Yes — you have an absolute right to change your conveyancing solicitor at any time before completion, including after instruction, after searches, and even right up to exchange of contracts. What changes is how easy and how cost-effective the switch is, depending on how far along you are. This guide explains when switching is worth doing, what you will pay, how the file transfer works, and the warning signs that mean you should change firms now rather than wait.
If you have been let down by your current conveyancer and need to instruct a new firm quickly, J Scott & Co Solicitors regularly take over transactions mid-process. Call us on 01628 777233 or request a quote online.
When switching is worth doing
There are five situations where changing solicitor is almost always the right call, even with the time cost:
1. Communication has broken down completely
If you can't get a response to emails for days at a time, your solicitor isn't returning calls, or you can't get any update on your file's status, those are not minor irritations — they are signs the firm is either overloaded, understaffed, or running you down the priority list. In a chain, that delay risks the whole transaction collapsing.
2. The firm has missed mortgage offer or completion deadlines
Mortgage offers typically last six months from issue. If your solicitor's pace means the offer is about to expire before exchange, you need someone who can move faster.
3. Fee surprises that weren't in the original quote
Bills that climb above the original quote without explanation are a serious problem. Reputable firms vary their quote only when the matter materially changes (e.g. it turns out to be leasehold when assumed freehold) and tell you in writing before charging. If "supplements" are appearing without warning, the firm is not behaving properly.
4. The firm is not on your lender's panel
If you instructed your solicitor before securing your mortgage, and your chosen lender turns out not to have them on its panel, you have two options: instruct a second firm to act for the lender (expensive and slow), or switch to a firm already on the panel (usually cheaper overall).
5. The firm has had a regulatory issue
SRA disciplinary action, insolvency, or sudden closure (which happens more often than people realise) means you must move firms.
How the switch actually works
Once you have decided to change, the process is fairly mechanical:
Step 1: Instruct the new firm
Contact the firm you want to switch to, explain the stage your transaction is at, and ask them to confirm they can act for you and your lender. Once they confirm and you sign their client care letter, they will become your appointed solicitor.
Step 2: Pay the outgoing firm's bill
Your new firm will write to the old firm requesting the file. The old firm will issue a final invoice covering work done plus disbursements. Until that bill is paid, they can rely on their lien to refuse to release the file.
In practice, this bill is usually £200–£600 for early-stage matters, more if searches have been ordered or contract work has been done.
Step 3: File transfer
Once paid, the old firm sends the file to the new firm — typically by secure email, sometimes by post for original documents. The file should include: your client care letter, ID verification, searches ordered or received, copies of correspondence, the contract pack from the seller's side, and any enquiries raised so far.
Step 4: New firm completes its own AML and ID
Anti-money-laundering rules require the new firm to verify your identity and source of funds independently, even if the previous firm has done the same. This typically takes 1–2 working days.
Step 5: New firm reviews the file
Your new solicitor will read everything in the file and form their own view. They may raise additional enquiries, repeat searches that are about to expire, or accept the existing work and continue from where things left off.
Step 6: Notify your lender and estate agent
Your new firm will write to your mortgage lender to confirm the change of solicitor (the lender needs to update its records) and to the estate agent so they communicate with the right firm going forward.
How quickly can a new firm pick up your transaction?
A well-run firm can take over a mid-process file and be productive within a week:
- Day 1–2: Initial call, ID and AML, file requested from outgoing firm
- Day 3–5: File received, reviewed, new instruction confirmed to all parties
- Day 6–7: Outstanding enquiries continued, lender notified, searches checked
By day 10, the new firm should be raising enquiries or pressing the other side as if they had been on the matter from the start.
Why local expertise matters
Picking up a mid-process file in Beaconsfield or the wider Buckinghamshire area benefits from a firm that already knows the local search regime, the leasehold management companies for blocks like Wellington Court, and Buckinghamshire Council's CON29 turnaround. We have taken over many transactions where the outgoing firm misunderstood a listed-building consent or missed a conservation area constraint.
Get a fixed-fee quote — fast
If you need to switch firms now, we can confirm whether we can act for you and your lender, and quote you a fully itemised price, within one working day.
