Conveyancing services

We are aware that our charges will be an important consideration for you. It is not always possible to give an accurate indication of how much a particular matter will cost. However, at the beginning of every new matter we will send you a Client Care letter giving you as clear an idea as possible of the likely cost.   Our fees (to which V.A.T. must be added at the current rate) are usually calculated on the time we spend dealing with a matter. In addition, we take into account such factors as the complexity of the work, any specialised knowledge or extra responsibility; the value of the property concerned; where you require the matter to be dealt with more quickly than normal  –  all such matters may require amendment of the fee first estimated.  We try to give an accurate indication of disbursements payable at the outset of a transaction.   We will inform you of any significant additional disbursements when they arise.

Our price includes all of the work needed to buy your home. This includes registration at the Land Registry and if applicable, dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax if the property is in England, or Land Transaction Tax if the property you wish to buy is in Wales. Obviously all cases are different and we will try our best to inform you as soon as we become aware of any issue that might have an impact on the quoted fee.

An estimated or standard charge may be made in respect of expenses which are more difficult to quantify e.g. telephone calls or postage. By notifying us in writing you may set a limit on our charges, which may not be exceeded without your authority. It is our practice to ask our clients for money on account of charges and disbursements – mainly disbursements. Disbursements are expenses which we incur on your behalf, such as Local Authority Search fee.   This money will be requested when the matter begins.

If any matter we are undertaking for you does not proceed or instructions are withdrawn from us we shall charge for the work done up to that point.

Our charges are based on the assumption the our Invoices will be settled on presentation and we will charge interest on the outstanding sum  from the date of presentation at the same rate as the Courts allow in respect of outstanding judgements if an invoice is not settled within 7 days of presentation.

If you require us to contact a party (e.g. Solicitor, Lawyer, Estate Agents etc) to progress a matter, where in our professional opinion we consider it is inappropriate to do, we reserve the right to charge you additionally for the time taken to deal with your request at a rate of £150 plus VAT per hour or part thereof.

Our invoices will set out our charges calculated in the manner specified in the Client Care Letter, to which any disbursements and VAT are added. If you wish to have a detailed narrative of the work carried out it can be prepared but there will be an additional charge for preparing it.  It is our usual practice not to carry out further work for the client until the Invoice is fully paid.

Some matters may take several months to complete.   In relevant cases we will render interim accounts on a monthly basis unless we have reached an alternative agreement with you.

If asked to give an undertaking to enable your transaction to proceed (e.g. to pay money to a third party or for costs) we will require appropriate security from you before such undertaking is given.  We reserve the right to charge for providing this personal commitment.   We will, as necessary, inform you of the security required and of our associated charges.

Fees and disbursements must be paid and cleared before the completion date.  We reserve the right to delay completion of your transaction until all disbursements have been paid in full and cleared.  If we hold funds belonging to you we will deduct payment of our bill prior to making payment to you.   By accepting these terms you agree to this.

On very rare occasions it may be necessary to inspect the property.  Our Inspection fee is a minimum of £100. plus VAT

Our charges for obtaining documents required to enable the transaction to proceed are £50. plus vat in respect of each document.

Our charges for serving Leasehold Notice of Transfer and/or Charge are £50. plus VAT.

During the course of your transaction we may expect to receive or pay a commission or other benefit due to your introduction to us or from introducing you to another person or company.   Where clients are introduced to the Practice by a third party we reserve the right to pay a fee not exceeding £100. Plus VAT for that introduction to the introducer. This does not affect our ability to act with independence and integrity or maintain high standards of work or prevent us to act in the best interest of our clients.  In accepting these terms you give your consent for us to pay or retain such fee, commission or benefit.

At the outset of each matter we will let you know in writing who will be dealing with your file.   Any subsequent changes of personnel will be notified to you.   We are committed to providing all our clients with a service of the highest quality.   To ensure an effective service we have a Complaints Procedure to attempt to resolve any difficulties which may arise.    Details of whom to contact in the first place should you encounter problems are set out in the Client Care Letter.    The partners of our firm are always pleased to discuss any suggestions you may have for improvement of our services.   If ultimately you feel that your complaint has not been resolved satisfactorily you may write to the Legal Ombudsman at P.O.Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.  If you make a valid claim against us for a loss arising out of work for which we are legally responsible, and we are unable to meet our liability in full, you may be entitled to claim from the Compensation Fund administered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (from whom details can be obtained).

Monies held on behalf of client will be held in our client account.   Interest that accrues, or ought to accrue thereon will be retained by us.   If however we consider it fair and/or appropriate to make payment to you for interest on monies held by us we reserve the right to charge a fee for such calculations.   This will be a minimum of £50. plus VAT.

In many cases we shall be requesting funds from our clients to pass on to a third party.   For example, we may be completing the purchase of a house or settling a debt.   We shall only accept cheques from clients unless we have made prior written arrangements to accept cash (£500. maximum on any one transaction).   Please note that our Bank will need at least 10 working days to clear a cheque regardless of whether or not it is a personal cheque, bank draft or Building Society cheque. Please note cheques should be made payable to “Alfred Ledger & Sons”.  We require cleared funds from you a minimum of two working days prior to the completion date.  We do not accept monies payable by third parties unless we are told in advance who those parties are and have the opportunity of confirming the payment with such third party – our charges in respect thereof for each payment will be £50. plus VAT.  Under no circumstances should you pay cash into our bank account.  If you do we will charge you an administration fee of 1% of the amount paid subject to a minimum fee of £100. plus VAT in respect of administration charges relating thereto.  This will be payable before we finalise/complete your matter.

We require a period of ten working days between exchange of contracts and completion as this is the shortest amount of time required without making special arrangements to deal with all pre-completion searches and formalities. Otherwise we reserve the right to make an additional charge for trying to comply with a possibly unrealistic completion date.  Similarly further charges may also be made for additional work following last minute cancellation of completion e.g. rearranging completion; returning mortgage funds; obtaining further redemption statements. This will be a minimum of £100. plus VAT at current rates per property.  Provided we have used reasonable skill in attempting to complete on your requested date we will not be liable for any loss arising from a delay in completion.

We request that mortgagees (e.g. Banks, Building Societies, lending institutions) supply us with cleared funds one or two working days prior to completion to ensure funds are in place.   Please be aware that interest due from you will probably be calculated from the date funds are released to us.

If you require a mortgage we will explain to you your liability to your lender.   However it is your responsibility to comply with the terms and conditions of the mortgage lender’s offer.  By signing the mortgage deed it is assumed that you have understood and accepted the mortgage offer and all conditions therein.

If your mortgage lender chooses a different firm to deal with its legal work the lender will require that you pay that firm for work carried out by them.   These charges will be in addition to our charges.  We reserve the right to charge you a reasonable fee for additional work associated with dealing with a separate firm appointed to act on behalf of your mortgage lender. If you have or are taking a mortgage with an endowment policy we may be required to arrange a mortgage of the policy or re-assignment of an old policy and/or prepare and issue relevant notices – we reserve the right to charge you a reasonable fee for doing so.

When we act for more than one person e.g. business partners, or a couple jointly buying a house, we will assume that just one of them instructing us to take a particular step has the authority to do so.

We are only able to act for the Buyer and the Seller of the same Property whilst there is no conflict of interest.   Therefore if a conflict of interest arises between the Buyer and the Seller we are obliged to cease acting for both parties.  That is, we will no longer be able to represent either party.

In many cases we will be requested to pay funds to our client e.g. property sale proceeds.  As we do not keep cash on the premises money due to you will paid by bank transfer or in the form of a cheque only.   Please note cheques will only be issued (on production of satisfactory evidence of identification) to our client and not to third parties. Cheques will be issued as soon as practicable – normally not earlier than the next working day following completion).   We will be unable to pay to you sale monies unless we hold up to date loan/mortgage repayments figures.

Once the matter is completed the file will be stored free of charge for the period required by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.   We cannot accept telephone instructions to send documents to a third party.   We charge a fee of £50. plus VAT per annum or part thereof for the storage of Pre-registration deeds not required by lenders. Our charges for retrieving your file from our archives are £75. plus VAT.  If you require the file it will be necessary for us to retain a copy of the entire file.  Our charges for copying the file, payable by you, are £0.25 per copy per page.

Our normal contactable hours when we are open to the public are from 9.30am to 1.00pm and from 2.00pm to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays). 

We close between Christmas and New Year.

It is a term of business that you will be responsible for all our costs in respect of your matter even if a third party may ultimately be paying part or all of them.    We will therefore look to you for payment of our account in accordance with these terms of business if the third party has not discharged his obligation to pay or contribute.

If we are acting for a Company it is a condition of our accepting instructions that the Directors of the Company are jointly liable for our costs.   We reserve the right to ask the Directors to sign a form of agreement to cover this obligation. Please note that we require identification and proof of address of all those who own 25% or more of the structure and of those who exercise effective management and control of the Company.

This firm is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.   However, we are included in the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on Insurance Mediation Activities, which is broadly advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts.   This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.   The register can be accessed via the Financial Conduct Authority website at ‘www.FCA.org.uk/register’.   Our charges for arranging each title insurance policy are £50 plus VAT.

To help your transaction progress smoothly and to keep down costs payable by you, you understand and agree to inform us of any specific requirements you have or of any significant change;

1.  to provide evidence of your identity; national insurance number and proof of your address when requested;

2. not to contact us to request progress reports more frequently than is reasonable (we consider weekly reports are sufficient);

3. reply in writing when requested to do so;

4. to us communicating with you or third parties by the method (including e-mail)  we consider most appropriate;

5. to receive money due to you in the form of a single cheque and to pay our reasonable charges in respect of meeting your alternative requirements.

6. that you are aware of our duties to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007; Money Laundering (Amendment) Regulations 2012; Proceeds of Crime 2002; and our obligation to report matters to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency;

7. that proceeds of sale or re-mortgage are paid to clients no sooner that the next working day following completion.

8. to pay our administration fee of £50. plus VAT in respect of each letter it is necessary to mail by Recorded Delivery or Special Delivery plus the fee charged by Royal Mail.

The national average timescale from offer acceptance to completion is between two and three months.