Christelle Thompson Solicitors Near Me

House Sale Solicitors Near Me

Conveyancing timeline and your house sale – House Sale Solicitors Near Me

The conveyancing process can be complicated and time-consuming. When it comes to a house sale, Solicitors Near Me would always suggest finding a trustworthy conveyancer roughly around the time you find an estate agent.

Some people put this off. Partly because the public perception of conveyancers is sometimes less than stellar. But the reason for this is often that people don’t understand how the conveyancing process works or how long it can actually take.

To be connected to a specialist house solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Here is a good timeline for conveyancing so you know what to expect going in:

Do I Need My Own Solicitor To Sell My House?

Before we start, it is worth reinforcing that – while you do not legally need to get your own solicitor to sell your house – it is a very good idea to instruct one.

Firstly, this is because this is a financially large and legally complex transaction. You don’t want to leave yourself open to legal issues because you have failed to complete a required part of the process in line with the law.

Secondly though, if mortgages are involved in the process, it’s likely that any lender will insist on everyone involved having professional legal representation. They’re not likely to lend without this.

In practice, this means you will almost certainly need a solicitor to sell your house.

When Do I Instruct A Conveyancing Solicitor?

The time to instruct a conveyancing solicitor (this is the term used to mean hiring one and telling them what you need them to do) is after you have initially accepted an offer on your house.

However, finding a solicitor you trust can take time (unless, of course, you let Solicitors Near Me find you a good option for FREE and with no obligation to hire them – give us a quick call on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry to get us started).

This means it’s normally a good idea to choose your conveyancing solicitor immediately after you choose your estate agent. You then have plenty of time to compare quotes from the conveyancers you like.

As soon as you accept your preferred offer, it’s time to formally instruct your solicitor to begin the conveyancing process.

The Conveyancing Process – Timeline

1) Conveyancing Questionnaires For Sellers – 2-4 Weeks

As the seller, you need to respond to several conveyancing questionnaires specifying the condition of the property.

One of the key details will be the bounds of the property that you want to sell. You will also be asked about any related ongoing disputes (legal or personal) and your solicitor may be able to help you include details about any new developments proposed in the local area.

These questionnaires are a legal requirement and have to be filled out truthfully. Even honest mistakes can lead to buyers pulling out or later legal action.

2) Draft Contract And Negotiations – Up To 10 Weeks

The questionnaires are the basis for the contract your solicitor will then need to draft. They will negotiate with the buyer’s solicitor on your behalf to finalise the terms of this document.

The solicitors will work out details like who will pay to fix any problems identified by the property surveys. There is also a wide range of other things to negotiate on, including the completion date.

3) Mortgages – Up To 4 Weeks

The buyer will need to arrange a mortgage and you will need to get ready to pay off yours by requesting a redemption figure. This process can take up to four weeks, mainly on the buyer’s side.

4) Exchange Of Contracts And Completion – Around 1 Week

Your solicitors will meet to confirm the contracts are the same and then exchange them. This can take longer if you have a whole chain that needs to complete the same process.

Once contracts are exchanged, the buyer legally has to go through with the purchase. If they don’t, you get to keep their deposit. If you don’t, you open yourself up to legal problems.

Technically speaking, you can remain living in the property up until completion day.

5) Completion – Total 12 To 16 Weeks For Whole Process

Finally, completion day is here! You hand over the keys to your old property, get the sale money, and pay off your old mortgage. The whole conveyancing process could take anywhere up to 16 weeks or four months, but potentially less as some of these tasks happen concurrently.

This is important to understand going in. But a good house sale solicitor – one who knows how important it is to keep you updated – can make all the difference to how you feel about the process.

House Sale Solicitors Near Me

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

House Solicitors Near Me

Buy or sell a house – Solicitors Near Me run it down

It can be tempting to look for ways to save money. But when you’re selling or buying a house, Solicitors Near Me recommends you definitely use a legal expert. And we’re not the only ones…

If you are buying using a mortgage, your mortgage lender will insist on it. They probably won’t lend to you at all if you don’t have professional legal representation.

If you’re buying a leasehold, the freeholder of the property will probably insist on it too.

This means that – even if it wasn’t a smart idea anyway with so much money on the line – you need a solicitor when buying or selling a house. Here’s what else you need to know:

To be connected to a specialist house solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

What Type Of Solicitor Do I Need To Buy A House?

Conveyancers or conveyancing solicitors are the type of legal specialists you need when buying a house. These two job titles are sometimes different things. Not every conveyancer is also a qualified solicitor.

This sometimes means you can access the services of a straightforward licensed conveyancer at a slightly lower price (though not always) compared with a conveyancing solicitor.

This is because conveyancing solicitors are qualified to deal with all the legal problems you might encounter when buying or selling a house. They can give you legal advice too. A conveyancer usually can’t.

Do I Really Need A Solicitor To Buy A House?

The good news is that representing yourself in a house sale or purchase is legally allowed. The bad news is that few people are ever able to because of the aforementioned mortgage lender rules.

In general, most people say you need a solicitor to buy a house because:

1) Lenders Require It

Unless you are lucky enough to be able to afford to make a house purchase in cash, any mortgage lender involved in the process is likely to insist that you use a solicitor or conveyancer.

2) The Tasks Involved

Conveyancing isn’t a simple process. It involves dealing with a huge variety of different people and organisations, including but not limited to:

The buyer or seller’s solicitor
Estate agents and surveyors
Mortgage lenders
HMRC (to pay Land Duty Stamp Tax and so on)
All the organisations (including the Land Registry) needed for property searches

3) There Is A Lot Of Money Involved

It’s often said that you cannot put a price on peace of mind. Picture a situation where you buy a property and only discover a legal issue (perhaps small print in the lease between yourself and your leasehold freeholder) that would make it very difficult to sell your house later on.

This is a fairly simple example. But with such a large investment involved, it’s always a good idea to have a legal expert look everything over. Even if you aren’t legally required to.

What Does A House Solicitor Do?

In addition to liaising with all of the various people and organisations above, your conveyancing solicitor will need to:

Do the property searches – these checks involve reaching out to your new Local Authority, the water authority, checking for mining activity in the area, and a dozen others should the local area require it.
Raise legal issues – your house solicitor will examine all contracts, deeds, and leases and notify you of any potential issues outside of the ordinary. If questions crop up as the buyer, they can enquire with the seller’s solicitors.
Transfer funds – telling your mortgage lender when to send the funds, handling the transfer, and redeeming any mortgage involved (depending on whether you are the buyer or seller).

And that’s far from all! They also need to handle paying the Stamp Duty Land Tax, registering the new owners on the title deed of the property, managing and scheduling the exchange of contracts and completion date and more.

How Much Will A Solicitor Charge To Buy A House?

Depending on where you are in the country and the solicitor you are using, you can expect to pay anywhere from £700 to £1500 in solicitors’ fees when you sell or buy a house (possibly with VAT added on top).

You may be able to find “no move, no fee” conveyancing where you won’t pay – or pay less – if your move falls through, as many do.

Buying Or Selling A House? Solicitors Near Me Can Help You

What if you could get paired with the ideal friendly and helpful legal expert when buying or selling a house – for FREE and with no obligation to use their services?

House Solicitors Near Me

To be connected to a specialist conveyancing solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

Not Happy With My Solicitor What Can I Do?

I’m not happy with my solicitor – what can I do?

When you hire a legal expert, you expect great service. In the rare event something goes wrong, you can be left thinking, “I’m not happy with my solicitor. What can I do?”

The short answer is quite a lot. There are several options open to you for making a complaint about solicitors you’ve used.

Let Solicitors Near Me find you the most suitable expert. Please give us a call on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry today.

Legal action will always be a final recourse. But before you go there, there are many ways you can make a lawyer aware you were dissatisfied with their service:

How to complain about a solicitor you’ve used

If you are very unhappy with your solicitor – perhaps you believe they ended up costing you unnecessary money or another kind of financial harm – it can be tempting to want to take them to court for some recompense immediately.

However, there is a set and expected series of escalations to the process of complaining about a solicitor. If you try to go straight to a legal remedy without at least attempting the other options listed here, you are likely to be told to try them first:

1) Express your concerns in an email or a telephone call

A phone call or email expressing your dissatisfaction is the place to start. In that call or email, be sure to include:

Exactly what your problem was in precise terms
When the issue happened
What you would like them to do about it

You can then see what response you get. Any reliable solicitor will be horrified that you weren’t satisfied by their service and attempt to make amends if they accept the fault was theirs.

Most complaints with solicitors don’t go further than this step. As in most industries, reputation is vital to a legal firm and they will want a trail of satisfied clients behind them.

2) Raise it with the manager of your solicitor

Most individual solicitors work for a law firm of some kind. They may be small, local operations working within a narrow remit of legal areas. Others might be huge and sprawling national or multinational legal service providers.

Either way, your law firm’s website should contain details of their complaints procedure. It’s likely contained in the footer at the base of the page.

If your solicitor was unwilling or unable to resolve the situation to your satisfaction, taking it up the chain within the company is the next step.

3) Go to the legal ombudsman

Only if the law firm itself or your particular solicitor hasn’t made amends in a way that you feel is fair should you escalate your complaint to the legal ombudsman.

An ombudsman is an organisation that has been appointed (usually by the government) to look into complaints about companies or a certain type of professional. They are independent and impartial. The legal ombudsman is the organisation specific to legal service providers.

You can find their website online quickly and easily. It contains many helpful resources that will help you make a complaint in the way that’s most effective and most likely to get heard.

4) Sue for professional negligence if the parameters are met

If all of these methods fail, you can sue your solicitor for what is called “professional negligence”. This is a specific subset of negligence law that covers professionals who deliver services based on their expertise. These professionals are said to have a “duty of care” to their clients.

Solicitors are one of the types of professionals covered by this law. In order for your issue to be judged as professional negligence, all of the following must be true:

A duty of care – professionals owe their clients a duty of care. Sometimes this must be proven, but for solicitors, it is already accepted.
Breach of duty – you must be able to show how your solicitor failed in their duty of care. This might be either through action or inaction.
Caused a loss or damage – their breach of duty of care must have caused you to experience some kind of (usually financial) loss.

There are many potential examples of this. You might imagine a solicitor who drafted a will incorrectly and caused you to lose out on your intended inheritance. Or maybe they gave you some bad legal advice – or failed to advise you when necessary – and it ended up costing you money.

I’m not happy with my solicitor – what can I do?

If you have already tried complaining to your solicitor, using their complaints procedure, and complaining to the legal ombudsman, the next step is to consider legal action. But where to start?

How about being connected with a friendly and approachable professional negligence specialist for FREE and with no obligation to use their services?

Let Solicitors Near Me find you the most suitable expert. Please give us a call on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry today.

How To Complain About Solicitors

In an ideal world, the work of any legal expert you hire would be perfect every time. Occasionally though, things go wrong. Here’s how to complain about solicitors you’ve hired when you’ve not been satisfied with the service you’ve received:

Let us know a little about your situation on 0845 1391399 or by completing a Free Online Enquiry today and we can connect you with a legal specialist who can give you the kind of advice you’re looking for.

What Can You Complain About?

It’s important to know that all professional solicitors in the UK must comply with the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) code of conduct.

This code lays out the way a solicitor should act in the performance of their duties so that they are always fair and responsible.

Breaches of this code that you might wish to complain about could include situations where your solicitor:

Was dishonest in some way
Didn’t handle your case very well
Charged you too much for their services or had some kind of billing irregularity
Committed some kind of fraud
Discriminated against you in some way
Delayed progress on your case (either deliberately or through negligence)
Gave you bad advice or failed to advise you
Did not follow instructions you gave them
Did not keep you informed about the progress of your case
Did not reply to your communications

Where Do I Make Complaints About Solicitors I’ve Used?

Complaints about solicitors should be made in one of the following ways:

Complaints procedure – this is the place to start. Part of the way solicitors are supposed to operate ensures each law firm has an official complaints procedure. Other authorities will expect you to have at least tried to address your solicitor directly first.
Complain to the legal ombudsman – if you aren’t happy with the way your solicitor handled your complaint, you can complain to the legal ombudsman (an independent, free, and impartial third party).
Complain to the SRA – an alternative, if you have complained to your solicitor and were dissatisfied with their response, would be to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

How Do I Make A Complaint?

There are a few things that remain true about making a complaint no matter where you want to make it:

Make your complaint as soon as possible
Be very clear about what the problem you experienced was
Suggest how you would like them to resolve it
Wait a reasonable time for their reply (eight weeks is usually enough)
Only if you are still dissatisfied should you consider escalating the situation

What Are The Most Common Complaints About Solicitors?

Every time someone complains to the impartial legal ombudsman, they make a note of what it was about. The most common complaints about solicitors come from the following fields:

Conveyancing – it won’t be a surprise to most that the lengthy residential conveyancing process is the source of a huge 1 out of 4 complaints about solicitors made in the 2018-19 period. However, it is important to note that this is one of the largest fields of law.
Personal injury, wills and probate, and family law – are all responsible for around 13-14% each but they also make up a large amount of legal work carried out in the UK.
Litigation – is just behind those as the subject of around 10% of all complaints received by the ombudsman.

Can I Uue A Solicitor For Professional Negligence?

Yes, if you meet the specific terms for professional negligence you can – after complaining to the legal ombudsman or the SRA – consider suing your solicitor.

This is only the case if you can show your solicitor breached what is known as their “duty of care” (i.e. they failed to deliver their services with the level of expertise you might reasonably expect) and that you suffered losses or damage as a result.

As of 2001, there is a special procedure in place to ensure that you can’t normally go straight into the litigation process. You need to first be able to show you tried other methods, such as your solicitor’s complaints procedure and appealing to the legal ombudsman.

How To Complain About Solicitors

If you aren’t sure of your legal position after making a complaint about your solicitor, the safest thing to do is get in touch with a lawyer that specialises in professional negligence.

Finding one doesn’t have to be difficult. Solicitors Near Me can find you a friendly and approachable expert for FREE and with no obligation to use them if you don’t want to.

Solicitors Negligence

Solicitors, negligence, and making a claim

We all hope that we can rely on the solicitor we chose to guide us through legal situations. But what if mistakes are made? When it comes to solicitors, negligence is – thankfully – relatively rare. It’s not impossible though.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.

If you think you have suffered losses or damage because of actions your solicitor took (or failed to take), here is everything you need to know to start thinking about making a claim:

Solicitors, Negligence, And Duty Of Care

Solicitors are professionals. Under the law, this word has certain connotations. Chiefly, it means they have what is known as a “duty of care” to deliver their services to a certain standard.

If a solicitor fails to meet those standards (this is sometimes called “breaching their duty of care”) and their client suffers as a result, they may be guilty of what is called “professional negligence”.

This is a specific part of wider negligence law. There are many subsets of this kind of law. Medical negligence, for example.

In order for something your solicitor did or did not do to count as professional negligence, you need to be able to show that:

There was a duty of care – some types of professionals (financial advisors, personal trainers, chartered surveyors, and more) have an established duty of care. Solicitors do, so this is a given.
The duty of care must be breached – you must be able to show how your solicitor’s actions (or their lack of action when action was reasonably required) breached the duty of care you had a right to expect.
The breach caused losses or damage – crucially, you must be able to prove that the breach of duty of care caused you physical damage or (much more likely for solicitors) a financial loss.

Can I Sue My Solicitor For Negligence?

Yes. It is possible to sue solicitors you may have used for professional negligence. This is because solicitors are in one of those professions that is recognised as having a duty of care to its clients.

The deciding factor is whether your particular situation meets the other two criteria on the list above, namely:

Did your solicitor’s actions, advice, or lack of action or advice fall below the standards you might have reasonably expected?
If so, did that “breach” of their duty cause you to suffer losses or damage?

Examples Of Professional Negligence By Solicitors

These are some potential examples of professional negligence by solicitors:

Bad legal advice – if your solicitor advised you to do something (or not to do something) and it caused you a financial loss.
Failure to offer legal advice – a failure to act can be perceived as negligence just as easily as an act. For instance, if a solicitor failed to offer advice when you might have reasonably expected them to, it could be negligence if you suffered a loss as a result.
Not issuing a claim in time – if your solicitor did not issue a claim in time and you missed out on compensation as a result.
Not drafting a will correctly – if your solicitor drafted a will poorly and you missed out on inheritance intended for you as a result.
“Under settling” compensation claims – if your solicitor successfully helped you claim compensation for personal injury but then settled for less than you were due.

This list is by no means complete. If you think your solicitor has acted in a way that has caused you to suffer a loss, why not reach out to Solicitors Near Me to get matched with friendly legal advice for FREE and with no obligation to use a service?

It only takes a moment to complete a Free Online Enquiry for professional negligence?

Yes. A successful professional negligence claim – where you proved that your solicitor breached their duty of care and caused you a loss – can result in them paying you compensation.

The level of compensation you can receive isn’t set. Most likely, you can expect it to be around the amount of damage or losses you suffered as a result of their negligence.

Are There Any Other Options Besides A Professional Negligence Claim?

Your solicitor may also be in breach of contract if there is a written contract between you. This may be something written in the contract or something the law applies to all contracts of that type.

This sort of claim can be in addition to or instead of professional negligence and is often worth exploring with any legal expert you consult.

How Do I Start A Negligence Claim Against My Solicitor?

First things first. You’ll need to get specialist legal advice from a solicitor skilled in negligence law.

Why not let Solicitors Near Me find an expert near you? We do it for FREE and with zero commitment to use them.

To be connected to a specialist solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.