect to get this, and what their next steps are. Then let them know when you’ll be back in touch to check in on progress- I’d suggest once a week, a fortnight is a long time to not know what’s happening.

The one terrific thing our estate agent did, every Monday, was ring each solicitor, then ring us (buyers) & the sellers. Then everyone got regular updates & cues for getting it all progressed.

Place marking

@ragged that does sound brilliant! I dont like feeling I'm pestering people so I'm not going to enjoy chasing up each week, but needs must. Thanks for everyone's advice, it's such a weird process to go through without any guidance!

I think its good to remind yourself the solicitor is working for you and as such you have expectations of them. Tell them you want an update every 2 or 3 weeks. Ask them if they charge for this, tell them you want to know the exact position with the progress, whats holding it up and expected timescales for it all to be sorted. Keep on top of them if they don't meet your expectations

Usually by sending very waffley over apologetic emails begging for a crumb of an update on the four figure work I'm paying for. More seriously, I find the best way is to ask for specifics, ask what steps have been completed, what is due, what are they specifically waiting on, then you can chase that specific action "has X enquiry been dealt with yet" etc.

We had to pay an upfront £600 towards searches, you could ask them if they need anything like that.
My solicitor is a pay by time (expensive in London) but I do think you get what you pay for, she’s amazing, completely ‘on it’ I have never had to chase her.

I always sent something bullet pointy, like:

It’s my understanding that we’ve ticked off:
• Mortgage thing
• Searches thing
• Something else thing

But that we are still waiting for the following:
• Feet-dragging freeholder to answer XYZ – has there been any further response since X date?
• Approval of blah blah – which was last chased on X date

The vendors’ estate agent advises that… etc. I’d now like to request an amendment to the lease so I can have 10 cats… etc. I’m concerned that my mortgage offer now has X weeks before expiry… etc. How soon do you anticipate setting a date for exchange?

Basically offer an update from your end/anything the estate agent has told you, recap everything outstanding/where it was at last chasing, and request an update. I found I got quicker responses this way as the solicitor could just write next to each bullet in a new colour rather than having to think about all the elements herself and spell them out.

What it means is that your estate agent wants their commission asap and they want you to hassle your solicitor in the hope they'll get it more quickly.

There's no need really. All you need is to know what's been done, what still needs to be done and if there's any issues. The last, your solicitor will let you know. The first two yeah absolutely ask but it won't make it happen any quicker. Once a week email to keep you up to date is enough. Any more and you won't get charged but you will be wasting your and your solicitor's time.

Conveyancing is high volume low margin work ( except at the top end) typically a conveyancer will have far too many ‘live’ files to have all the details at the tip of their fingertips particularly in the current mad market. Sadly the old adage applies that he who shouts loudest gets the prize. Obviously you don’t need to actually shout but if you are too quiet they will think time is not especially important and those people hassling will always be higher up the pile than you , there’s a lot of crisis management in conveyancing in my experience. The important thing is to keep your profile high so that your file does not become the one malingering in the corner .

Oh and if you just want to leave your solicitor to it and let them crack on under their own steam, that's fine too. You don't need to "chase". Unless you've purposely and knowingly hired someone who has no motivation or organisational skills and whose knowledge you doubt. The work will get done. Constantly interrupting won't get it done any sooner.

Depends on your timeline--if you are in early stages then you just want to ensure they are looking at whatever is the next step in your case (e.g. searches) and ask them the timeline for moving to the next step, what remains to be done.

If you're hoping to exchange anytime soon (e.g. next month) you need to be able to provide a full update to your EA of exactly where things are, what remains to be done, the timeline for doing it and specific assurances from them that they are on it, as well as an update regularly. Also ask them if there is anything they need from the other side, so you can chase that for them.

"chase" = pester the out of them via email/letter/phone/in person if you can, until someone actuality starts doing the job they're paid to do... :D

It means doing anything you need to do to get a response and action from them! Obviously not turning up on the doorstep if you can help it but certainly ringing and emailing (sometimes multiple times if needed).

I was chasing mine daily for an update as we got towards exchange. Spoke to my buyer (FTB) who had heard nothing from hers in 4 weeks and assumed all was progressing fine, was perplexed by the delay but didn't think to chase it up

If I hadn't been bothering them daily honestly it would never have been done.