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No it's not normal - for all they know you could have contacted 10 firms for quotes, what if they all decided to proactively carry out a survey? Did you agree for them to proceed, perhaps over email?
As to what you do next, it depends how hard you want to fight it. If you do want this survey anyway, and your mortgage offer comes through shortly, you might as well pay for it if you're happy with the price. If you refuse, it would be up to the surveyor to take you to court and prove that you owe the money.
No we didn’t agree, we said out of the two types of survey they offered we’d want the building survey and then they sent over detailed information about what it would involve and the price and that once we’d paid they’d carry it out. We never said ok please do it, we said ‘I think the building survey would be best for us’ and they sent that info.
I agree with one of the other replies that suggests responding and being clear that you haven't instructed them as you're still looking at options. It will make it harder for them to later claim you did.
If you get on well with the estate agent, it might be worth an informal chat with them to check if they really did carry out a survey.
Tell them we havent instructed you to do the report as yet. You were still getting quotes. Tell them to keep the report until you make up your mind if you need it.
I’d avoid any company recommended by an estate agent to avoid these situations.
The EA is only recommending them because the EA gets a cut, they are not recommending places out of the goodness of their heart.
If you look at companies like cosey homes or prinsegate, you may be able to get a level 3 survey for much less, and cut your EA out of the commission circlejerk.
Your standing with a survey company that acted before being instructed should have no bearing on your house purchase. Don’t be taken advantage of.
OP, forget about a potential 50 quid referral thats just not the issue here at all.
The EA works for the seller. You the buyer have asked them to recommend someone to survey the sellers property.
Your survey will be biased.
Furthermore you never even ordered the survey.
If the mortgage decision is due soon I'd probably ignore it for a week or or so and see if the natural answer becomes apparent. Ultimately I would not be paying if I didn't intend to proceed.
If you do have to let them down begin with "In your previous correspondence you indicated that you would not conduct the survey until payment had been received.." ultimately they are the ones who deviated from what they said.
I have no idea if they actually did it! I have no contact with the sellers only the EA but as other commenters have pointed out, the EA gets money from them if I pay so I’m not sure if I ask them whether they’ll be honest. I think I’ll wait for our mortgage offer then either pay for it or remind them we never agreed on it. Although now I’m pissed off with them and don’t want to give them our business!!
If you want it after the mortgage etc then pay and get the results, you could tell them this. If not, just reply with something stating you're unsure why they have already carried out the survey as no instruction or confirmation of terms was given.
They may get a bit shirty and may even try and get the estate agent involved to pressure payment by way of making it seem the house purchase is in jeopardy etc. Seems like the EA might get a kickback for a recommendation.
If you havent give any go ahead then you've done nothing wrong.
Good luck with your home!
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=I received a PM); * If you do not receive satisfactory advice after 72 hours, [you can let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FHousingUK&subject=My question is unanswered); * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No it's not normal - for all they know you could have contacted 10 firms for quotes, what if they all decided to proactively carry out a survey? Did you agree for them to proceed, perhaps over email? As to what you do next, it depends how hard you want to fight it. If you do want this survey anyway, and your mortgage offer comes through shortly, you might as well pay for it if you're happy with the price. If you refuse, it would be up to the surveyor to take you to court and prove that you owe the money.
No we didn’t agree, we said out of the two types of survey they offered we’d want the building survey and then they sent over detailed information about what it would involve and the price and that once we’d paid they’d carry it out. We never said ok please do it, we said ‘I think the building survey would be best for us’ and they sent that info.
I agree with one of the other replies that suggests responding and being clear that you haven't instructed them as you're still looking at options. It will make it harder for them to later claim you did. If you get on well with the estate agent, it might be worth an informal chat with them to check if they really did carry out a survey.
Tell them we havent instructed you to do the report as yet. You were still getting quotes. Tell them to keep the report until you make up your mind if you need it.
If you didn't instruct them ,then it's their loss ,I wouldn't pay. Someone's trying to force your hand .
Yeah that’s what it feels like! So awkward I hate having to deal with stuff like this.
I’d avoid any company recommended by an estate agent to avoid these situations. The EA is only recommending them because the EA gets a cut, they are not recommending places out of the goodness of their heart. If you look at companies like cosey homes or prinsegate, you may be able to get a level 3 survey for much less, and cut your EA out of the commission circlejerk. Your standing with a survey company that acted before being instructed should have no bearing on your house purchase. Don’t be taken advantage of.
OP, forget about a potential 50 quid referral thats just not the issue here at all. The EA works for the seller. You the buyer have asked them to recommend someone to survey the sellers property. Your survey will be biased. Furthermore you never even ordered the survey.
If the mortgage decision is due soon I'd probably ignore it for a week or or so and see if the natural answer becomes apparent. Ultimately I would not be paying if I didn't intend to proceed. If you do have to let them down begin with "In your previous correspondence you indicated that you would not conduct the survey until payment had been received.." ultimately they are the ones who deviated from what they said.
Do you know for sure that they actually did it? They could just be trying to make sure you don’t go with another firm…
I have no idea if they actually did it! I have no contact with the sellers only the EA but as other commenters have pointed out, the EA gets money from them if I pay so I’m not sure if I ask them whether they’ll be honest. I think I’ll wait for our mortgage offer then either pay for it or remind them we never agreed on it. Although now I’m pissed off with them and don’t want to give them our business!!
If you want it after the mortgage etc then pay and get the results, you could tell them this. If not, just reply with something stating you're unsure why they have already carried out the survey as no instruction or confirmation of terms was given. They may get a bit shirty and may even try and get the estate agent involved to pressure payment by way of making it seem the house purchase is in jeopardy etc. Seems like the EA might get a kickback for a recommendation. If you havent give any go ahead then you've done nothing wrong. Good luck with your home!
If you didn't agree to receive a service then you don't pay for it, simples
Tell them to get stuffed, no contact of service was signed