Something should be done about the abuse of 'additional preliminary enquiries' in conveyancing.

Many solicitors send out such enquiries in an entirely standard unmodified form regardless of the replies they have received to property information forms. The enquiries are, in many respects, repetitious of information already supplied and usually do not include any supplementary enquiries pertinent to the property being purchased. In most cases, the enquiries evidence that the property information forms and the contract and title documentation that have been provided have not been read by the solicitor.


I have no problem with solicitors using check-lists of enquiries to avoid missing key points. However, I was taught that, having read the materials one had received (immediately on their receipt), any check-list was adapted by deletion and addition to ensure that only relevant enquiries were sent. I have recently received a form containing 17 standard enquiries, 15 of which were 'not applicable' to the transaction.


These practices do not serve clients or the profession. As between the parties to the transaction, the raising of unnecessary and inappropriate enquiries breaches the basic principle in Law Society practice rule 1 that the solicitor's duty is to act in the best interests of the client. Enquiries that tend to delay the transaction, put the seller to unnecessary inconvenience, and which are a potential source of friction between the parties, do not serve the best interests of the client.


Jonathan Carr, Carr Hepburn Solicitors, Hemel Hempstead