Important information on evidence

What we normally need to see.

All claims turn on evidence.  Documentary evidence is best.  Normally (but not always), that evidence is in a conveyancing file and normally, the important documents we need to see are:-

• The contract of sale;

• The enquiries your solicitor raised and the responses to these;

• The property information form (TA6) and, if applicable, leasehold information form (TA7); and

• Any documents that prove that the representation you relied on was factually inaccurate.

Sometimes, text messages, emails and even voicemails are relevant evidence, particularly if they are between the buyer and seller.

Surveys and search results are also sometimes important and relevant to the arguments, but the above are normally the most important things we need to decide whether or not there is a possible claim.

You will need to be ready to upload the documents that you say are misleading and explain why, also uploading any evidence that proves that they are misleading (if you have anything like this).

The contract of sale

The contract of sale is always a document that we need to consider because it normally contains fairly standard clauses that look to protect the seller from misrepresentation claims. However, if you do not have it, we can still provide preliminary advice on whether the basic elements of a misrepresentation claim are there, but it would have to be understood by you that the terms of the contract can have a direct impact on the advice given and would need to be checked at some point. 

To get the most out of our fixed fee, limited service, we recommend that you provide us with the contract of sale, as well as the other documents that you relied on and which you say are misleading.

Oral representations

If the representations you say were misleading were made to you orally and not contained in documents, you will need to provide a detailed explanation of what was said, by who and when.  Sometimes there are both documents containing representation and oral representations.  If so, we would need to see the documents and understand what the oral representations were.

You should also be ready to explain who (if anyone) might be able to corroborate what was said to you, for example, a witness that was present during the conversation.

By way of warning, it is fairly standard in contracts for the sale of residential land to exclude liability for oral representations.  This does not always mean that there is no claim (normally if the oral representation was fraudulent), but claims based on oral evidence alone are harder to pursue and riskier, if only for the fact that there can be evidential difficulties.

ID and proof of your address

We have to ask clients to provide us with photographic ID and proof of their residential address.  Please therefore be ready to upload:

– some in-date photographic ID (e.g driving licence photocard, passport photo page or bus pass), and

– proof of your address which is not more than three months old (e.g. utility bill, bank statement or council tax demand with your name and address on).

Where to find the documents we need

You may have the documents we need to see to hand, but you might need to ask your solicitor for them.  If you need it, we have a precedent letter that you can use and which you can send to your solicitor to request your file.  This can be downloaded here.

It may very well be worthwhile asking your conveyancing solicitor for your file if you do not have these documents.  Your solicitor may make a charge for this, and they do not have to provide you with absolutely everything.

A solicitor can charge you for providing you with a copy of your file, if that charge was explained in their terms and conditions.

All of the above documents and normally the things we need to see belong to a client, as they were received by the solicitor on the client’s behalf.  However, if you want to know more about what a solicitor does and does not have to supply to their client, the Law Society has published guidance on which part of a solicitor’s file is owned by the client and which is owned by the solicitor.

Return to Property Misrepresentation Page

Have you also read our guidance on what we can and cannot do and who this
service is for?

If you have read and understood both our page on what we can and cannot do and who this service is for, as well as this page on evidence, you are Ready To Go.