Okay, I wasn't going to say this because I didn't want to freak anyone out
But I think I would like to spare someone what happened so here goes.
And please, learn from my error.
Yesterday, around midday, I got an email from my solicitor saying we had completed.
No money in my account. I called my solicitor - you never speak to him, just his assistant - and they were very casual in saying I'd have it by 5pm. (Turns out legal completion means funds are with solicitors, not property owners).
Keys with EA who called to tell me his colleague was taking the buyer in now. it's not his problem that I apparently don't understand legal completion - so I didn't stop him, I'm 2 hours train ride away too.
At 3pm I began to think I'd made a mistake. Heard about the cyber hack too and got worried.
Rang solicitor's assistant again. She said "oh, I'll just pop to accounts and see what the hold up is".
15 mins later "the bank account you want the funds to go to doesn't have any council tax bills on it. This doesn't fit our compliance system".
(I provided 12 months of that statement last week - having been asked to provide a full year, on paper and at VERY short notice, I took them those because my main one is online, that's where my council tax goes from. I explained this to the assistant and said "I can provide the statements of the day to day account if that's safer". She said it was fine to give the other one).
So back to yesterday....I insisted the actual solicitor call me back....he did.
I don't shout at people.
I literally roared at him, "the buyer is IN THE PROPERTY and you're still keeping my money?"
He bleated about compliance, I sent over scans of the other bank statement, and I got my money just before 5.
I used to have a little understanding of the law. I've done buying and selling a few times because of PoA for elderly relatives.
But I no longer have the faintest idea what is going on.
Before exchange, I was also told I'd failed compliance checks because the online verification system couldn't pick up the chip in my passport.
In a way, it's good I wasn't in my old home on completion day as I'd have been sitting on the floor 9 till 5 trying to sort this. The buyer would have been there from 12 - 5 probably furious with me.
I'm still achey from the tension of yesterday and half wondering if some crazy compliance body is going to come after me saying I've done something wrong and need to provide more evidence of who I am in order to keep my money.
If you are moving, don't hand over keys till you have money. The system is seriously fucked up. It is not completed, IMHO, till everyone has their money.