Conveyancing departments need to prepare for their most chaotic week with tomorrow set to become the busiest communication day for inbound enquiries to law firms.
Call volumes will increase by 10% on the day following a bank holiday with consumers eager to discuss their home move, according to Moneypenny.
The data looked at the Tuesday’s following bank holidays in April, May and August in 2018. The outsourced communications provider found that call volumes will be significantly higher on this day and will reach its peak between 9am and 11am.
The month of August is expected to be an even busier time for conveyancers as Friday 30th August is set to be the most popular day to move house this year, according to research carried out by The HomeOwners Alliance using data from Reallymoving.com.
With 625,000 Brits moving in England in 2016-2017, which equates to approximately 1,700 moves per day, statistics have revealed more than 6,500 moves are expected on the 30th August 2019 – which is almost four times more than average.
When analysing the most popular month and days people move house, 75,000 will relocate through the month of August, while 175,000 homeowners will move on Fridays over the course of the year.
In general, 28% of the UK population move on Fridays which allows home owners time to unpack and settle into their new abodes before starting work again on the Monday.
Conveyancing departments should prepare for the communication storm prior to the completion and moving day hurricane of activity on August 30th.
Paula Higgins, Chief Executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, said:
“Many homeowners like to move during the school summer holidays so their children can settle into their new place in time for the new academic year, which is the start of September across most of the UK.
“It may appear sensible to move on a Friday, so you have time to unpack and settle in over the weekend before heading back to work. But we advise people to be exceptionally careful if they move on a Friday. On this particular Friday, 30th August, with even more moves expected to be happening than usual, it’s paramount that people are as organised as possible.
“Of course delays can occur at any time, but issues with transfers of funds are more likely to happen on a Friday when banks, conveyancers and removal firms are stretched to the limit as it’s the time when most housing deals tend to complete. On the last Friday of the month bank money transfers can get overloaded and it’s peak time for conveyancing fraud. If there are delays in transferring funds, you may have to spend the weekend in a hotel or on friends’ and families’ sofa.”
Rob Houghton, CEO of reallymoving, commented:
“Moving on the busiest day of the year isn’t for the faint-hearted, especially with the August bank holiday also happening that week, pushing more moves onto the remaining four days. Ensure your solicitor and everyone in the chain knows you’re working towards that date and book your removals firm well in advance, so you only need to confirm as soon as you exchange. It’s best to ask them to come to your house to assess the volume of your belongings. This ensures you have the right sized van and number of team members on the day of your move.”
James Candlin, Business Development Manager at Moneypenny, said:
“When people are away from the stresses of work, they’re given time and space to think about their personal lives and take care of some ‘life admin’.
“As a result, it’s extremely common for the days following holidays to be used to contact professionals such as lawyers to help take care of matters such as arranging wills, recovering debt or buying and selling property.”
“By embracing technology such as call answering and live chat, firms can rest assured that every lead will be captured during peak times, without the expense of hiring extra resource.
“Poor client communication is a cause of great frustration among consumers and businesses should do all they can to avoid this occurring.”
Is your law firm prepared for the busy week ahead?
