Conduct and service

An unwelcome trend?Until a few years ago, the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) received numerous complaints that solicitors had failed to give clients any costs information.

Then complaints about lack of initial costs information dwindled.

But they seem once more to be on the increase, and in the most surprising of circumstances - domestic conveyancing.In one case the solicitors accepted instructions relating to the sale of a flat.

The client maintained that before giving instructions he had asked what the cost would be and was told it would be below 300 including VAT.

The final bill was 550 plus VAT.Responding to the subsequent complaint, the solicitors conceded they had not given any written costs information.

They disputed the alleged verbal figure, saying there was no file note of it having been quoted, and they doubted whether it would have been, bearing in mind they were then unaware of what the potential transaction involved.

They also pointed out that their time/cost analysis indicated they should have charged 640 net of VAT.Disregarding what this says about the solicitor's conveyancing costs levels if the client was correct about the figure he had been given, the fact remained that the solicitors had failed to observe the basic requirement of giving costs information.A second case recently before the OSS was similar.

The complainant's father said he telephoned the solicitors on his son's behalf and was told they would charge 250 plus costs on a purchase at a stated price.

After completion the solicitors sent a bill for 500 plus VAT and disbursements.

When the client complained, the solicitors said that, taking Law Society guidelines for conveyancing fees into account, their fees were reasonable.They may have been; however, not only had no costs information been given in writing, but the file contained nothing about the figure given orally.

Indeed, the solicitors did not bother sending anything to the client giving the information required under the Solicitors Costs Information and Client Care Code 1999.In both cases the costs were reduced.

The OSS hopes these cases are not signs that this type of complaint is on the increase.l Every case before the compliance and supervision committee is decided on its individual facts.

These case studies are for illustration only and should not be treated as precedents.