SortRefer has already changed its quotation system to accurately reflect the changes to Stamp Duty announced in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement last Wednesday, and every broker who uses the SortRefer portal was able to produce accurate quotes for clients from midnight on the 4th December which took into account the ground breaking changes to the Stamp Duty rules.
SortRefer’s Managing Director, Kevin Tunnicliffe, believes that the industry was taken by complete surprise and that the announcement will have caused havoc for law firms and other providers up and down the land. Not only did they have to amend their systems, but they also had to deal with clients requesting delays in completing cases as they sought to benefit from the new rules.
He said:
"Making changes to systems to take account of what is great news for house buyers can take time. At SortRefer we have been able to make these changes almost instantly because of the investment we have made in the SortRefer system but other portals and individual legal practices might not be able to respond so quickly. Clients deserve to be given the most accurate breakdown of costs at the outset, but the Chancellor's announcement could put many brokers at a disadvantage as their preferred source of quotations might not be in a position to guarantee the accuracy their clients expect.
"From our own analysis of the market, the accuracy of conveyancing quotations, especially from conveyancing portals is by and large pretty inadequate with many clients puzzled to find that some really basic fees have not been included when they see the actual fee charged at the end of the process.
"We would like to see steps taken to ensure that all firms that generate quotes, offer a full and transparent illustration as these are being used to help clients assess the total costs of their housing needs. It has long been a requirement of the mortgage industry, but with conveyancing, too many are ‘ball park’ estimates dressed up as a full quotation, whilst others deliberately omit additional fees or charges in order to make their quotes appear cheaper than others.”
