CARR RICHARDS SOLICITORS LTD

Do NOT use.

I would strongly advise people not to use this solicitor firm.
Our experience was awful from start to finish. Martin Miller was rude, dismissive and extremely unprofessional throughout the process. From our very first conversation, I was made to feel like an inconvenience. I was told he did not have time for phone calls and that I was not his priority because he had other cases. That set the tone for the entire experience.
The communication was appalling. Emails were often blunt, unclear and sometimes consisted of one-word replies. There was no basic courtesy — no proper greeting, no please, no thank you, and no sense that we were being supported through what should have been an important and carefully handled legal process.
There were also serious errors in important documents, including incorrect names and incorrect financial details. These were mistakes that we, as the clients, had to spot and point out ourselves. Even then, there was no apology or proper acknowledgement of the stress and concern this caused.
The lack of organisation was shocking. The day before completion, we were suddenly asked to drop numerous documents into the office — documents that should clearly have been requested or sent weeks earlier. This caused completely unnecessary stress at the most important stage of the process and showed a real lack of care, oversight and professionalism.
At several points, we felt ignored, dismissed and spoken to with very little respect. The service we received was unacceptable, and I have screenshots of the rude emails, unclear communication and document errors to support everything stated in this review.
Buying a home is stressful enough without having to chase, correct mistakes and deal with dismissive communication from the very people who are meant to be guiding you through the process.
Based on our experience, I would never use this firm again and would strongly warn others to avoid them.

I recently telephoned to discuss some proposed work and was put through to one of the partners. From the outset, he seemed far more interested in what he was reading than in listening to me. When I asked for clarification on a point, he became noticeably irritated.

I explained that I am hard of hearing, particularly on the telephone, and simply needed him to repeat or clarify what he had said. Instead of responding professionally, he abruptly told me to obtain legal services elsewhere, stating that he had “already told me once.”

His manner was rude, dismissive and entirely unprofessional. It was an extremely disappointing experience and not what I would expect from a firm offering legal services.

I used Carr Richards Solicitors to for my home purchase and despite completing the purchase, they failed to notify the freeholder of the change of ownership which resulted in late fees being incurred for myself for ground rent payments that I was unable to pay as I wasn't the registered owner of the flat on their records. Despite paying Carr Richards over £350 to resolve this at a later date, they failed to do so and had my money sitting their account unused for the bets part of 9 months and ignored all my emails requesting action and an update, ultimately incurring a further £500 worth of late fees and then failing to respond to multiple requests for them to refund me the money they have cost me. Incredibly unresponsive and unhelpful, would not use.

We were highly recommended Carr-Richards from a property developer we purchased our property from.

I am still lost as to exactly what grounds for recommendation there were and if I could rate below 1 star I would.

In 30 years of working with a number of solicitors I have never experienced such poor service.

Phone calls to explain legal proceedings are down to the client to arrange. What we seemed to have paid for was confusing email traffic. As a client I was expected to know the legal system and questions raised on documentation were met with “You will have to sort that out yourself”.

The complaints process is ineffective. No response even when copying in the owners on emails.

I would seriously avoid this solicitor.

David helped me purchase a property recently and was given an absolutely fantastic service. Can’t recommend them highly enough. I’ve been unfortunate in the past to use the “call centre” style conveyancers in the past and the contrast is chalk and cheese. Would 100% use Carr Richards again in the future. Highly recommend!