SMITH & CO SOLICITORS

What an amazing experience! Despite this ending up being a complicated sale, everything was dealt with professionally and respectfully. I have been kept updated throughout and a huge amount of work went in to ensuring everything was sorted and completed correctly. I really could not have asked for anything more. Thank you so much.

I chose Smith and Co to deal with conveyancing after them being recommended. Alexandra was very efficient and the sale and purchase went very smoothly. Communication was prompt and any queries were dealt with quickly and without any fuss. I would definitely use their services again.

My experience with Smith & Co Solicitors, and in particular Vicky Hoskins, has been extremely poor. As a main beneficiary in my late mother’s estate, I repeatedly requested transparency and disclosure. Instead, I encountered:

Refusals and delays in answering lawful requests.
A demand of £700+VAT for information I was entitled to as of right.
Serious conflicts of interest which were never addressed openly.

I have formally escalated these matters to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman.

In my personal experience, Ms Hoskins failed to act with independence, transparency, or professionalism at a time when impartial conduct was essential. Beneficiaries deserve honesty and openness — sadly, I did not receive this from Vicky Hoskins or Smith & Co Solicitors.

Reply to Smith & Co response!

Thank you for responding, but your reply does not address the substance of my complaint.

To be clear for anyone reading:
• I was charged £700+VAT for disclosure I was legally entitled to as of right.
• Clear conflicts of interest were ignored, despite being raised formally.
• The “complaints process” was overseen by Ms Hoskins herself — the very solicitor whose conduct I was challenging.

This is why I had no choice but to escalate to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Ombudsman.

A generic apology cannot disguise the fact that these are serious regulatory and professional issues. Beneficiaries in probate matters deserve transparency and impartiality. I regret that, in my case, Smith & Co and Ms Hoskins failed to provide either.

Realised I hadn't written a review from 2022 but while going through paperwork decided to write this and given that I have all the emails, it's quite easy to keep the facts correct.

Two stars simply for getting the job done.

Was recommended by Marks&Mann to use Smith&Co. Explained to Marks&Mann what kind of survey I wanted and this was relayed in October 2021. I found much later that mine was more basic and that through a phone call they couldn't do anything because the more basic one had already been done. First disappointment.

I had a help to buy savings account which I closed and sent the statement to Jenny with other paperwork on the 15th of March. On the 25th of March, Jenny requested the statement claiming I hadn't sent it. Upon realising that I HAD sent it, I was never apologised to once. I was paying you guys, what harm does good communication do?
This is only one example of several communication issues throughout.

I kept having the estate agents chasing me because the sellers solicitors were pushing for paperwork from myself. I had always promptly submitted my paperwork within 48 hours of request so when I was hearing a few days later that they were waiting for that same piece of paperwork, I found it quite appalling.

After everything had finished and I had the keys to the property, I checked things over with the (cheaper than asked for) survey I had done and one of the things they ticked was that the loft had insulation which it definitely did not. I explained this to Jenny and she said she'd get back to me and that also never happened.

After typing this, I'm wondering if two stars was too fair because I'd certainly never use Smith&Co again and I'd never recommend them to anyone.

We bought our house last year and chose Smith & Co for the conveyancing.

The staff there were fantastic. Friendly, fast to respond and incredibly professional. The online portal made keeping track of everything really easy and saved us a load of stress during the purchase.

We were kept updated regularly throughout by the wonderful team. The prices themselves were highly competitive, especially considering the quality and speed of the service. Offering an online portal really made a difference compared to the other solicitors we considered.

Would highly recommend and will use again in the future!

Big thanks to Jenny and her team!