Simpson Millar has apologised to clients after many complained of being ignored and left unsure whether their sale would complete after the national firm announced it was shutting its conveyancing department.

In posts on social media and solicitor review sites, clients have complained they felt abandoned when the firm appeared to have no-one available to update on the progress of their transaction. It is understood that a number of staff left the business following the announcement that the firm intended to close its conveyancing department last month.  

One client spoken to by the Gazette said a staff member at Simpson Millar admitted they were ‘dropping like flies’ and that there were no managers to speak to. ‘We (and others) have basically been left high and dry with no support or alternatives,’ they said.

‘Nobody is contactable there and all their clients have been ignored, no contingency plans have been put in place to deal with this fallout. All their staff are leaving and we as clients are the ones that are suffering.’

Simpson Millar today acknowledged that its service levels had dropped but revealed that a deal has now been agreed with national conveyancing service provider Conveyancing Expert Limited to provide outsourced support to affected clients. The agreement will also see 16 Simpson Millar staff transfer to Conveyancing Expert. 

Chief executive Greg Cox said: 'Over the last few weeks, we have seen the service provided to some of our conveyancing clients dip below our usual high standards. This is a result of circumstances beyond our control, which meant that we had to prioritise the transactions our teams worked on.

'While I should stress that during the same period, we have helped hundreds of other clients successfully move home, the agreement with Conveyancing Expert will help get us back to providing a high standard of service for all of our remaining conveyancing clients. 

'We understand that buying or selling a home is an extremely important milestone in a person’s life. We are very sorry to those clients, and to any fellow professionals, who might have been affected whilst we addressed the unforeseen issues. We are grateful to those clients who have had to bear with us.'

Simpson Millar said that Conveyancing Expert would offer high a standard of service using the latest innovations in electronic communications and speed up the process of buying or selling. 

The firm announced last month that it would close several departments, including its conveyancing division, and put 100 jobs at risk. Clients subsequently took to social media to report their experiences, saying that the firm had refused to answer the phone or respond to emails for weeks.

A reviewer on Trust Pilot, not a client of Simpson Millar, said their purchase was under threat because someone in the chain had been with the firm.

They said: ‘We are now in the awful position that three days away from our expected completion date, nothing can progress and we are nearly homeless with huge expenditure being lost on removalists/builders deposits.’

 

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