Ask most clients to name the costs involved in buying or remortgaging a home and you’ll get the usual suspects: valuation fees, legal fees, stamp duty, etc.
What they won’t know is that a fair number of these charges do nothing at all for them. They exist purely because someone, somewhere in the process has decided it’s easier to pass the cost down the line. And that’s exactly where mortgage advisers can make a difference, by recognising these unnecessary add-ons and steering clients away from them.
Let’s start with a simple truth. Not every charge that appears on a conveyancing quote benefits the person paying it. Some of them are, bluntly, junk fees. A good example is the so-called ‘system’ or ‘portal’ fee that crops up in some legal quotes.
It sounds official, even essential, but all it really covers is the law firm’s cost of updating a lender’s back-office system. The client pays for it, yet gets nothing in return - no faster completion, no smoother communication, no extra protection. It’s an admin charge that exists for the lender’s convenience, not the borrower’s benefit.
Then there’s the TT fee. These are usually £30–£50, and if you ask a client what they think that’s for, they’ll assume it’s the cost of sending their mortgage funds safely. In reality, those payments are almost always automated and cost pennies to process. The fee has survived because low advertised legal prices left firms hunting for margin elsewhere. It’s been normalised to the point that few people even question it anymore.
And let’s not forget the biggest myth of them all - ‘free legals’. The name alone should make you suspicious. Clients love the sound of it, and some let it slide because it helps get the deal done.
But once you scratch the surface, you find the same TT charges, ‘standard admin’ fees and other small print costs waiting to ambush the client just before completion. ‘Free’ rarely means free; it just means the costs are hidden somewhere else and at the back-end.
This is where advisers can add tangible value. You can’t stop every hidden fee in the market, but you can make sure your client doesn’t have to pay them. That means looking beyond the rate and cashback headline and understanding how the conveyancing is priced.
Products like our all-inclusive remortgage option was designed for exactly this reason - one clear price, no transfer fees, no portal add-ons. Our data shows most brokers who use them now actively choose the version that includes every charge up front, even if it means taking a smaller referral payment themselves. That’s the right behaviour, and it’s one clients notice.
There’s also a growing opportunity here. For too long, advisers have shied away from discussing the legal side of the transaction, either because it’s seen as ‘someone else’s job’ or because they don’t want to get bogged down in process.
But clients want joined-up advice. They trust their adviser to tell them what’s a fair cost and what isn’t. By taking a little more ownership of that conversation - recommending transparent conveyancing options, explaining where the real costs sit, and highlighting the difference between price and value - advisers can protect clients from paying for things that simply don’t serve them.
And with the next round of home buying and selling reforms likely to push more information and cost disclosure up front, that knowledge is going to become even more important.
The Government wants faster, clearer transactions. What it doesn’t want or need is another wave of ‘service fees’ appearing under the guise of compliance. Advisers who understand the detail will be in the best position to stop that creep and keep the client’s interests where they belong: front and centre.
So the next time you see a legal quote with a string of small extras, don’t assume the client has to pay them. Ask who they really benefit. If the answer isn’t ‘the client’, then it’s a fee worth questioning. Advisers are perfectly placed to do that, and in doing so, demonstrate the best advice isn’t just about rates or products, but about protecting clients from paying for what they don’t actually need.
