Online Conveyancing Versus High Street
(Last Updated: 19/03/2022)
19/03/2022
840
4 min read
The term online conveyancing is used for solicitors or conveyancers who provide conveyancing services without the need to see their clients face to face. Whereas High Street solicitors lean more toward face to face meetings, although in today's digital age, these are become less relevant.
Online conveyancers often get a bad press for offering cheap and slow services, whereas the high street solicitor is often a lot more expensive and they often have close ties to the estate agent (which isn't always a good thing). Read more >> Forced to use Estate Agent Solicitors - What can you do?
"approximately 1 in 3 used online comparison websites to compare conveyancing quotes"
Online Conveyancing Versus High Street
Conveyancing Online | High Street Solicitor | |
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FREE Online Conveyancing Process For Buyers
Our conveyancing process area includes:
- online checklists
- videos
- free downloads
- useful tips
It is completely free to use - from start to finish - and saves your progress along the way.
Avoid Conveyancing Warehouses
The warehouse approach is mass volume, lower qualified staff overseen by a qualified team member, less personal experience and slow responses which lead to frustration.
Most conveyancing warehouses market online, however some have huge referrals from Estate Agents.
Online Conveyancing Versus High Street Versus Recommendations
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High Street Solicitor
A high street solicitor is normally referred by the estate agent and with that comes a premium. The reason for the premium is that many solicitors pay estate agents for referring clients and with referrals as high as £300, you can see why the high street solicitor often carries a premium.
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Digital Conveyancing Quotes
Web based conveyancing quotes come with less of an estate agent premium and firms are fiercely battling with each other to win your business. In fact, if you type conveyancing solicitor quotes into Google you'll find results ranging from £99 upwards when you come to compare conveyancing quotes.
The challenge you'll find with these conveyancing quotes is that they never stay at this low price. Read more >> What don't you get in cheap conveyancing quotes?
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Conveyancing Recommendations
Solicitors like our panel of come with a number of recommendations. When reviewing which conveyancers to choose when looking for your best quotes, make sure you check their recommendations on third party websites like Google Reviews, Yelp or Yellow Pages.
Always examine the worst review in the list first to see what happened as these can often give an insight into what the conveyancer is going to be like.
Find out who is doing the legal work for you?
When you are getting your quote for conveyancing ask if the person handling your conveyancing has the training required to give you the advice and support you need. These are the qualifications you should look for:
- Solicitor - Regulated by the SRA and registered with the Law Society
- Licensed Conveyancer - Regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
- FILEX - A Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives
The person assigned to look after your conveyancing may have none of these qualifications but you can be sure that their work is overseen by someone who does. If this is the case you should ask who the qualified person is, what qualifications they have and how much involvement they will have with your conveyancing on a day to day basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Online conveyancing quotes are often cheaper versus a high street solicitor. There is however an approach used by most online comparison websites to use a low upfront fee to lure you in, however they have a lot of extra fees hidden in the small print of the quote or the terms and conditions.
When you get an conveyancing quote online you don't know if you will be working with a conveyancer or a solicitor. When speaking to the company you should ask who will be handling your case.
Conveyancers are capable of providing legal services and will have many years experience just doing conveyancing so will handle a large number of cases and be used to seeing what issues there are.
Written by:
Andrew Boast
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Reviewed by:
Caragh Bailey
Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.
