Independent research study undertaken on behalf of the Legal Services Board suggest that conveyancing referral fee payers provide advantages over their non-fee paying competitors.

The research concludes that conveyancers who pay referral fees provide a faster and higher quality service and charge lower fees to clients, than firms who don’t pay referral fees.

The research was commissioned to investigate the impact of referral fees on the quality and cost of services provided by conveyancing firms. Not only did the research conclude that referral fees have not had any detrimental effect on consumers, but it highlighted that consumers get a better deal from firms which do pay a referral fee.

Specifically, the research showed that the average conveyancing fee when a referral fee is paid is £543, whilst the price when no referral fee is paid is £687. Customer satisfaction amongst fee paying firms was high at 90% and 57% of estate agents said that firms who pay fees provide a faster service than those who don’t. The research concluded that firms who pay referral fees invest in technology to increase efficiency and these efficiency gains are then passed on to consumers.

Eddie Goldsmith , senior partner at Goldsmith Williams, said: “I welcome the conclusions of this report because it shows that the model of a large well resourced specialist conveyancing firm such as Goldsmith Williams