COVID-19 Policy
Our COVID-19 Policy
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Our concern during this outbreak of Coronavirus is to ensure the safety of clients and staff.
It is our intention to remain operating unless prevented by the Government from doing so. So as to comply with the Government’s requirements to cut down on face to face contact, we request that clients attend the office by appointment only. Please endeavour to attend on time for your appointment, neither early nor late, so as to ensure that we maintain a few minutes between clients’ visits and avoid contact between sets of clients at the office. We are taking extra measures to sanitise the office including sterilizing work surfaces between clients.
We have additional locum cover in case of illness and if needs be, bank transfers and some work can be dealt with remotely from home.
Search fees may be paid by bank transfer, copies of identification documents may be posted through the letterbox and in cases where copies are supplied, the originals must be produced at interview. In relation to remote transactions further measure may be required.
Where clients would prefer not to attend the office for a face to face meeting, contract papers may be dispatched for signature and return but please bear in mind that deeds have to be witnessed by a third party.
Inevitably, clients are very concerned for their own situation and whether their particular transaction can go ahead. This will be dealt with, with individual clients on a case by case basis. Transactions are currently largely going through as planned.
The situation is creating a large quantity of emails, we aim to respond as soon as we can. Please keep emails to those which are strictly necessary.
May we remind you that conveyancing transactions are typically carried out in two parts. Firstly, the exchange of contracts, from which point both parties are bound to complete the transaction on the day agreed and fixed in the contract at the point of exchange of contracts. Completion usually takes place 7 or 14 days after the exchange. The reason the transactions are carried out in two parts is that once contracts have been exchanged, clients can organise removals, time off work, pay for items, book for work to be carried out in the knowledge that there is a binding contract in place and it is safe to make all of the associated moving arrangements.
The Coronavirus presents a risk. What happens if parties to a transaction exchange contracts but by the completion date, one of the parties are ill and cannot move out? What if their removal company are closed and don’t turn up? What if a client is relying on family members to assist in the moving process but the family members are ill? What if the Government has ordered a ‘complete lockdown’ situation where all parties are prevented from fulfilling the contract? The situation here is that the party who is unable to comply with the moving date is in breach of contract and liable to pay damages to the other party. For this reason, some firms of solicitors are insisting that they will only enter into transactions for their clients where exchange of contracts and completion take place simultaneously. Dealing with a transaction that way does indeed present risks already. It follows that none of the parties (which may be a chain situation) are bound by contract until the actual day of completion with the attendant risk that one of the parties pulls out at the last minute. Clearly the effect can be considerable on the other parties in the chain where everyone else has arranged to take time off, incurred expenditure in organising removals etc. In these circumstances, no party is liable to the other in damages because no contract will have been entered into at the point the chain falls. Overall, the perception is that there is perhaps less risk for all parties in the chain for exchanging contracts and completing on the same day. To enter such an arrangement, we have to be as sure as we can be, that both parties and if there is a chain, all of the parties in the chain have agreed to work to a suggested completion date with an assurance that all parties have dealt with all outstanding matters before the date in principle is agreed.
In this situation, because there are potential risks either way, perhaps there is no right or wrong answer although often the simultaneous exchange of contracts and completion will be the only option because other firms simply decline to enter into the transaction on any other basis.
All clients will be given the option on expressing their views on which option they would like to take.
Clients may be assured of our dedication through this difficult time.
Robert Mann
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