It all tends to be pretty standard I think unless issues crop up

Search forms are standard (and a lot done online now and probably legal execs), transfer docs are standardised and most firms will have a proforma form of report I think. I assume the most time consuming thing is someone reviewing the search results to lift the relevant details into the report to the client, dealing with and responding to the enquiries from the other side and probably dealing with calls and emails chasing people and trying to work out where various transactions are with the chain which usually holds things up.

But I would assume that the fixed fees they charge are based on some form of analysis of average time spent (although may also be based on annual cost divided by number of cases they think they can handle). Its a bit of a guess but most conveyancers (solicitors not paralegals) would probably have a chargeable hourly rate of somewhere between £120 and £220 per hour so on that basis if they are charging £750 ish I would estimate they are probably allowing for 4-7 hours of work.

Again I would stress just a guestimate.

Posted By: Jim, Mar 13, 13:10:48