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Pre-Contract Enquiries

Pre-contract enquiries raised from the contract pack on the day it arrives, then each reply from the seller’s solicitors read against the forms, the title and the searches before a conveyancer accepts it.

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The problem

Not aware slips through when nobody holds it against the seller’s form

The contract pack lands with the draft contract, the property information and fittings forms, the register, the plan, the old deeds and the searches. It waits until a fee earner has an afternoon free, then goes out with the firm’s long standard list, much of which the forms already answer. Back comes see the form, and a round is lost.

Weeks later the replies arrive as one letter whose paragraphs no longer line up with the enquiry numbers. Many say not aware, to follow, or buyer to rely on own survey. The costly ones are those the seller’s own form or a search contradicts: missed, the risk passes to the buyer, and the client still asks whether there is a problem.

Built forConveyancersConveyancing assistantsHeads of residential propertyBuyer clients

The Problem Today

Replies to enquiries come back weeks later, and the evasive ones hide behind the seller’s own documents.

123 days: average time for a home purchase to reach completion published
78%: of 511 residential conveyancing complaints found poor service published

Handled by hand today

Pack pages
Enquiries
Replies
Chasing

Questions the pack answersLong standard lists ask what the seller’s forms already say
Rounds of lettersEach round of replies adds a week or two before exchange

The Solution

Pack read the day it landsContract, forms, title and searches indexed page by page
Only open questions askedGaps and conflicts raised; questions the pack answers left out
Each reply read against the packA reply the documents contradict is marked evasive, page cited
Follow-ups sent, client toldCited follow-ups in one letter; open points in plain words

Built-in controls

Nothing goes to the other side or the client unapproved
Assistants prepare; only conveyancers accept and send
Client files stay in the firm’s workspace, out of training

What You Get

Conveyancers close enquiries in one cited round, and clients know exactly what is still open.

2 weeks: sooner to exchange, with one cited follow-up round our estimate

Evasive replies caughtEach shown beside the page that contradicts it
One letter of follow-upsEach one quotes the page the reply has to answer
Clients kept informedOpen points in plain words, and which need their decision

Pack, replies, exchange

Pre-contract enquiries on nine screens, pack first and exchange last

Nine screens in the order a purchase runs, each named for the person whose desk it clears.

01The contract pack
A pack reader that links each page to the enquiry it raised
How it works
- Ten documents: the contract, both forms, the register, the plan, the old conveyance, three searches and the energy certificate
- Each document lists what it raised, such as 3 conflicts and 7 gaps in the property information form
- The drainage search and the form’s septic tank answer sit on one page, linked to E-33
Conveyancing assistantOpens a 124-page pack and sees what each document raised, without reading it cover to cover before the first enquiry is drafted.
02Raised from the pack
Enquiries raised only where the pack is silent or contradicts itself
How it works
- All 38 enquiries sent on the day the pack arrived
- 19 enquiries raised from the pack: 8 conflicts and 11 gaps
- 19 of the firm’s standard enquiries kept, because the pack leaves them open
- The assistant prepares the round and the conveyancer approves it before it goes
Conveyancing assistantPrepares the round from what the pack actually says, so the full standard list no longer gets pasted into every purchase file.
03A standard enquiry not raised
Standard enquiries the pack already answers left out, page cited
How it works
- Each of the 64 standard enquiries is checked against the pack; 45 are answered there and left out
- Mains water is answered at drainage search p.2, so standard enquiry 12 stays out
- The firm keeps its list by property type: freehold, leasehold and new build
Head of residential propertyKeeps the firm’s standard list in use without losing a round to see-the-form replies on each purchase.
04Reply check
A grid that reads every reply against the pack, title and searches
How it works
- All 38 replies checked against seven sources: the contract, both forms, the title and three searches
- A reply the documents contradict is evasive, whatever its wording
- A side list shows which wording drew a closer read, such as buyer to rely on own survey
ConveyancerSees in one grid which replies the seller’s own papers contradict, instead of reading the letter with the pack open beside it.
05An evasive reply
Each evasive reply shown beside the page that contradicts it
How it works
- Reply says and pack shows side by side, each passage cited to its page
- The wording not aware is highlighted, and the follow-up is already drafted
- Send, edit, accept the reply or reject the verdict with a reason
ConveyancerCatches the reply that would leave the buyer holding the risk, with the page to quote back, before anyone accepts it in a busy week.
06Foul drainage
Hedged replies tested against the search and the seller’s own form
How it works
- The drainage search says foul water does not drain to a public sewer
- The seller’s own form says septic tank, emptied annually
- The wording as far as the seller is aware is flagged and read against both
ConveyancerStops a septic tank being bought as mains drainage, which would leave the buyers emptying and maintaining it themselves.
07Follow-ups
One follow-up letter, each paragraph citing the page it must answer
How it works
- Nine follow-ups, drafted from the 6 evasive replies and the 3 awaiting documents
- Each paragraph cites its page, such as local search p.11 for the missing completion certificate
- The assistant can prepare it; only the conveyancer approves and sends it
ConveyancerPuts every follow-up to the seller’s solicitors into one cited round, where separate letters would each cost a week or two.
08Client summary
A plain-words summary of open points for the buyers, decisions named
How it works
- Each point in plain words: what it means and what the firm is doing
- Nine open points; three may need their decision: the septic tank, the solar roof lease, the fence letter
- The conveyancer signs it before it reaches the clients’ portal
Buyer clientGets a straight answer to whether there is a problem, with the decisions named and everything else shown as in hand.
09Exchange check
An exchange check that lists what still blocks each condition
How it works
- Nine conditions: enquiries, searches, mortgage offer, lender requirements, deposit, client summary, contract, chain and sign-off
- 29 of 38 enquiries closed, with the 9 still open listed by number
- Purchases of £500,000 and over need the head’s sign-off; this one is £620,000
Head of residential propertySigns exchange readiness once the open points close, and sees from one list what still stands in the way.

Six replies the seller’s own papers contradict, from one round

One purchase, one letter of replies. Each of these was marked evasive and followed up in the same letter, citing the page.

Enquiry	The reply	What the pack shows
Any disputes with neighbors?	The seller is not aware of any disputes.	Property information form p.3: a letter from the neighbor about the rear fence line
Building regulations sign-off for the rear extension	Buyer to rely on own survey.	Local search p.11: no completion certificate on record
Has the property flooded?	Please refer to the environmental search.	The form’s flooding section is blank; environmental search p.9 shows medium surface water risk
Who owns the solar panels?	The solar panels are owned by the seller.	Register p.3, charges entry 4: a 25-year lease of the roof space to a solar company
Is the right of way over the driveway used?	Not known.	Register p.1 gives the neighbor a right of way; the form at p.6 says the neighbor drives over it daily
Is foul drainage to the public sewer?	As far as the seller is aware, mains drainage.	Drainage search p.4: not to a public sewer; the form at p.12: septic tank

Around the file

The thread, the cited page and the record behind each enquiry

What the conveyancer, the assistant and the head of residential property open around the replies.

Solar panels thread marked evasive: the reply says the seller owns the panels, the register shows a lease of the roof space — **A confident reply the register contradicts**No hedging wording at all: the seller owns the panels, says the reply. Charges entry 4 on the register shows a 25-year lease of the roof space.

Knotweed thread marked document needed: the plan is said to be enclosed, but the six enclosures listed do not hold it — **Enclosed, but not among the enclosures**The reply says the knotweed management plan is enclosed. Of the six enclosures listed, none is the plan, so it reads document needed.

Property information form page opened from a citation, the disputes answer ticked yes and the letter about the rear fence highlighted — **The page behind the citation**The disputes section of the seller’s form, opened from the thread, with the words the check relied on highlighted.

Replies to pre-contract enquiries filtered to the nine still open, each with the source that contradicts it and the wording that drew a closer read — **The nine still open**The grid filtered to the 6 evasive replies and the 3 awaiting documents, checked 14 minutes after the letter arrived.

Audit of one purchase file: who read, raised, matched, checked, accepted and prepared, agent or person — **Agent or person, with the reason**The file’s twelve events: the pack read, 38 enquiries approved and sent, 38 paragraphs matched, 29 replies accepted and the second letter prepared.

Settings with the firm’s standard enquiries by property type, the evasive wording list and who may prepare, accept, send and sign — **The firm’s own rules**The 64 standard enquiries with the page that answers each, the evasive wording list, reminder rules, and who may prepare, accept, send and sign.

Accepting a reply and signing exchange readiness stay with people

Agents read, draft and cite. These calls belong to the firm.

Accepting or rejecting a replyThe conveyancer decides each one, and a rejection carries a written reason into the audit.

Writing to the other sideFollow-ups and chasers leave only on the conveyancer’s approval. The assistant can prepare a letter but cannot send it.

Telling the clientThe summary is drafted in plain words and gives no advice of its own; the conveyancer signs it before the buyers see it.

Exchange readinessThe head of residential property signs on purchases of £500,000 and over, once the conditions close.

Behind the replies

Six agents prepare each round; the conveyancer decides it

The reading, matching and drafting are theirs; the decisions are not.

Pack reader

Reads the contract, both forms, the register, the plan and the searches, indexing each answer to its page.

Never fills in an answer the pack does not give

Enquiry drafter

Raises enquiries on gaps and conflicts and keeps only the standard enquiries the pack leaves open.

Never sends anything
Never drops a standard enquiry without the page that answers it

Reply matcher

Matches each paragraph of the reply letter to its enquiry, even when the other side renumbers.

Never marks a reply answered without matching text

Reply checker

Reads each reply against the pack: answered, evasive or document needed, both passages cited.

Never accuses: it shows the documents
Never closes an enquiry

Follow-up writer

Drafts the follow-ups and chasers, each citing the page the reply must answer.

Never sends without the conveyancer’s approval

Client summary agent

Writes the open points for the buyers in plain words.

Never gives advice on its own; the conveyancer signs

Pre-contract enquiries, asked and answered

What are pre-contract enquiries, and how does this solution handle them?

Pre-contract enquiries are the questions the buyer’s conveyancer puts to the seller’s solicitors before exchange. This solution reads the contract pack and the searches the day they arrive, raises pre-contract enquiries only where the pack is silent or contradicts itself, and reads each reply against the documents.

What makes a reply evasive?

A reply is evasive when the pack, the title or a search says something it does not. Wording such as not aware, not known or to follow draws a closer read, but wording alone does not decide it. A confident reply that the register contradicts is marked evasive too.

Does it still ask our standard enquiries?

Yes, where the pack leaves them open. One the pack already answers is left out with the page that answers it, so the other side is not asked what its own form says.

Can it cope when the other side renumbers its replies?

Yes. Each paragraph of the reply letter is matched to its enquiry by what it says, even when the numbers no longer line up. A reply is marked answered only when there is text that matches.

Who can send a follow-up or accept a reply?

Assistants prepare enquiries, follow-ups and chasers. Only the conveyancer accepts or rejects a reply and approves a letter, and the head of residential property signs exchange readiness on the larger purchases.

What does the buyer client see?

A short summary of the points still open, in plain words: what each means, what the firm is doing, and whether the buyers need to decide anything. The conveyancer signs it first.

Real Estate Law & Conveyancing

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Pre-Contract Enquiries

Not aware slips through when nobody holds it against the seller’s form

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

Pre-contract enquiries on nine screens, pack first and exchange last

A pack reader that links each page to the enquiry it raised

Enquiries raised only where the pack is silent or contradicts itself

Standard enquiries the pack already answers left out, page cited

A grid that reads every reply against the pack, title and searches

Each evasive reply shown beside the page that contradicts it

Hedged replies tested against the search and the seller’s own form

One follow-up letter, each paragraph citing the page it must answer

A plain-words summary of open points for the buyers, decisions named

An exchange check that lists what still blocks each condition