Negligence claim and overpayment

[Lilymoon74]

I wish to explore whether I have a claim for negligence against our conveyancing solicitors. A
direct result of a fundamental error and an assumption that they made in 2016 has seen us being held to ransom by a landowner, the loss of the sale of our house, the loss of 2 purchases and the complete breakdown of a warm relationship with the landowner which had been fostered for over 8 years. This has caused and enormous amount of stress at an already stressful time and as a direct result of their negligence and incompetence has cost us circa £11,000

Events

• Purchased our home, in June 2016; conveyancer was LMC.
• Extinguished RoW along farm track to our property; conveyancer who acted for us was LMC
• Purchased verges to the front of our property in 2021; conveyancer who acted for us was LMC
• House went on the market June 2023 due to us getting a divorce
• House went under offer to the first couple July 2023
• Instructed LMC to act for us as they had acted when we purchased in 2016 and then again in 2018 and 2021, so it made sense as they had knowledge of the property and also assumed they would still have the file
• Notified by FM of LMC early July 2023 that the file had been destroyed
• I sent numerous emails from when we purchased, along with the deeds dropped into the office so that they had all the information they required
• LMC notified us she did in fact have the file in August 2023
• My ex husband & myself both made offers on houses that were accepted. LMC were to act for us on these 2 purchases
• The sale to the first couple started to go awry due to a right to water and a boundary problem that their solicitor had picked up. We were completely unaware of any such issues and were certain there were no problems as LMC had acted for us in 2016 when we purchased the property and so everything should be in order. Things, it turned out, were not in order.
• LMC had made an assumption in 2016 that the water pipes that supplied our house ran under our drive. They did not. They ran under the field owned by the landowner before they came up to our house. A water easement was now required.
• It appears no check has been carried out by LMC as to whether the landowner marked out the boundary line in accordance with the title deeds. We were not aware this should have been carried out, however the solicitors acting for both the first couple and subsequent buyer did check this for themselves. This bought to light the fact the boundary line, as marked out by the landowner, was not in accordance with the title deeds. The landowner erected the fence, at time of our purchase, to this incorrect line. LMC did not complete due diligence to ensure the fence had in fact been erected by the landowner in accordance e with the title plan.
• 14^th August I sent messages to the estate agent to ask if he could speak to LMC as no one from her office was picking up the phone to us.
• Agent came back to us on 15^th August to say he had spoken to LMC and that she was going to speak to the first couple's conveyancer and went on to say that LMC thought they were being over the top regarding the water supply.
• 16^th August we still had not heard from LMC
• 17^th August I sent a very frustrated email to LMC and her colleague as neither of them would pick up the phone to us and we had no idea if she had spoken to the first couple's solicitor or not. She had not.
• We lost the sale to the first couple on 30^th August because of these issues that LMC’s negligence had caused.
• My ex husband lost the house he was purchasing due to not being able to exchange because of the loss of our sale
• 31^st August LMC came back to us about the boundary issue for the first time, despite the first buyers solicitor raising it in mid July.
• House went back on the market with a new agent late September
• Water easement and boundary issue still not resolved
• We always had a good relationship with the landowner but LMC sent an email to him and upon his reply she sent one to us saying she “had pee’d him off”
• This resulted in a £3000 plus VAT legal bill from the landowners litigation solicitors for us to pay on the new water easement that is now required, the boundary being installed by the landowner in the wrong place and a verge and access issue that was now being claimed, despite us owing the verges and there never having been a problem with any access in the 8 years we had lived there.
• We were then told we had to pay another £1750 plus VAT from his solicitors for a water easement and another £1750 plus vat for “other issues” of which when asked, no one could tell us what these were for. We asked LMC to find out and she could not tell us. She told us we had no choice but to pay this because otherwise they would not move forward with the water easement, which was preventing the sale of our house. We were now being held to ransom and blackmailed by the landowner and his solicitors for things we had paid LMC for in our original purchase in 2016.
• I asked LMC over the phone if she didn’t think she should be paying for these fees, to which she replied no. She then offered “without prejudice” to split the water easement cost with us and she would pay 50%
• I kept asking, as did the agent, what the “other issues” were but LMC said we had undertaken to pay it and so we had to pay it whatever happened. I said that she had told us we had to pay it and that it was not unreasonable to ask what the other costs are as it is £2,100 inc the vat. I asked if she would pay this if someone asked her for this sort of money without telling her what it was for, and of course, she replied no. Why on earth, then, should we? Because she said, we had undertaken to do so. Yes! On HER advice.
• I asked what on earth could cost this much and she had the audacity to say that she had lost so much money on this transaction! The one that has cost us over £10,000 for HER negligence in 2016.
• I lost the house I was buying
• Eventually we exchanged the last week of January as the landowner’s solicitor had only just written the water easement. I asked again that the land owners solicitors must now know what the other issues are and could LMC now ask what they are for. She said as we had undertaken to pay it there was nothing she could do.
• The invoice from LMC was sent to me and my ex husband for the split of the sale proceeds. It was incorrect. Despite me explaining, it kept being incorrect. In the end I sent them a spreadsheet of what it should be, so I did their invoice for them.
• They sent the invoice but with no breakdown. I asked for the breakdown as I had no idea what it was for. They refused. I never have received a breakdown of their fees.
• The money I was due from the sale was transferred in 2 parts and I have been overpaid by £15,939 due to their complete incompetence

The costs we incurred (inc VAT):

From Landowner’s solicitors:
£3,900
£1,050 Water easement (split 50/50 with LMC – total was £2,100)
£2,100 “Other issues”
£450 indemnity for access
(£2,100 Access issues paid by purchaser of our house)
Our Total £7500

From LMC
£1,800 aborted purchase invoice (ex husband)
£1,800 aborted purchase invoice (me)
£3,678 LMC's professional fees which included a £750 abotrive fee that was not discussed or disclosed until this point. Seems very convenient that this sum equate to the "without prejudice payment" she agreed to pay of £750 plus vat
Total: £7,278
(Plus fees for ex husband's second purchase)

I also incurred losses of £8.800 in refunds to bookings I had taken for my business (which was a home boarding business for dogs)

Because I lost the house I was buying as a direct result of the original negligence I now have no home so no business and no source of income. I am now living in my ex husband’s spare bedroom and the whole reason we sold our house in the first place was because we were getting divorced. It is now a total mess all because LMC made an incorrect assumption in 2016.

I have acknowledged the overpayment of £15939 but have with held it and sent correspondence asking for an explanation. Can i do this or is this illegal? I have no intention of keeping it indefinately and have made her aware of this but i feel this at least gives me some leverage. I do not want to be doing anything unlawful though.

Can anyone tell me if i am within my rights to do this?

Thanks

Lilymoon74

[atticus]

There is a lot of detail in that. I am sorry but you are going to have to consult a specialist solicitor for advice whether you have a strong case case for professional negligence. You will need to take that solicitor through the full story, and show them all your documents. You may also have a limitation problem, given that you completed your purchase more than 6 years ago.

[Lilymoon74]

Thank you for your reply. I have a friend who is a litigator and is helping me with the letters but conveyancing is not her primary area. She thinks there's a case and said that the 6 year rule is from the time that the error became apparent - which was July, but obviously this may be incorrect. I think my question really is whether i am acting unlawfully in retention of the overpayment until i get answers? Any help with this question would be enormously appreciated

Thank you

[Manxman]

You describe your conveyancer as a solicitor. Is she? Or is she simply a one woman band conveyancer?