Beat the January Blues Terms and Conditions

Beat the January Blues is designed to give you some peace of mind that we will do all we can to have you sold or moving into your new home in early 2026!

These Terms and Conditions relate specifically to our Beat the January Blues service and our standard Terms of Business are to be read as incorporating these terms. Where our Terms of Business reference or imply reference to a ‘fee guarantee’ for an alternative service we may offer, these terms are to be taken as replacing any such reference.

While we are committed to transforming the speed of conveyancing, it is important to note that we make no guarantee that the Exchange of Contracts or Completion of your conveyancing transaction will take place by a specified date or within a specified time limit.

Any guarantee we make relates solely to the discount to your fees and never to achieving a specific date for Exchange of Contracts or Completion of your transaction.

  1. Definitions
    1. Assessment Stage: The period starting from the day after we receive the signed Client Care Letter, signed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions and the completed Client Questionnaire from you and ending:
      1. For sales – at 11.59 pm on the tenth working day thereafter or two working days from the date we receive confirmation of acting from your buyer’s conveyancers, whichever is later
      2. For purchases – at 11.59 pm on the tenth working day thereafter or three working days from the date that we receive the Contract Pack from your seller’s conveyancers, whichever is later (see ‘Contract Pack’ below)
    2. Beat the January Blues Fee: The supplemental fee ‘Beat the January Blues’ as noted on the Quote provided to you.
    3. Completion/Completion Date: The date agreed between the parties (by way of Exchange of Contracts) to complete the sale and/or purchase transaction. This is typically the moving-day.
    4. Contract Pack (for purchase transactions): In order for us to conclude the Assessment Stage, we must be in receipt of the following documents by the deadline indicated in this clause, from your seller’s conveyancers:
      1. For freehold property purchase, by 10 January 2026:
        • Draft Contract
        • Official Copy Title Register and plan
        • Substantially completed Property Information Form
      2. For leasehold purchase, by 02 January 2026:
        • Draft Contract
        • Official Copy Title Register and plan (leasehold)
        • Lease
        • Substantially completed Property Information Form and Leasehold Information Form
    5. Exchange of Contracts: When the Agreement to sell or purchase the subject property is formally entered and becomes legally binding on the seller and buyer. The exchanged contract will fix the Completion Date
    6. Excluded Transactions:
      1. We do not have instructions from all registered proprietors or their legal representatives (note that they shall be a client for the purposes of signing our Client Care Letter and accepting these Terms and Conditions)
      2. Your purchase is dependent on you obtaining a mortgage but we are not on your mortgage provider’s panel such that we cannot act for them
      3. The property is within a new build development and will not be ready for occupation by the Target Date (including issuance of any necessary warranties)
      4. Your sale or purchase is dependant on another transaction by you (i.e. a related sale, purchase or remortgage) but we are not instructed in connection with that transaction by the deadline for instructing us for the Beat the January Blues service
      5. Any transaction where the circumstances are considered unusual or particularly complex (from that of a regular, residential sale and purchase transaction) and we inform you at the quote stage that Beat the January Blues is not appropriate to your circumstances
    7. Target Date: 30 January 2026
  2. The Beat the January Blues Guarantee:
    1. The Beat the January Blues Guarantee only applies to those clients who have instructed us to act for them pursuant to our Beat the January Blues service. The legal fee for the service is based on our regular legal fees as quoted plus the Beat the January Blues Fee
    2. The nature of the Guarantee that we make to you is that we will aim to give you the best opportunity of achieving Completion by the Target Date. If the Target Date is not achieved, we guarantee to discount the Beat the January Blues Fee by £100 for each full working week after the Target Date up to (but not including) the week of the Completion Date up to a maximum reduction of £600 (i.e. six weeks). Please be aware that this opportunity arises by us conducting as detailed an assessment as possible during the Assessment Stage and this is dependant on you providing us with accurate information at the quoting stage and/or within your Client Questionnaire.
    3. During the Assessment Stage we shall conduct a detailed assessment of your transaction to establish:
      1. the length of the chain (that is the number of transactions dependent on your sale and/or purchase) and your buyer/seller’s commitment to the transaction
      2. the accuracy of information available during the quote stage to ensure the transaction is not an Excluded Transaction (please note that for some purchase transactions we will conduct a check of HM Land Registry’s (HMLR) property register to obtain the key title information. HMLR charge £7 per title document. This is a chargeable disbursement to you and the total cost shall depend on the number of documents required; typically two but sometimes up to five (£7-£35)).
      3. any complexities, which you may or may not have known about during the quote stage that may lead to potential delays.
    4. If, during or by the end of the Assessment Stage we inform you that we are aware of factors that make it extremely unlikely that the Target Date shall be achieved or that the Target Date cannot be achieved because of complexities or issues outside of our control, then the following shall apply:
      1. You may cancel your instruction with us and we are entitled to charge the file opening fee and any disbursements incurred
      2. You may continue with our Beat the January Blues service and the Guarantee will apply
    5. If, during or by the end of the Assessment Stage we identify your transaction is an Excluded Transaction then we will advise you that we are unable to continue with your transaction pursuant to our Beat the January Blues service then:
      1. You may cancel your instruction with us and we are entitled to charge the file opening fee and any disbursements incurred
      2. You continue to instruct us but the Beat the January Blues service and guarantee does not apply, such that we shall continue under our standard Terms of Business and we will not work to the Target Date
    6. If, at any time after the Assessment Stage but prior to Exchange of Contracts:
      1. We become aware of factors that mean Completion will not take place by the Target Date but you continue with your instruction then the Beat the January Blues Guarantee shall apply and, provided that clauses 2.6.2-2.6.4 do not apply, the Beat the January Blues Fee shall be discounted as follows
      2. You cancel the instruction (including as a result of your sale and/or purchase falling through) we are entitled to retain the initial money paid on account to cover any legal work and disbursements already incurred
      3. You fail to comply with any of the Conditions noted herein then the Beat the January Blues Fee shall continue to apply even if the Target Date is not achieved.
      4. You change your mind and decide you no longer want to Complete by the Target Date then the full Beat the January Blues Fee shall remain payable notwithstanding that Completion may not take place by the Target Date
    7. Notwithstanding any alternative service that we offer to you, if Completion is achieved by the Target Date the full Beat the January Blues Fee remains payable and due to us
  3. Conditions:
    1. While we cannot control all the factors that affect the speed of your transaction, we can influence many of them, such that our efforts improve the chance of you moving on or before the Target Date. However, in making our Guarantee, we also require that you use your best endeavours to be responsive to any instructions we may require from you and to assist us by chasing third parties where it will be helpful and appropriate for you to do so as we may request.
    2. In order for the Beat the January Blues Guarantee to apply you agree:
      1. Where it is a sale transaction, that you are the registered proprietor of the property you are selling or that you will provide the evidence required to legally act on behalf of the registered proprietor(s) in accordance with the timeframes set out herein (see above ‘Excluded Transactions’)
      2. Where it is a purchase transaction, that you are entitled to purchase a property in England and Wales and that you have sufficient funds or have made appropriate mortgage arrangements to proceed with the purchase.
      3. To the full use of electronic communication between us including, but not limited to, sending and receiving emails and your use of our portal.
      4. To notify us immediately of any change of mortgage provider. This is important because each mortgage provider has their own requirements which might impact the time taken to receive Local Authority Search results (please also see 1.6.6. and 1.6.7. above)
      5. To ensure your mortgage provider issues the ‘Solicitors Copy’ of your mortgage offer (if applicable) to us by 16 January 2026
      6. To ensure all documents we send to you for completion and signature are completed, signed and returned to us within 48 hours of being sent (or such other timeframe as we may agree with you, but this does not confer any obligation on us to do so). Where possible, we will provide you with documents to be signed electronically (including via Docusign), except where we are prohibited from doing so
      7. To provide full instructions, replies to any enquires and any requested documentation that is within your control within 48 hours of request (or such other timeframe as we may agree with you but this does not confer any obligation on us to do so)
      8. To use our preferred electronic identification and verification platform (e.g. Credas) for identification anti-money laundering checks (including source of funds verification (incorporating open banking)) where possible. If you are excluded from using this (due to your location, for example) you will provide all relevant identification and source of funds documents within 48 hours of request (or such other timeframe as we may agree with you but this does not confer any obligation on us to do so). It will remain your responsibility to arrange for any documentation to be notarised or certified and sent to us, if applicable. Please note that this condition also applies to any Donors/Giftors/private lenders or any other party where we are obliged to obtain identification and/or source of funds verification.
      9. To authorise us to proceed by way of a ‘no-search indemnity’ where we are notified of a delay in obtaining searches, provided it is acceptable by your mortgage provider (if any)
    3. Your transaction is not an Excluded Transaction.
  4. Additional points to note:
    1. An expedition fee of up to £175 plus VAT will apply if completion is in a period of less than 5 working days from Exchange. This fee will not apply to any transactions required to exchange and complete between on or after 26 January 2026
    2. While it is extremely rare, please note that if for any reason Completion does not take place on the agreed Completion Date (such as default by the other party), the terms of the sale contract that you will enter with the other party allow for Completion to take place at any time the parties are ready and able within 10 working days from the day after the original Completion Date. This may mean that actual completion takes place after the Target Date but the Beat the January Blues Fee shall continue to apply
    3. All other matters, including limitation of liability, governing law and jurisdiction, complaints handling, refunds, and our general service commitments, are dealt with under our Terms of Business, which continue to apply in full except as otherwise stated.
    4. Nothing in these terms shall affect your statutory rights as a consumer or limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Rights Act 2015