Nationwide/LMS/Gorvins solicitor quote not honoured after acceptance

[salphy]

hi sorry I'm not sure where best to post this.

 

We have a remortgage going through with nationwide.

During the application process we were asked if we needed transfer of equity and we said yes.

 

 

It then told us we needed legal advice for this and do we want a quote from one of their solicitors and do we want a quote?

We said yes and it brought back a quote of £255, asked us if we wished to accept and I said yes and proceeded with the application.

 

I then got the application summary which states everything:

Transfer of equity required? Yes

Free legals taken? Yes

Solicitor quote provided? Yes, £255

Quote accepted? Yes

 

We then got the quote breakdown from LMS with nationwides logo at the top

which included solicitor base cost, telegraphic transfer fee and disbursements totalling.

£255 including VAT. But doesn't include transfer of equity.

 

We were then allocated to gorvins solicitors by lms.

We received the welcome pack with quote and request of payment for £535.

This again didn't include the transfer of equity but had everything in the lms quote breakdown

but each item more expensive and other fees such as scanning and file storage.

 

 

I rang them to query it but they didn't know why the quotes differed but said transfer of equity would make it more expensive.

 

I've been passed back and forth the 3 of them with promises someone will contact me but never does.

Until I spoke with someone at nationwide last week who has chased them up for me but rather than reply to her they replied to me.

 

Gorvins stated I'd been provided with an old quote due to a technical error and it is now more expensive but agreed with nationwide.

 

I then spoke to lms who had a supervisor ring me back today and tell me the same thing and that they can only apologise and close the file for me if I don't want to go ahead at the price provided by Gorvins.

 

 

They said all the firms they work with will be the same price as fees are fixed and they can only apologise and told me to contact nationwide as they were the ones who provided the first quote.

 

 

I said it wasn't good enough because they've now delayed us 3 weeks without any work even being started on the remortgage and now I have to find a new solicitor.

 

 

They also asked if the nationwide quote stated £255+fees as it would normally be quoted as base cost for the remortgage(£325)+fees and I confirmed it hadnt and said this was wrong as the additional £210 fees are compulsory for the basic remortgage even without transfer of equity so shouldn't be hidden. She then agreed to submit a formal complaint.

 

I then contacted nationwide to complain to them about the initial quote to be told the initial quote is provided by LMS even though it's their website they work together and solicitor side of it is nothing to do with them and it's fairly new but they've been asked that all complaints go through to LMS's complaints department so they are aware of it and it's happened a few times with others but LMS will be dealing with it.

 

What do I do now?

Do they not have to honour the quote that was accepted and agreed?

LMS didn't really seem interested and just kept telling me I could decline and find my own solicitor and didn't have to go through with theirs.

 

Should I just go with my own to avoid any more delay or wait for the outcome of the complaint?

I've found one for £435 including transfer of equity?

 

Thanks.

[ericsbrother]

yes, go with your own and continue the complaint. You may end up arguing about whetehr you actually needed legal advice at all so consider teh regulatory bodies like the ASA if the fees are on a web site. and the FCA

[salphy]

Thank you.

 

 

I think we do need it as it's a quote for conveyancing for the remortgage. The transfer of equity hasn't been included.

 

 

I've just spoken to the ombudsman's. The financial ombudsman said they would usually have to honour the quote but check with legal ombudsman in case it differs being legal services.

 

 

Legal ombudsman said they weren't aware of anything in law that they have to honour it but if I was to go ahead with the work and then put in a formal complaint and pass it onto them they can look at recovering the additional money for not sticking to the price they gave me initially. But if I go elsewhere then there wouldn't be any money paid to them to recover.

 

 

But if I continue with them I have to pay out the £535+ or wait 4 weeks for their complaint procedure to be completed then for the ombudsman to investigate get it back if upheld. Which will mean at least 7 weeks delay in total before any work is even started on the remortgage.

 

 

Really don't know what to do. I'm so annoyed.

[salphy]

Also the fees weren't on a website they were provided online during application and then confirmed in the application confirmation documents.