Harding Evans Solicitors Omdömen 13

We instructed Rachael at Harding Evans expecting basic competence and clear advice. Unfortunately the service fell well below that standard.

We experienced serious service failings throughout our matter, which required a significant and sustained amount of work from us simply to keep things moving. Without that level of intervention, I do not believe the transaction would have completed.

The firm’s response suggests it is normal for clients to chase. While some chasing is expected, the volume and nature of the work we were forced to undertake went far beyond anything that could reasonably be described as normal. We were effectively project managing the matter due to a lack of proactive handling.

When we sought advice on a significant issue, the conveyancer stated it was outside her remit and ended the call. No referral to an appropriate department was made at that time. The firm later accepted that the matter should have been referred to the litigation team, before subsequently backtracking on that position and refusing to offer an apology.

Our formal complaint then took nine weeks to be addressed, and even then, significant parts of it were ignored. The complaints handling reflected the same issues as the original service: delay, defensiveness, and a failure to take ownership.

Based on our experience, I would not recommend this firm to anyone who expects proactive case management, appropriate internal referrals, or a fair and transparent complaints process.

I hate leaving poor reviews,l try to give people the benefit of the doubt, hence a reasonably neutral 3 stars. I really hope that I can update with a better one in a few days but at the moment I'm frustrated. I called the solicitor dealing with my conveyancing on Monday 15th and left a message on the answer machine, asking for an update, l have heard nothing since. I spoke to the people selling the property over the weekend and they informed me that there is no holdup their end. I have called twice today (22nd), once in the morning and again this afternoon and left messages both times...I'm disappointed.

I decided to go with this solicitor because a recommendation from a friend said his conveyancing took only 5 weeks. ( for privacy Phoebe Farrell is my pseudonym)

Boy was I wrong to do this, it took 6 months for a first time buyer to buy my empty flat.

I must have phoned over 50 times to my solicitor, communication was rubbish, if I hadn’t phoned I wouldn’t know what was going on. I also received an email from him (G) saying there should only be 1 line of communication and that I shouldn’t be told things and act upon them especially with my representative from Darlows. The reason I had to be the “go between” is the fact that “my Darlows representative” had told me she had received a passive aggressive email from my solicitor and would not be talking to him in the future! I could not tell my solicitor this as this was already dragging out and I did not want further delay. So know I was also paying for an incomplete service from Darlows too! And I was the go between and the one having to phone my solicitor and pass all this information on to Darlows!

Had my solicitor told me in March that a fire risk assessment report on the block of flats had not been done by Seel & Co I could have phoned them and potentially got this done ASAP as I was paying Seel & Co fees to ensure that they been law compliant and done this. I ended up phoning Seel in July (4 months after the offer was put in) only to find out they had ONLY just done the report!

My solicitor didn’t follow this up in a timely manner and I had to phone Seel again again for them to send the fire report to me then me to send it to my solicitor! I eventually completed 2 weeks after this report was sent to my solicitor.

Had my solicitor told me in March about this report and had been open and honest I potentially could have saved myself a lot of extra expense with the flat taking 6 months to complete. Darlows had already told me that she had had problems on previous occasions with “G” my solicitor.

Can you imagine the stress this put me under not only the delay in completing on my flat but all the phoning I had to do to keep everyone in the loop!

Even on the day of completion the buyers had the keys of my flat at 13.30 but no monies were in my bank account, ANOTHER phone call to my solicitor at 16.30 on Friday to find out were the monies were. The money eventually went in just before 17.00 at the close of the businesses week. Can you imagine if I had not phoned and then had to go all weekend with a sold flat and no money for the sale. No wonder this process made me ill.

A week after completion I received an email with a transfer form for me to fill in! I wonder what would have happened if I had refused to fill this in?! ( I actual knew this hadn’t been signed as the director told me, he hadn’t received notification of the transfer). Just shows the shoddy service I received, do yourself a favour find a different solicitors from this one, the whole process was a nightmare and stressful and the worse thing is that I couldn’t complain as I knew this would delay things further!

This solicitor made me physically sick!

Hardingevans were recommended by the agent their quote was similar to others, Rachael was the solicitor dealing with our purchase we had no chain neither did the vendor. It was my first property purchase in 30 years and I was unsure of the process, any questions we had were answered in very reasonable time either by email or phone call. The receptionist was helpful when we dropped off paperwork checking it over before we left.

Both Rachael and Hillary provided a very good service and I would use and recommend Hardingevans.

Myself and my partner got recommended Harding Evans for our house sale now back in November 2024, we also decided to keep it simple and the house we were trying to buy, use the same solicitors to keep it more manageable for us.

The selling of the house was simple, we accepted the solicitor worked well and everything fell into place.

The house we bought was a no chain home, new to the market and it was picked up about a right of way through the property to which our solicitor chased and then said it was sorted, so we went ahead and sold the house and moved in with my mother in law due to being given the house contract papers and had already signed them, ( we was under the impression it would be a few weeks).

Rachel who was our acting solicitor at harding Evans, chased the other parties solicitors for answers which is all we ever asked for, until, I messaged and asked for an update then I had an email from her saying ‘I’m going to have to look at expanding my funds if you want regular updates’ to which we were already paying for a service, and obviously very stressed about living conditions.

No reassurance was given by these solicitors, causing much dress to me and pressure on family life. I don’t understand why solicitors can’t pick up the phone and speak but that’s an answer I’ll never get and that’s fine!

And here me and my partner are 6 months later, no closer to moving in, DUE TO RIGHT OF WAY! so we decided to pull out of the sale and focus on finding another home. I never knew that by not having supportive solicitors, it could make your experience a horrible one, and I would not recommend anyone to use Harding Evans.

It has actually insulted me that I’ve had to pay the final bill to them TODAY! as if anything I do not feel like they did enough for me and my partner regarding this house sale situation, I’m paying for a service I definitely don’t feel like I received. But I’m taking this as a learning curve and will know for future reference to never use them again.

Rebecca Ferris was amazing, very grateful for her help thank you

I appointed Harding Evans to manage my divorce. I want to call out Rhian & Abigail in particular - absolutely gold standard service and were the perfect people to handle a very complex, and often emotive, process. I was fully updated at every stage and everything was handled very swiftly. I know each case is different, but from filing to final my divorce has taken approx 8 months - which is a testament to their diligence and client focus. I can’t thank them enough!

Solicitors keep asking questions, even though we have signed the contract. Is been over 5 months, no chain and still waiting.
They just send emails saying they have asked a question and the next email is the same, that they have asked, a month later. Terrible experience

Crooked Solicitors.
I wrote to Ben to inform that their services were no longer required, because he had sent a “fishing” email after I had already informed him via a phone call that they were no longer required. 1 year down the line we’ve just received another bill claiming that we haven’t paid for numerous letters. Payments were all finalised a year ago, but they’ve even had the nerve to charge for the email that he sent when he was “fishing” for extra business!

Harding Evans were recommended to us by a friend and what a great recommendation it was! You hear horror stories about solicitors who take days to return calls and everything stalls if they are on holiday.

Not so with Judith Krukowicz! Insanely communicative! E mails always answered virtually immediately and calls always returned within the same day and mostly within the hour.

Judith pulls no punches. She is extremely straight talking and leaves you in no doubt that she can be fully trusted to leave her to her job. I am naturally proactive in chasing up professionals yet I learned that it was actually not necessary with Judith. It was a refreshing change to be able to sit back and know that it was all in hand and that there would be no delays from our solicitor's end.

2 house sales and a purchase all handled with incredible professionalism whilst navigating and advising us through some very stressful moments.

Honestly do not put up with shoddy solicitors causing delays left right and centre! Just instruct Harding Evans and hope you get lucky enough to be appointed Judith....she really is a unicorn in the world of solicitors!

We have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with Harding Evans twice. The first when they acted as our solicitor when we attempted to buy a home in 2021. We lost the house we wanted to purchase because Harding evans were taking too long to raise enquiries and move forward in the process.

This time, they were the solicitors on behalf of our buyer. Again, it took weeks for them to raise enquires, many of which were reflective of the fact that the conveyancer was not reading the information she had been provided with. This includes repeated questions as to whether we were taking our cooker hood and hob with us to our new build… subsequently after weeks of what felt like deliberate obstruction, we were given 3 days notice for completion the final working week before Christmas. Then within 24hrs of that- the buyer pulled out with unclear and minimal reasoning provided by the solicitor. They are one of the most painful companies I have ever dealt with and I would go so far as to say we will personally never proceed in a chain if Harding evans are involved in anyway whatsoever. Their communication is extremely poor, they appear to forget they are dealing with real people.

Personally will not be using Harding Evans again. Solicitor for a first time house purchase was patronising and unhelpful, with very poor communication.
If you want a proactive conveyancer who will talk you through the process and keep you updated regularly, go elsewhere.

This is a tale of how Harding Evans made an autistic child and a 70-odd year old lady, who lives on her own, cry in the run-up to Christmas.

Our buyer used Harding Evans solicitors as her conveyancers to buy our flat. After a drawn out close to the process, on Friday (24 November), Harding Evans instructed us (i.e. the chain) that we would exchange on Wednesday 29 November & conclude on Thursday 30 November.

Despite leaving us with just a few working days, we pushed ahead to make everything happen. As did the rest of the chain. At the start of this week, Harding Evans reiterated the plan. So as not to be in breach of contract, we all organised for the removal of our goods, & made appropriate plans to progress it.

On Wednesday 29 November (at approx. 4pm), Harding Evans informed us that their client would no longer be buying our flat due to personal circumstances. No further explanation was provided.
We all paid for removals so as not to potentially breach the contracts of sales, based on Harding Evans’ instructions. In other words, Harding Evans put us all in a position where we had no choice but to pay these costs.

The emotional and financial stress caused by Harding Evans left the 70-odd year old lady in tears. The emotional effects on our autistic child (we had promised him, and his sister, cats for Christmas) are worth far more than what we paid. My son’s birthday presents from two weeks ago have also been packed up.

All of us have been left with our belongings packed up/in storage. In the run-up to Christmas.

During the sale, Harding Evans failed to respond to all the exchanges in a timely fashion. The process was not transparent. This leaves us with many unanswered questions. I plan on finding answers.

This story will unfold as we, as a chain, move forward to recoup all our costs.