After all, a house purchase is not just for Christmas, so make sure your conveyancing partner isn’t either.
Peter Joseph, (pictured) chief executive at The Moving Hub
To be honest I’m unsure when the sales season begins in earnest – is it pre-Christmas, is it post-Christmas, or is there even a sales season at all anymore?
What I do know is that many thoughts are slowly starting to turn to the festive period and people up and down the country will soon be hitting the high street and/or online stores in search of some bargains or festive gifts.
Now I’m not going to go all Martin Lewis on you here but shopping around shouldn’t just be related to a specific event.
This should also apply when sourcing a variety of goods and services, whether as a consumer, a service provider or as an adviser.
When it comes to financial services, there is evidence that the recent transparency requirements placed on conveyancers is encouraging consumers to shop around more without any sign of a ‘race to the bottom’ on prices.
This is according to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC). In December 2018, new rules were introduced which require all regulated law firms, and individual freelance solicitors, to publish information on the prices they charge.
Following the introduction of these new transparency rules, part of a profession-wide push to encourage consumers to explore their options when looking for a lawyer, research from the CLC revealed that just over a quarter (27%) of firms said that customers had started to shop around more in the last year when choosing a legal services provider.
In the survey, CLC firms also outlined that personal recommendation (37%) was the most common source of conveyancing work, followed by an estate agent referral (25%). A direct approach from the client came in third at 13%.
It remains early days but with higher levels of compliance in place to align with the new rules, there are signs that consumer behaviour is starting to shift and that more informed choices are being made.
This trend is also relevant when it comes to intermediary firms looking to partner with a conveyancing platform, provider or when building a panel of their own.
You should also be shopping around to ensure that your clients are able to access a range of conveyancing services which are truly transparent not only in their pricing but also in terms of their case capacity so that service standards are not compromised.
There are fewer and fewer excuses for choosing conveyancing partners who are not fully transparent in all aspects of their business especially with tech advances and market disrupters changing how introducers can track the quality and accessibility of conveyancing options for their clients. After all, a house purchase is not just for Christmas, so make sure your conveyancing partner isn’t either.
