Save My Sale

Conveyancer not responding? How to get an answer

Send one specific question with a reply-by date, then phone and ask for the person supervising the file. If that fails, complain through the firm’s own procedure; the Legal Ombudsman can look at it once the firm has had up to 8 weeks or has given its final response.

Updated . For homes in England and Wales. General information, not legal or financial advice.

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Where this happens: every stage, from sale agreed to completion.

Two weeks, three emails, no reply. The agent says it’s with the solicitors; the solicitors say it’s with the other side. You can’t make a conveyancer work faster, but you can make your question easy to answer and hard to ignore, and you can escalate in the right order.

Why conveyancers go quiet

A conveyancer who has gone quiet may be waiting on searches, a lender, a managing agent or the other side’s answers. An open-ended “any update?” gives nobody a reason to answer today; a question that needs a date does.

A chase that gets answered

A good chase does four things:

  1. names the property and the file reference;
  2. asks one question that needs a date, or a yes or no;
  3. gives a reply-by date;
  4. says what you will do on your side.

For example, at the searches stage: “Which searches were ordered, on what date, which are back, and when is the rest due?” Write the date they promise in a log, and chase the day after it passes.

Climb one rung at a time

  1. A specific chase in writing, as above.
  2. No reply by that date: phone, ask for the person supervising the file, such as a partner or team leader, and ask them to confirm the file’s status in writing.
  3. Ask your agent’s sales progressor to chase the other side’s conveyancer too. They talk to many firms every day.
  4. A formal complaint through the firm’s own complaints procedure. Keep it factual: dates, what was asked, the effect on you, and what you want.
  5. The ombudsman, only after the firm has had its chance. The service is free.

Poor service by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer goes to the Legal Ombudsman, after you have complained to the firm. The Legal Ombudsman’s time limits, as it published them when we checked:

  • the firm has up to 8 weeks to resolve your complaint;
  • you then bring it to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the firm’s final response, and within 1 year of the problem happening or of when you found out about it;
  • initial checks are currently taking up to 12 weeks, and most cases then take 9-12 months to be accepted for investigation.

Serious misconduct: the SRA and the CLC

For serious misconduct, such as dishonesty or mishandling your money, report a solicitor to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or a licensed conveyancer to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. They regulate; compensation for poor service comes through the Legal Ombudsman.

Complaining about an estate agent

Every estate agent must belong to a redress scheme, either The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme; ask your agent which. The steps, time limits and what an award is likely to be are in our guide: How to complain about an estate agent.

Lenders and surveyors

Complain to a mortgage lender first; if that fails, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it. For a valuer or surveyor who is a member of RICS, GOV.UK points you to RICS.

Be realistic about complaints

An ombudsman won’t decide your case in time to rescue this month’s exchange, and awards are modest: The Property Ombudsman quotes average awards of £100 to £400. Use a formal complaint to get a senior person to look at the file and to create a record; use the chasing ladder to get the sale moving.

Changing conveyancer mid-sale is possible, but a new firm needs time to read the file and may charge again. Ask the new firm how quickly it could take over, and ask your current firm what you owe, before you decide.

Sources