Miss T instructed the service provider in respect of a property purchase. As is usual in conveyancing transactions, the service provider gave Miss T advice on the purchase in a report on title. However, she decided not to proceed with the purchase following advice on a clause relating to the title.
Miss T raised concerns with the service provider, believing they could have advised of the issue sooner than they did.
Miss T raised a number of issues with the service provider, in particular:
The service provider gave a clear, and timely, response to Miss T’s complaint. They also explained why the approach they had taken was in line with standard procedures and processes.
We reviewed Miss T’s complaint on receipt and noted that the service provider had provided advice on the clause, and the responses to the enquiries in their report on title.
On the basis that it is standard practice for service providers to provide advice on issues that affect a title in their report on title, we took the view that there was no unreasonable delay and the complaint was unlikely to be upheld and therefore lacked any reasonable prospects of success.
We also considered that it was reasonable for the service provider to offer to do extra work to resolve the issue, should Miss T want to continue with the purchase, she was not therefore misled into paying any additional fees.
As the service provided was demonstrably reasonable, the complaint was dismissed by an Ombudsman at early resolution. As the complaint was dealt with at early resolution, no case fee was payable.
