“We used NBM Solicitors for conveyancing during purchase of two of our buy to let(leasehold) properties in 2019 and they were quite unprofessional in their service and communications. They had almost let the sale fall through, moving slow on the case and by their lack of actions. We thought we had gotten over the struggle on conveyance completion. Later we realized that, though NBM collected the full payment from us, they didn’t pay the fee to the freeholder for the collection of a Certificate of compliance. Getting no response from NBM, the freeholder passed on the fee and its interest(£125) upon us. We too attempted multiple communications to get a response on this from NBM, but in vain, and had to pay it out of our pockets. We would never associate with them ever and wouldn’t recommend them. We are sharing our experience for the benefit of others.”
“I first used them around 5-6 years ago for first time buy. I had frequent contact, everything was smooth. Naturally... I went back to them 5-6 years later for the second move. I ignored the negative reviews on google etc as I had first hand experience with them. I should not have ignored the reviews.... this firm is a joke. Firstly, forget communication. That's non-existent. Now factor in multiple failings, solicitors not turning up for work and other solicitors in the firm have no idea where yours is. Mine never EVER called back, even once no matter how many times I requested. I've never actually spoken to her at all the entire time. (6-8months) I don't know what has happened to this firm....failing to send you vital documents that need to be witnessed and signed before exchange can take place which delayed exchange causing my buyer to have to seek extension on his mortgage offer.... just to name a few things... but the solicitor I was assigned last time at NBM is no longer working there it seems - perhaps he was the only good one? Even on day of completion, I was left in a car park waiting for the contact with regards to new keys, our chain was very small. 1 link, and I didn't get a call and waited from 9am to 4pm in the car park before I started to get very concerned... and contacted solicitor (who was not in....) and then estate agent who discovered that exchange was taken place and I could collect the keys hours ago but NBM failed to tell me....anyway, shocking service. Will NEVER ever use these guys again and I urge you to reconsider.”
“Selling air and false security.
Dont bother purchasing additional services from them, as soon as you need it, those papers cease to exist. In fact I would not buy anything from them at all.”
“A quote from an email I received from NBM Law after informing them that I'd like to raise a formal complaint with regards to their poor service:
"Take your business elsewhere. I actually don't care anymore."”
“Absolutely amazing professional service from legal team. The welcome team do not have much interaction but none was really needed once legal team was appointed. The legal team was always helpful responsive and engaged from start to end.”
“My case has not progressed at all in 4 months. You will never get to speak to anyone on the phone and all emails will be ignored. When you first log your case you will get no human interaction from anyone and unless you are prepared to call and hound them every day your case will not be looked at. No one across the teams communicate with one another so if you do get to speak to someone one day, this will not be logged and none of the information is consistent. This company have taken on too many cases to handle and operate on a whoever shouts the loudest basis. I am going to lose my mortgage offer and property due to the negligence of all the people who work here. I have emailed complaints a few times to express my concerns and find out what is going on and even they don't no reply. You are also fobbed off with the 'everyone is working remotely' excuse to try and justify how abysmal everything is handled. I was also told that cases trying to beat the stamp duty tax relief will be prioritised over mine. Also, be aware that the quote you are given to start is in no way accurate to what you will be charged at the end, there are lots of undisclosed fees added to your bill that are not stated upfront. I am so so so disappointed by this firm I want to cry. I cannot believe how utterly disorganised they are and the very little care they have for clients.”
“Just awful. I've used this company 3 times previously and would have always recommended them. Now I've never use again. I was seriously concerned that my buyer would pull out of the sale due to the delays and lack of response from my NBM team. Their emails lacked professionalism that you'd expect from a solicitor and I had such little confidence that they actually chased anything when they said they did. The issues are still ongoing. I've raised 2 complaints and they've never dealt with them, little confidence they care about client feedback.”
“My partner had his house conveyed through this company many years ago and when her came to sell discovered an issue with the Land registry which this company should have dealt with. 2 years later they have finally sent in thw wrong forms to the Land Registry and they won't get in touch. Never answer the telephone or emails. Shocking service! Very unprofessional”
“Not my solicitors, but my seller is using them.
Now, delays are expected, I understand to an extent, and with the added pressure of lock downs and so on, it's understandable to a degree.
But when your solicitor calls you, and says that their very concerned because they haven't been able to communicate with NBM, in three weeks, you do start to become a little concerned.
The estate agents, our solicitor and the sellers themselves been trying to contact NBM to no avail, in total over the past few weeks our side have tried to contact NBM over 70 times. And heard nothing back.
I'd strongly suggest to anyone, that if the name NBM appears on your paperwork, pull out, and find another property if the other side won't change solicitors.
Unfortunately these cowboys are charging upfront, which means once they've been instructed, it's near on impossible to change solicitors.
I know solicitors generally get a rough time especially with conveyancing, but the reviews don't lie.”
“I do not use these words lightly : unprofessional, inefficient and impolite.
Don't expect this firm to communicate with you and keep you in the loop. They won't complete any tasks quickly and will ignore your emails or emails of anyone representing you. In my case, I unfortunately had the misfortune of working with Charles Kelly who already has a number of negative reviews directly citing him.
Avoid at all costs even if it means you spend a little more.”
“Very poor customer service, it was near impossible to get any communication from them. Had to call every step of the way to chase and ask about our case, it was DIY house move. Due to poor communication, our move was delayed to after lockdown despite one simple
Communication that could have prevented from a 3 month hold up. All in all took 7 months from quote to completion. When speaking to them, they were extremely rude, denying facts that had happened and only seemed to be looking at our case when we called. Yes it isn’t the most expensive, but this is for a reason. Very poor experience and would not recommend to anyone.”
“I had to to go to another solicitor as they registered my title deeds as joint tenancy and not tenants in common
2 years later I find out they didn’t pay the blue property who cover their service charges for the leasehold. £240 they didn’t pay according to blue property. DO NOT USE they may give cheap prices but you will get a cheap time consuming service”
“I originally instructed NBM on 27th June 2019 and chose them due to their low fee. They eventually completed my house purchase on 31st January 2020 and this only completed because my mortgage offer was expiring and they were at risk of not being paid, and wouldn't have gone through if I hadn't been chasing them daily and the estate agent chasing the vendor's solicitor regularly, as NBM only spoke to them on 2-3 occasions. The vendor lost his house purchase because of the amount of time that this case took.
During this extremely long time, the welcome team was nigh-on impossible to contact by phone or email and took days to respond on the case tracker that they tout. I thought this would change when my case moved to a conveyancer but it only got worse.
There were significant delays caused by NBM such as 30 days to send/receive/review the searches, these were simple searches with one of the biggest councils in the country so shouldn't have taken more 2 weeks, it then took 19 days for queries to be sent off the back of this. Once responses had been received, it took 21 (read TWENTY-ONE) days for these to be typed and sent to me, It took 15 days for them to deal with my LISA which can be done in 2 days. These were the most sizeable, preventable delays but there were others.
I was sent a LISA form that would have cost me nearly £3000 had I not known better than these cowboys and they also levied a £75 fee for dealing with "drawing down" this LISA, which involved them sending a letter second class, and did this without notifying me there would be a fee for doing this.
On the subject of fees, their original quote was somewhere around £900 but an additional ~£400 was added through duplicate fees and these additional charges that I'd never been notified of. It wasn't until the evening before completion (the email was sent whilst they were out of office so I couldn't call them, I presume this was done intentionally) that I was told I need to pay them an additional £274 or the purchase wouldn't complete. Doing this the evening before is cowardly, and didn't give me a chance to dispute the additional charges as they'd backed me into a corner and threatened my purchase.
I implore anyone considering using this firm to not be drawn in by their low fee as in this instance, you're paying way over the odds for the service you will get. My purchase would have gone smoother, faster and considerably less stressful if I had done the work myself however any competent solicitor could have completed my case in 3-4 months.”
“Just the Most Appalling experience ever. Communication is diabolical, this company shouldn't be in business. It took 5 months to sell out house and the plot of land were buying still hasn't exchanged After 7 months. The Ombudsman now taking this on.”
“Shame that I cannot give 0 as I bought flat in march 2017. Since than Lease still not signed as plan of my flat is not correct in Land Registry and not corrected as i was told will be done by NBM on day of competition. As monies paid this case seems closed.
I asked them to sorted out it as I was promised so 1.5 year of phone calls and emails , no result over phone i was told that it will be done but no result. Than I contacted developers and they accept mistake straight away and requested to deal through solicitors. Passed it to NBM . And still no answer no actions. And it is all on top of lost of benefits help to buy ISA.
Avoid them at all cost you might be will save if all will be smooth if any problem they will not help”
“I made the mistake of ignoring the reviews. Two months on I have not received any details of searches, had to chase the property questionnaire, and they make no contact and do not provide any idea of progress. The online tracker is a waste of space also.”
