One question that property owners tend to have when selling or buying their next house is whether they will still need to pay for conveyancing services if the transaction falls through. In this blog we’ll cover what you need to know.
Will Your Solicitor Charge You?
When a property transaction falls through, in most instances you will still need to pay the agreed fee. Some conveyancers may waive their full fee if the transaction does fall through, but this is entirely at their discretion. Other conveyancers, such as https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/news/conveyancing/no-sale-no-fee-conveyancing-153, will operate on a ‘no sale, no fee’ basis, but this only applies to legal fees and doesn’t typically include disbursements that occur before the sale or purchase doesn’t complete.
A No Sale, No Fee Conveyancing Service
The good thing about this approach is that you won’t be forced to pay the full fee if things full through, and your conveyancer has a defined incentive to make sure everything goes to plan. But the flipside of this certainty is that you are likely to pay a premium for this level of no sale no fee conveyancing service. If you do choose a conveyancer on this basis, understand the terms and conditions of the offer carefully, as it is likely to be very specific.
Which Service is Right for You?
Every client will have their own unique set of needs and must decide which service is best for them. Another option is to look at homebuyer’s insurance, which covers you for incurred costs if a purchase falls through. You might be able to recoup the costs of your legal fees and any property search in this instance. As ever, it makes sense to look at the small print closely. There are various specialist providers that offer this type of insurance, but there are very specific conditions attached to it. For example, in many cases, it is only applicable within two weeks of your receiving a confirmed acceptance from the estate agent.
As with all things related to property purchasing and selling, things can go wrong, and it’s estimated that up to a third of property transactions will not go through, either because one party finds fault or because of situations such as gazumping. So the more flexibility you can build into the process to protect yourself the better. Another wise move when engaged in the property process is to use a conveyancer with a reputation for acting swiftly and effectively, because this level of efficient speed can help you to complete the process before there is a risk of something like gazumping taking place from a third party.
