For those advisers who are new to offering conveyancing advice, have been dealing direct with conveyancers, or using certain other distributor platforms, there may be an assumption that payment for your advice/recommendations only arrives once, or more likely, after the case completes.
It is not surprising to believe this, not least because it’s the modus operandi by which many providers/lenders/distributors pay advisers. The transaction completes, the client moves in or refinances, and at some point afterwards the adviser receives their conveyancing referral fee.
Exchange and completion are not the same thing
One of the reasons this myth persists is because exchange and completion are often spoken about as though they are almost interchangeable. They of course are not. Exchange is the point at which a transaction becomes legally binding. Both parties commit, contracts are in place, and the risk of fall-through reduces sharply. Completion, by contrast, is simply the day the client moves home or the refinance happens.
Between those two points, there is usually a gap, and that gap is central to the conversation about when advisers are paid for their conveyancing advice. Our own data at conveybuddy shows an average exchange-to-completion period of around five days, although the number of cases within that dataset is relatively small and should be treated with caution. Therefore to sense-check this, it is useful to look more broadly across the market.
The HomeOwners’ Alliance, for example, suggests around two weeks is a typical timeframe between exchange and completion, allowing time for mortgage funds to be drawn down and final arrangements to be put in place.
Why that gap matters for conveyancing
In some cases, exchange and completion can happen on the same day, usually where there is no chain or where the buyer is a cash purchaser. These cases exist, but they are not representative of the wider market.
Far more often, as noted above, there is a period of days or weeks between exchange and completion. In more complex transactions, such as long chains, new builds, for example, that gap can extend further.
The key point is that, by the time a case reaches exchange, the adviser’s conveyancing recommendation has already delivered its value. The client has committed, the legal work has progressed almost to an end point, and the adviser has supported the transaction to that point. Yet under many traditional models, the adviser’s conveyancing referral fee remains unpaid until after that milestone.
What pay on exchange really changes for advisers
However, we believe advisers shouldn’t have to wait until completion, not least because, when advisers are paid their conveyancing referral fee on exchange rather than completion, the difference is immediate and practical.
Using the HomeOwners’ Alliance two-week average, a pay-on-exchange model means advisers are typically paid their conveyancing fee before moving day. That removes weeks of uncertainty and delay from the payment process.
For advisers, particularly smaller firms, cash flow is not an abstract concern. Conveyancing recommendations form part of the wider advice model, and delays in payment can create pressure, especially when cases can take five to six months to get to completion.
Payment on exchange aligns payment with the point at which legal commitment is made, rather than the point at which the client collects the keys.
The hidden delays in completion-only payment models
Even where referral fees are described as being paid ‘on completion’, advisers often wait longer than expected. For example, some panel managers operate monthly payment cycles, meaning a case that completes early in the month may not be paid until several weeks later, or even into the following month.
In practice, this can mean advisers waiting six to eight weeks after completion to receive their conveyancing referral fee, particularly around busy periods as we’ve just had at Christmas or year-end.
By contrast, a weekly pay-on-exchange model significantly shortens that timeline. In many cases, advisers receive their conveyancing fee within days of exchange.
Not all payment structures are the same
Property transactions are taking longer. Chains are more complex. Delays are more common. Yet many advisers still assume that all conveyancing distributors pay in broadly the same way. They do not.
As advisers review the suppliers they work with, payment terms for conveyancing advice/recommendations should be part of that assessment. Not as an afterthought, but as a core part of the service proposition.
Advisers should feel confident asking clear, practical questions of their conveyancing distributors and panel managers. When is my conveyancing advice/recommendation fee paid? Is it exchange or completion? Is payment weekly or monthly? What happens if completion is delayed? The answers will reveal a great deal about how well a provider understands the commercial realities advisers face.
For advisers, earlier payment of conveyancing referral fees brings greater certainty, improved cash flow and better control over their business. In a market where timelines are stretched and pressure is increasing, those differences matter.
