Frequently Asked Questions
Can a no sale no fee guarantee help you if your sale falls through?
The simple answer is yes: a no sale no fee guarantee (sometimes called a no move no fee guarantee) is entirely there to protect you if your house sale falls through. 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 your property lawyer performing their own function in an entirely professional and efficient manner.
Although your guarantee won't cover your incidental costs - for example your mortgage product fees or your conveyancing searches fees paid to that point - 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.
Do you have to pay solicitor if house sale falls through?
Your solicitor will charge you if you transaction falls through unless you have legal fee protection like a No Sale No Fee. You should check with your solicitor or read your terms and conditions to see what happens if your sale or purchase falls through.
Does the No Sale No Fee cover 3rd party costs?
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.
Does the SAM Conveyancing No Sale No Fee Promise cover Gazumping?
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)
How much does a solicitor charge if there is no cover?
Solicitors charge on an hourly basis for their time when delivering legal services which is the reason why you should always look to get a Fixed Fee Quote for your conveyancing. If you don't have legal fee protection then you will be charged for the work completed by your solicitor at the pre-agreed hourly rate.
Does a No Sale No Fee conveyancing guarantee cost more?
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'.
Can you use the No Sale No Fee on two transactions at the same time?
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.
Should I be looking for No Sale No Fee Conveyancing Near Me?
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?
Do you need a No Sale No Fee Quote?
We provide No Sale No Fee protection for all of our sale and purchase conveyancing quotes and you can read our policy details below. To get a Free quote call 0333 344 3234 or click on:
*Fixed Fee – No Sale No Fee – On all Mortgage Lender Panels
