Research has revealed 26% of homemovers report being dissatisfied by the service received from their conveyancer, with one in five suggesting they would opt for a different firm next time around.
According to Smoove’s Home Movers Report, the cost of service (42%), quality (38%), and length of time to complete (36%) are the top three considerations for homemovers when choosing a conveyancer, with speed of communication (35%), clarity of communication (31%), reputation (25%) and ease of process (22%) all also important.
Encouragingly, the majority (61%) said they would recommend the firm they used to friends and family, showing there is a broad level of satisfaction.
There is, however, a significant slice of homeowners who clearly assign blame to conveyancers, with the “slow and inefficient” process contributing to nine in 10 homeowners reporting that they found the homemoving experience stressful.
“Conveyancing is often regarded as one of the most complex and stressful aspects of moving home,” said Tony Leonard, Chief Customer Officer, Smoove, continuing:
“Digitising aspects of the conveyancing process, such as allowing checks and documents to be reviewed and signed digitally is already serving to increase the efficiency and reduce the expense of current systems of conveyancing.
Increased digitalisation and integration (or communication) between all parties involved will improve the experience for home movers and allow conveyancers to dedicate more of their energy to offering valuable legal insight and client support.”
With regards to where most people found their chosen conveyancing firm, 33% of homeowners relied on a friend or family recommendation followed by estate agent referral (31%) and a mortgage broker recommendation (23%).
The full report from Smoove is available here.
2 responses
Having been a conveyancer for over 40 years (and now not, though still practicing), conveyancers are generally very bad at managing clients’ expectations and keeping them informed. Because so much conveyancing is done by inflexible systems, clients feel unloved.
And about 80% of conveyancers are dis-satisfied with clients who have way too high an expectation of the level of service and communication i.e the client who rings EVERY SINGLE DAY for an update despite being advised that as soon as there is something to report, you will be back to them, with agents who keep asking for updates despite being told we will keep them advised. Who is it that is slowing the process generally – the clients and the agents by keep on pushing for updates unnecessarily. Yes there are sticking points at present (mortgage offers and local searches being the top 2, but also clients not returning documents or answering Enquiries quickly enough) but if you have 100 files and clients and agents keep asking for updates you are going to lose 1 – 2 working days A WEEK in just dealing with unnecessary requests. If clients would understand that the majority of conveyancers WILL update them when there is something worthwhile to report and if Agents would actually realise what their role in the process is and WHO they are working for (why keep chasing the Seller’s solicitors when usually it is the Buyer’s solicitor who is waiting for searches mortgage offer monies from client etc).
I have nearly 50 years in residential conveyancing and have NEVER found it so stressful as it has been in the last 2.5 years, mainly because there are too many unnecessary emails and phone calls coming in, coupled with the fact that the mature experienced conveyancers are leaving the profession in droves. Only last week a colleague with a vast amount of knowledge advised me they are retiring, solely due to the unacceptable pressures brought on us – and articles like this do not help!