Valentine Duggins Solicitors

I recently engaged Valentine Duggins solicitors for the purchase and sale of my house, and I would like to share my concerning experience with Margaret Rutherford. Margaret failed to inform me of the completion date until the morning of the completion itself—an unexpected surprise, to say the least. Additionally, she did not send me the completion statement prior to the completion date; I only received it a day later after my request. To my shock, I discovered a charge of £1,500 for the estate agent, which is not l agree with Bakewell Horner. My house selling price is £85,000, with a commission of 1 percent plus VAT, but the minimum charge is £1,000. Therefore, the fee should have been £1,200. I am particularly frustrated that Margaret did not obtain my consent before giving the money to Bakewell Horner. She did not confirm the amount with me prior to the transaction, which was unacceptable. It deeply concerns me that I previously filled in the form indicating the agent fee was £1,000 plus VAT, a form that Margaret herself sent to me. I reached out to Margaret for clarification, but she ignored my two emails over a span of ten days. I followed up on January 26, 2025, regarding the agent fee agreement that Bakewell Horner sent directly to Margaret, not to me. It took my inquiry to Valentine Duggins solicitors, requesting an appointment with Margaret, to elicit a response. She eventually replied with the agent fee agreement attached, stating it contained a digital signature. However, I was unable to locate my signature on the document, which was dated June 19. I requested that Margaret identify my signature on the agreement. In her response, she indicated that the agreement was attached to her email, but this does not automatically mean that I signed it. Furthermore, I am perplexed as to why Margaret released the funds to Bakewell Horner on the completion date, especially since they are located next door. Margaret chose to ignore my follow-up inquiries once again, leaving me frustrated and without answers.

I recently engaged Valentine Duggins for my purchase solicitor, and my experience with Margaret has been frustrating. She consistently entered my residence address incorrectly, despite me correcting her three times. To make matters worse, she submitted the wrong address for the property I intended to purchase. When I received the TRI form, it was incorrect, which led me to remind her again. I’ve repeatedly asked about the exchange contract date, but the agent informed me that the seller's solicitor hadn’t heard from Margaret in over a month. When I initially hired Valentine Duggins, I requested that the transaction be completed within one month, which was accepted. Margaret finally replied after a delay, explaining that the issue was simply that I hadn’t returned the SOLD form with my signature. She claimed to have sent it on December 10th, but after checking my emails, I only found the TRI form. When I asked her to forward the email, she realized she hadn’t sent the SOLD form at all. When I received the contract, both my address and the purchase property address were still incorrect. I even had to download the land search link from the government website to clarify which property I was buying. This has been a unpleasant experience overall.

After our elderly relative died we contacted the solicitor (Marc Hartnell) about executing the will. The 2 executors were his wife (now deceased) and Mr Valentine Duggins (now retired) so we requested a renunciation so we could administer ourselves. The fees quoted by the solicitor (3%) seems excessive for executing a simple will. After initially agreeing the solicitor changed his mind and refused the renunciation. We persisted, with the help of a family friend, a retired probate solicitor, and eventually obtained the renunciation, after paying a large sum for very little work. Only when a retired solicitor, Mr Ray Mann, was reintroduced to the practice, did we achieve any progress.

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Marc Michael Hartnell

My family have recently used the services of this company. We were impressed with how prompt, knowledgeable and efficient they were in dealing with our issues. I would have no hesitation in recommending this company to family and friends in the future.

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Marc Michael Hartnell

Martin Meadows was incredibly helpful throughout the whole process of buying my house. He was always available to answer any queries and was very easy to get in contact with. Martin explained everything very clearly and made the process stress-free. I would recommend Valentine Duggins Solictors to anyone!