Quick Question Thread

[Derry Alli]

2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Phone them and ask. 

I did. They said it'd be fine and to go down. 

When I got there, they suddenly couldn't help and never said that they could. They've given me a form to fill in and start from scratch. Massive waste of fucking time.

[Derry Alli]

1 hour ago, A96 said:

Might’ve been better asking someone who works in the post office

 

2 hours ago, Dele said:

The post office beside me has no idea so it's a trip in town to find out.

[welshbairn]

Just now, Dele said:

I did. They said it'd be fine and to go down. 

When I got there, they suddenly couldn't help and never said that they could. They've given me a form to fill in and start from scratch. Massive waste of fucking time.

I meant phone the Passport Office.

[Shandon Par]

3 minutes ago, Dele said:

I did. They said it'd be fine and to go down. 

When I got there, they suddenly couldn't help and never said that they could. They've given me a form to fill in and start from scratch. Massive waste of fucking time.

Go down the pub and sell you "lost" passport. 

[RandomGuy.]

14 minutes ago, A96 said:

A lot of speculation and assumption on my part, but I think it’s highly unlikely now that you’ve got any comeback against the sellers or the executors of the sellers’ estate.

I’m assuming that the Scottish Standard Clauses (Edition 2) formed part of the contract between you and the sellers, then clause 4 of the Standard Clauses is the most relevant , but clause 24 is also important.  I’m assuming also neither clause 4 nor clause 24 were amended by any of the other terms and conditions detailed in the missives.  I reckon the two year deadline mentioned in clause 24 will have passed without any court action having been raised by your solicitors on your behalf. I think it’s inconceivable that they would have taken such drastic , and potentially very expensive , steps without your specific instructions to do so.

Wouldn’t surprise me either if your solicitor failed to notify the sellers or their solicitors about the defect with the boiler within 5 working days of the date of entry. Do you know if the sellers were given the chance to arrange for the defect to be rectified in accordance with the terms of clause 4?

You’re more likely to have some sort of claim against your own solicitor, if your version of events is correct and hasn’t missed out any relevant information.  Unless your solicitor was in business as a sole trader , you might be better trying to speak to the Client Relations Partner in the firm, but  telling them that unless you hear back within a reasonable period eg one week , then you’ll have no option but to go to the Law Society.  If your solicitor was also the Client Relations Partner , then ask to speak to one of the other partners.

I’m a bit doubtful about some of your comments. For instance , I think it would be unusual for the Home Report to contain a statement that the boiler was passed as ok. 

In my view , the sellers would only have been contractually bound and obliged to meet the cost of carrying out whatever remedial action was required to rectify the specific defect you mentioned , namely the boiler switching off itself.  I don’t think you’d have been entitled to have the costs of any upgrading which went beyond the scope of rectifying that specific defect  unless perhaps the upgrading had to be carried out in order to rectify the specific defect- ( see Clauses 4.3 and 4.4 of the Standard Clauses)

Even then the sellers wouldn’t be liable for the cost of rectifying the specific defect if it turned out to be less than £300 -( see clause 26).   Probably unlikely that the plumber’s bill for even a fairly simple job would be less than £300

And the phrase “commensurate with age” in clause 4.1 would be very significant as regards a potential claim against the sellers. If , for instance the boiler was 20 years old then it could well be argued that it was “in working order commensurate with age” at the date of settlement. In other words you can’t reasonably expect an ancient boiler to be in perfect working order.

Also , the fact that your plumber condemned the boiler is , in my opinion , pretty much irrelevant  - (see clause 4.4)

Seems to me that your solicitor gave you duff advice if he told you that you would definitely be entitled to have the costs of the new boiler met by the sellers.  However , seeing as your plumber condemned the old boiler you were going to have to get a new one anyway, so it’s debatable as to whether you relied solely on your solicitor’s advice in incurring these costs.  On the other hand , maybe you went for a more expensive option in the belief that you’d be entitled to recover the costs from the seller

 

Hope this all makes some sort of sense !

Home report definitely had a section that said the heating/plumbing system was in working condition, although I cant remember the wording of it off hand.

Within hours of getting the keys it had started switching itself off. The plumber said straight away it wasnt repairable, he told us it was too old and the parts required simply weren't available for it anymore, he was talking about the whole system being over 30 years old.

We knew we'd need it either way so went for the cheaper option, we also incurred further costs as the pipes were seemingly too small a diameter (they were genuinely tiny things), but were aware we couldn't claim for that.

The solicitor is self employed and works on his own. We contacted him within days and he said he'd put a claim straight in, we didn't hear anything and then he started claiming he'd have to try and get money off the estate as the seller had now died, this was around 6 months later. During those 6 months my partner repeatedly tried to contact him and just got ignored, as our house was getting ripped apart to put in a new heating system.

Since then we've been totally unable to get in contact with him. We've given him written, through email, warning that if he doesnt reply we'll be going to another solicitor. That was 2 weeks ago without reply. We've phoned him 3 times a week, his receptionist says he isnt in but he'll phone right back, but theres never ever response. Ask to make an appointment and she claims it would have to be 2 months in advance, its then cancelled a few days before and pushed back another 2 months.

I have a feeling the advice I'll get is it's been left to late, but either way I need to find out how to finish the whole situation as it's been hanging over us for years now, my partner flat out refuses to be involved due to the stress and anxiety the whole situation put on her.

We have emails that confirm us telling him about the fault and him confirming he put in a claim, within days of the house purchase. It took us two days after we discovered the problem to actually get a response.

Edited May 21, 2019 by RandomGuy.

[Widge]

The home report will be caveatted to say the least. No valuation surveyor has the ability to test a heating system, or for example a houses electrics. These are specialist trades. Or at the very least they shouldn’t be, they can comment on age and say it appears alright, but only a gas engineer would be able to condemn it. Furthermore, surely you’d have clocked the age of the boiler when viewing the house?

Your argument has to now be with the Solicitor, no point going after the valuation report since it’ll be water right, nor the seller since they’re deed!

[RandomGuy.]

8 minutes ago, Widge said:

The home report will be caveatted to say the least. No valuation surveyor has the ability to test a heating system, or for example a houses electrics. These are specialist trades. Or at the very least they shouldn’t be, they can comment on age and say it appears alright, but only a gas engineer would be able to condemn it. Furthermore, surely you’d have clocked the age of the boiler when viewing the house?

Your argument has to now be with the Solicitor, no point going after the valuation report since it’ll be water right, nor the seller since they’re deed!

I'm clueless about boilers tbh, and it was our first house purchase, we should've taken a plumber with us and that's a lesson we've learned. 

And yes, I doubt I'll be pursuing the seller for anything. From what I've been told if there's a dispute within five days, the purchasing solicitor should withhold the amount of money quoted to fix the defect until the matters been settled, and our solicitor hasnt done that so is trying to wriggle his way out the situation.

Hes got a dreadful reputation now I've started asking around about him, again, another lesson learned.

[A96]

39 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

I'm clueless about boilers tbh, and it was our first house purchase, we should've taken a plumber with us and that's a lesson we've learned. 

And yes, I doubt I'll be pursuing the seller for anything. From what I've been told if there's a dispute within five days, the purchasing solicitor should withhold the amount of money quoted to fix the defect until the matters been settled, and our solicitor hasnt done that so is trying to wriggle his way out the situation.

Hes got a dreadful reputation now I've started asking around about him, again, another lesson learned.

If the boiler was 30 years old , then , on the basis of the “commensurate with age “ bit , I think you’d have been stuffed from the outset as far as any potential claim against the sellers goes.

I wouldn’t claim to know much about boilers but I’d guess you’re doing well if you get more than ten years out of one.

I reckon also that if push came to shove you wouldn’t have any claim against your own solicitor in relation to the costs of replacing the defective boiler, as even if he’d done everything properly , it’s unlikely that you’d have been entitled to recover the costs from the sellers.

If you lodge a formal complaint about the service he provided for you , then you might get some award of compensation eg a refund or partial refund of the fees he charged you in the transaction. 

But , at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, the easiest way to finish the whole situation , as you put it , is to just walk away from it and put it down to experience. If you’re partner’s  stressed out about it all and wants nothing further to do with it , that might be the best option 

 

 

 

[Shandon Par]

How do I tell my phone it has a pronunciation wrong?

If I ask my phone to play Bassomatic it says, "playing Fascinating Rhythm by Bass O' Matić.

[MuckleMoo]

How do I tell my phone it has a pronunciation wrong?
If I ask my phone to play Bassomatic it says, "playing Fascinating Rhythm by Bass O' Matić.

Cracking tune to be fair. As for your question, f**k knows!

[Melanius Mullarkey]

59 minutes ago, Shandon Par said:

How do I tell my phone it has a pronunciation wrong?

If I ask my phone to play Bassomatic it says, "playing Fascinating Rhythm by Bass O' Matić.

You have to watch out for these Irish-Serbian covers bands tbh.

[A96]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

I'm clueless about boilers tbh, and it was our first house purchase, we should've taken a plumber with us and that's a lesson we've learned. 

And yes, I doubt I'll be pursuing the seller for anything. From what I've been told if there's a dispute within five days, the purchasing solicitor should withhold the amount of money quoted to fix the defect until the matters been settled, and our solicitor hasnt done that so is trying to wriggle his way out the situation.

Hes got a dreadful reputation now I've started asking around about him, again, another lesson learned.

Forgot to say earlier that it’s unlikely that your solicitor should have withheld any funds as in most transactions the whole price has to be paid to the sellers on the date of entry.  An exception to this can arise if , for instance , the missives contain provisions to the effect that the purchaser can retain part of the price until such time as some specified obligation which has to be implemented by the seller , has , been implemented. (eg some repair works to the house)

In your transaction neither you nor your solicitor knew about the defective boiler until a few days after the transaction had been completed, presumably with the full price having been paid on the date of entry.

Edited May 21, 2019 by A96

[RandomGuy.]

24 minutes ago, A96 said:

Forgot to say earlier that it’s unlikely that your solicitor should have withheld any funds as in most transactions the whole price has to be paid to the sellers on the date of entry.  An exception to this can arise if , for instance , the missives contain provisions to the effect that the purchaser can retain part of the price until such time as some specified obligation which has to be implemented by the seller , has , been implemented. (eg some repair works to the house)

In your transaction neither you nor your solicitor knew about the defective boiler until a few days after the transaction had been completed, presumably with the full price having been paid on the date of entry.

Solicitors assured us the funds were held back for 5 days under Scottish Law, and as long as a claim was filed within those 5 days we'd at least get a contribution.

This whole situation has been entirely based on his instructions. 

[tamthebam]

2 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

I'm clueless about boilers tbh, and it was our first house purchase, we should've taken a plumber with us and that's a lesson we've learned. 

And yes, I doubt I'll be pursuing the seller for anything. From what I've been told if there's a dispute within five days, the purchasing solicitor should withhold the amount of money quoted to fix the defect until the matters been settled, and our solicitor hasnt done that so is trying to wriggle his way out the situation.

Hes got a dreadful reputation now I've started asking around about him, again, another lesson learned.

Maybe the ad was a give away..

as for your boiler money, it was just resting in his account...

[Miguel Sanchez]

54 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

Maybe the ad was a give away..

as for your boiler money, it was just resting in his account...

RandomGuy's post violates my attorney/client privilege, and you'll both be hearing from my lawyer. 

[A96]

4 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

Solicitors assured us the funds were held back for 5 days under Scottish Law, and as long as a claim was filed within those 5 days we'd at least get a contribution.

This whole situation has been entirely based on his instructions. 

That’s a new one on me , and is , in my humble opinion , with apologies for using legal jargon , utter pish.   Mind you , maybe that  explains why I got struck off. *

Only thing I can think of there is that if your solicitors paid the price to the sellers’ solicitors by way of a cheque , it might have taken 5 working days for the funds to clear with rhe sellers’ solicitors’ bank. In that event there would be the 5 day period before the sellers solicitors could safely pay out the sale proceeds to the sellers. 

But that’s entirely different from there being any obligation on the sellers’ solicitors to hold back funds for the benefit dI of the purchasers.

 

 

* I didn’t ....I quit some time ago while I was still ahead 

 

 

 

 

[alta-pete]

@RandomGuy

What@A96 said.

Nae chance. And the money you spend chasing it down would sort the problem. Suck it up, sorry.

[Cardinal Richelieu]

The solicitor sounds like a total shyster. I'd encourage you to name and shame, but since he's a solicitor and could probably sue P+B to kingdom come, maybe it's best not to. 

[Dee Man]

If a male deer is called a stag and a female deer is called a doe, then what the f**k is a deer?

[MONKMAN]

If a male deer is called a stag and a female deer is called a doe, then what the f**k is a deer?

A Stag is generally specific to the red deer species, a Buck or Hart is the general term for a male deer.