I find it hard to put into words how incensed I am with the service received in support of the sale of my recent property.
Having contacted Properts to discuss them supporting me with the sale I explained my situation and received an estimate in support along with their terms and conditions. The estimated fees listed were there charges at £499, TT fees of £50, official copies of £6, copy documents from £3 – all of these fees applicable to vat. If you were to add all of these up and allow a generous amount of £50 for copy documents etc this would bring the bill to approximately £605 + vat i.e. £726 total. The final bill a whopping £1354 = vat i.e. £1624.80!
Whilst I appreciate that many of the additional fees are listed in their terms and conditions (where in hindsight I should have been more thorough!) and they would say from a legal standpoint that they are clearly stated in their terms and I signed up to them, I feel completely hoodwinked as their initial estimate should have taken into account my situation which they knew in advance of providing the estimate i.e.
I had a mortgage account to pay off – their fee for settling this £300 + vat
I was using an Estate Agent – only 1 TT fee was listed on the estimate at £50 + vat, whereby they charge for 3 (mortgage company, estate agent & my balance) which was an incredible £165 + vat
File storage on completion which they say is a standard charge and this is £100 + vat – not listed on the estimate
If using this Solicitor I would recommend that prior to engaging them you should complete a full analysis of the potential bill. I am lodging a formal complaint and plan to seek further advice through the ombudsman as I feel the estimate was misleading as they knew certain facts in advance.... Read more
13 mo. ago