No Sale No Fee Conveyancing
28/09/2021
9,082
12 min read
No sale no fee is a USP that some conveyancing solicitors provide with their quotes and offers a form of security against the legal fees when a property transaction falls through. With an estimated 1 in 3 home moves not completing, you can see why having no sale no fee solicitors' guarantee is a must.
If you fail to have this type of protection then you can end up paying for the legal work completed up to the point the transaction falling through and if this happens a few times, the costs can add up. The protection is known by many different names such as No Move No Fee Solicitors or No Purchase No Fee Conveyancing, however the principle behind them policy is to give buyers and sellers protection against their solicitor's legal fees if their transaction aborts. The challenge however, is to understand what exactly does 'No Sale No Fee' mean, what does it cover and are there any costs (also known as disbursements) to pay? We cover these points for other solicitors below, but include now the SAM No Sale No Fee Policy.
What is No Sale No Fee Conveyancing?
The SAM Conveyancing No Sale No Fee Policy
All of our sale and purchase conveyancing quotes* are covered with by our No Sale No Fee Policy; completely unique to SAM Conveyancing. We've negotiated with our panel of solicitors that if your First Transaction falls through, the solicitor will carry over your Initial Deposit to the next property purchase or new buyer on your sale. This means you get your First Transaction for free if the worst should happen.
You pay the Initial Deposit to your no sale no fee solicitors on instruction of your sale or purchase no move no fee conveyancing. The Initial Deposit is normally £160 INC VAT ranging to £300 INC VAT depending on the price of the property and is non-refundable.
There is no time limit in which the Initial Deposit can be applied to a Second Transaction. We recognise it could take time to find another buyer or find another property you like just as much as the first, so take as long as you like. When you are ready to get going again, simply advise us and your solicitor will apply your Initial Deposit on your Second Transaction.
You can only carry over your Initial Deposit once. If you fail to complete your Second Transaction the Initial Deposit cannot be carried over to a Third Transaction. Your solicitor will charge you for the legal work undertaken on your Second Transaction minus your Initial Deposit.
Our No Sale, No Fee Promise does not cover third party costs/disbursements that you contractually incur during the conveyancing process.
* What services are covered?
The following services are covered by our No Sale No Fee Policy:
- Sale conveyancing excluding auctions
- Purchase conveyancing excluding auctions
We do not cover any other service under this policy. For services not included within our No Sale No Fee Promise, your solicitor will levy a fee for the legal work they undertake on your behalf at an hourly rate which starts at, but may be greater than, £200 per hour EXC VAT. You will be given a quote for the exact hourly rate your solicitor will charge in advance of the work being undertaken.
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I want a refund of my deposit
From the second you give us your instruction we get to work for you. We contact the estate agents, mortgage broker, open your file and send you documents to complete. This is why we rely on the No Sale No Fee Policy as much as you.
The No Sale No Fee Policy protects you from the cost of the work that your solicitor has completed for you because legal work is normally charged by the hour unless you agree otherwise.
If you cancel the No Sale No Fee protection and request your deposit back then the work completed for you to date will be billed at your solicitor's hourly rate of £200 per hour plus VAT. The cost can often be more than your deposit which is why the No Sale No Fee Policy is so important to have.
Are third party costs included in a No Move No Fee Guarantee?
No. Neither third party costs nor disbursements are covered by the No Sale No Fee Policy.
To clarify, any funds paid related to matters like your home buyers survey, your mortgage (if you're a mortgage buyer) or your conveyancing searches will not be reclaimable in the event that your sale or purchase (or both) falls through.
You can find insurance which addresses out-of-pocket expenses such as those described however and get an individual policy drawn up for you, however your no sale no fee guarantee only covers you regarding your conveyancing solicitors costs.
Example of how the no sale no fee protects you
- 1
You pay an initial £160 deposit to your solicitor to start your no move no fee conveyancing on your first transaction. The first transaction falls under our No Sale No Fee Promise so if the first transaction falls through then you are not invoiced for any of the legal work undertaken on the first transaction.
- 2
You instruct again on your second transaction and the £160 is transferred to your second transaction. The second transaction falls through and you are charged for the legal work as a percentage of the amount completed of your fixed fee. For example, if your fixed fee was £629 and 30% of the work was completed on your second transaction, then you'd have to pay legal costs of £188 INC VAT less the £160 initial deposit leaving the balance to pay of £28 (subject to payment terms).
- 3
You instruct again on your third transaction and pay another initial deposit of £160 to your solicitor to start your conveyancing on your third transaction. The first transaction falls under our No Sale No Fee Promise so if the third transaction falls through then you are not invoiced for any of the legal work undertaken on the third transaction.
- 4
The process then follows on again from stage 2 above.
Frequently Asked Questions
The no sale no fee helps bother buyers and sellers during the conveyancing process. On a sale it protects the seller from buyers pulling out and leaviong them faced with paying their solicitor's legal fees. This could happen for any number of reasons, such as a buyer's bank undervaluing a property or a seller's onward purchase similarly falling through, it's not uncommon for a home sale or purchase not to complete, despite the conveyancing solicitor performing their own function in an entirely professional and efficient manner.
Although your guarantee won't cover your incidental costs - for example office copies, ID checks or leasehold pack (if leasehold) - you can at least be secure in the knowledge that you'll neither have to pay over any further conveyancing fees nor settle your final bill until your the end of your next - hopefully successful - conveyancing matter.
The solicitor halts their work and is ready to start again afresh once you've found a new property. Once this is in place, things continue as normal with no extra conveyancing fees to pay. Now if you had no guarantee in place, you'd have to pay the full fees for all legal work carried out to the point of the failure and, to 'add salt to the wound', you'd have to pay additionally to start up your conveyancing on a new property.
With the SAM Conveyancing No Sale No Fee Policy it allows you to lose a buyer and find a new one on the same property. You cannot transfer it to another property you own, so if you want to sell another property then you'll need to instruct the solicitor for that new property which will be covered under its own No Sale No Fee policy once you pay your instruction deposit.
Your solicitor will charge you if you transaction falls through unless you have legal fee protection like a No Sale No Fee, or as some call is a No Move No Fee. Solicitors will charge an hourly rate for the work that they have completed on your behalf, whilst it depends which solicitor you work with, here is a general guide of what your solicitor will charge if you do not have a No Sale No Fee Solicitors:
What fees are charged on a Purchase? | What fees are charged on a Sale? |
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The legal fees shouldn't be greater than the original fee quoted, however speak to your solicitor to find out what they will charge you if they don't offer legal fee protection.
It only covers the solicitor's legal fees. If you incur the liability of property/conveyancing searches, mortgage valuations, building surveys or any other costs/disbursements, then you are still liable to pay for these as per the agreed terms of the contract with the supplier.
Are all No Sale No Fee Promises the same?
Depending on which solicitor you instruct you will find that the terms of the no sale no fee policy vary:
- Only covered if a third party pulls out. If you decide to withdraw from the transaction then legal fees are payable.
- Covered in full for the first transaction, however if the second property falls through then you have to pay for the second transaction.
- Covers all of the legal costs but you have to pay a "Buyer Protection Fee" that isn't refunded.
- No fees are payable if the transaction falls through but the solicitor charges a higher legal fee.
You should read the terms of your chosen solicitor to understand their individual No Sale No Fee Promise.
Be careful when doing this as some solicitors do not cover all of their legal fees and some won't allow you to pull out for any reason; if you choose to pull out then you may be liable to pay your solicitor's legal fees. Under our No Sale No Fee Promise, you can pull out for any reason on your first transaction and not incur any of the solicitor's legal fees.
Yes it does. Under our No Sale No Fee Promise, you can pull out for any reason on your first transaction and not incur any of the solicitor's legal fees - whether it is:
- A buying chain breaks down.
- Gazumping - Seller accepts a higher offer from another buyer (read more about Gazumping)
- Gazundering - Buyer lowers their offer from agreed price pre-exchange.
- Property undervalued – Mortgage lender values the property less than the offer price (read more about What to do if your property is undervalued)
In general in life, any extra feature - particularly one which offers you an increased level of protection - normally makes overall fees greater than if the feature is not included in the service. That said, it's difficult to be certain about this when it comes to comparing the service offered by different conveyancing solicitor firms.
This is firstly because some property solicitors still give estimated bills to start with rather than fixed fee quotes, which means that meaningful service comparisons are difficult because you have to delve into each individual firms' terms and conditions to try and work out what each service costs.
Secondly, some solicitors provide the guarantee as standard in a fixed fee quote while some charge the guarantee as an extra. It's clearly of great value to you as a client, however what you ideally want is value-for-money overall in any conveyancing quote and getting a great service with guarantees you can rely on at a reasonable price.
We believe our house move quotes offer the greatest value for money on the market and we always include a no sale no fee guarantee, which you can rely on, as standard. As explained elsewhere, we can remove this guarantee on request but we'd advise that it's not only unwise but also not cost-effective to do so. Invariably our clients are happy to proceed with the guarantee regardless of whether they have to take it up or not and we are happy to let reviews from our satisfied clients 'do the talking'.
The No Sale No Fee Policy is offered to protect buyers and sellers from if their transaction falls through. If a buyer wants to run two files concurrently and doesn't close down their first purchase, then this is not covered under our No Sale No Fee Policy and an additional £160 deposit is required for the second purchase.
We are often asked about whether you should be looking for no sale no fee solicitors near me. The simple fact is that you do not need your solicitors to be near you to carry out your home move efficiently and it may end up costing you more money unnecessarily. And whether you instruct no sale no fee solicitors online or those on the high street, it will have no bearing as such on any no purchase no fee policy you are offered.
Find out more by reading our article Do I Need Conveyancing Solicitors Near Me?
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