SOLICITOR NIK CARLE FROM BROWNE JACOBSON LLP ADVISES

A survey has been booked and you’ve spent time organising the file, arranging an inspection date, completing pre-inspection checks and obtaining signed terms of engagement. However, your client has different ideas and cancels one day before the inspection because their mortgage lender insists on organising a survey. Is this ethical practice and where does it leave you?

We asked Nik Carle, a solicitor specialising in PI claims and risk management advice for property professionals, for advice. Here’s what Nik said:

Q: Can the client cancel the report prior to the inspection date, even if some work has been carried out, if so, can I recover costs incurred?

A: “The Consumer Contracts Regulations (2013) can give clients a pretty much unqualified entitlement to cancel in this sort of scenario. It’s a 14-day cooling-off period but only if the surveyor has supplied all of the requisite pre-contract information correctly. If the materials haven’t been provided in a way that’s compliant with the regs then the client’s right to cancel can persist for a lot longer than 14 days. As to your fees already incurred, you can only hope to recover these if the client expressly requested “on a durable medium” the