Today’s Conveyancer can report that information received from the Land Registry through a Freedom of Information request, the body recorded 599 complaints in the period from April 2016 – June 2016.
Customer contacts are regarded as complaints where there is “any expression of dissatisfaction where a response or an action is needed to help resolve matters or explain our position.”An ‘expression of dissatisfaction’ was recorded 599 times with 147 of those complaints being in relation to delay or progress of an application. These applications ranged from normal dealings, Transfers of Part, New Leases through to First Registrations.
Of these applications 56 of the complaints made were in relation to requisitions; bearing in mind the turnover of applications that the Land Registry receives, which are dealt with by its 4,567 or so staff, how many requisitions do you have to deal with a month?
Are they usually clerical errors, or are the requisitions things that highlight something that has been missed?
There were 84 complaints made with respect to the cancellation of applications, with the result of applications having 63 expressions of dissatisfaction. Interestingly there were only 5 complaints registered about the Land Registry service itself, with another 6 about Fees and a further 4 with regard to general communication. ‘Normal’ registration currently takes under 7 working days.
We asked the Land Registry for their figures in respect of completed applications. Over a three-month period, the average time for a completed application which is considered a ‘normal’ dealing there was a mean figure of 6.79 working days.
Today’s Conveyancer is interested in your thoughts.
– Is this in line with your experience?
– What processes do you have in place post completion to assure clients that their property will be registered in line with their expectations?
– What do you feel the expectations of clients are?
– Do you find that they care?
– With most law firms blanket advising 4-6 weeks for registration is this in fact what is happening?
The average time for work on a Transfer of Part was around 62 working days (up to three months) with a New Lease coming out at around the same. First registrations have been revealed to take less time with an average of 57.5 working days.
Do these figures appear to be in line with what the average conveyancer expects and how do you manage client expectation when it is needed?
Take part in the discussion below and let us know what you think or alternatively email us in your thoughts at info@todaysconveyancer.co.uk
