The redemption figure changed on Wednesday
The seller's completion statement was sent on Monday. On Wednesday a new redemption statement arrived with a different daily rate. The estate agent's invoice came in higher than the quote. Nobody updated the statement. On completion day the figures do not reconcile with the money in client account, and the case handler is on the phone with the seller explaining why the balance due to them is different from what they were told.
Everyone is stressed, and the day has more completions in it.
Why completion statements go wrong
A completion statement pulls figures from many places: the contract price and deposit, the mortgage offer, redemption statements, the firm's bill, the agent's invoice, apportionments, search and registration fees. In most firms those are typed into an Excel sheet or a template in the case management system by hand.
Each figure can change after the first version is sent, and each change has to be noticed, typed in and sent again. The statement is only as current as the last time someone updated every line.
| Figure | Typical source of error |
|---|---|
| Redemption amount | Updated statement not reflected |
| Estate agent's fee | Invoice differs from the quoted figure |
| Firm's own bill | Bill amended after statement sent |
| Deposit paid | Deposit held by agent versus paid to firm |
| Apportionments | Wrong dates or rates for leasehold charges |
What statement errors cost
An error found on completion day can hold up money, and money held up can hold up a chain. Correcting a statement after the client has arranged funds or planned around a figure is awkward, and clients remember it. Occasionally the firm ends up covering a shortfall.
Behind all that is the time spent checking each statement line by line because the process is not trusted.
How we build statements from file data
- Source every figure: the statement reads the price, deposit and dates from the contract details, the advance from the mortgage offer, redemption figures from the latest redemption statement, and fees from your bill and third-party invoices on the file.
- Show the source: each line shows which document it came from and when that document was received, so the case handler can check quickly.
- Change detection: when a new redemption statement, invoice or bill arrives, the statement is recalculated and the changes since the last version sent are highlighted.
- Checks: the statement is checked against the client ledger (money received and expected), for missing standard items for that transaction type, and for dates that do not match the agreed completion date.
- Client version: an approved version is produced in your firm's layout for the case handler to send, with the version recorded on the file.
- Completion day view: on the day, the statement is shown alongside expected and received funds for a final reconciliation.
How completion day changes
The statement stays current as documents arrive, and the case handler knows what has changed since the client last saw it. Checking becomes a review of flagged lines rather than a full rebuild. Completion day starts with figures that reconcile, not a scramble.
Clients get a statement they can trust, and fewer surprises.
Does this happen to you?
- Completion statements are built or rebuilt in Excel.
- Updated redemption figures do not always reach the statement.
- Clients have been sent a statement with the wrong figures.
- Figures fail to reconcile on completion day.
- Every statement is checked line by line because nobody trusts it.