Questions and answers

You do not need an account. Choose your transaction on our get a quote page, answer the questions about the property, the people involved and how you are paying, and your itemised quote appears on screen straight away. It costs nothing and you are under no obligation.

If you are selling and buying, choose sale and purchase: you get a separate quote and PDF for each property, so each set of fees is easy to follow. Specialist work, such as a lease extension or a new commercial lease, needs a closer look, so you send a short request instead and our team prepares a tailored quote, usually within one working day.

Nothing on paper. For an instant quote you tell us:

• What you are doing: buying, selling, both at once, remortgaging, a transfer of equity or a commercial transaction.
• The price or value of the property, its postcode and whether it is freehold or leasehold.
• Whether there is a mortgage, and the lender if you know it.
• Anything that changes the work, such as a new build, shared ownership or a gift towards your deposit.
• For stamp duty or Land Transaction Tax, whether you are a first-time buyer and whether you will own more than one home.

We ask for your name and email address so we can save your quote and send it to you, and your phone number so our team, and the law firm if you go ahead, can call you about it. The law firm asks for proof of your identity and of where your money comes from once you instruct it.

We give quotes for property in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. We do not cover Scotland, which has its own system of conveyancing: offers are agreed through letters between solicitors, there is a different property tax, and ownership is registered elsewhere. For a property in Scotland, speak to a solicitor who practises Scots law.

No surprise fees: your law firm works to it. Your quote is based on the answers you give us and our fee schedule on the day it is issued, and every law firm on our panel, other than a firm you choose instead, which confirms its own fees before you instruct it, has agreed with Keyfolio to charge no more than its total unless the facts it was based on change, you ask for more work or a fee set by law changes. Before you instruct the firm, it confirms its fees and the work involved in writing.

Fees can change if the work turns out to be different from what you described. For example, a property you thought was freehold may be leasehold, or your mortgage lender may add extra conditions. Lines tagged "estimate", such as search fees, can also move a little: they are charged at the amount actually paid, and anything marked to be confirmed is charged at the amount the firm confirms to you. Before charging anything more, the firm explains why in writing, and you are free not to go ahead.

If your plans change before a law firm accepts you, send us a message from your quote page and we can prepare a revised quote; after that, tell your law firm. Your quote is valid until the date shown on it.

You pay no legal fee: every law firm on our panel, other than a firm you choose instead (your quote page says whether it does too), works on a no completion, no fee basis. If your transaction does not complete, whatever the reason, you pay only for disbursements the firm has already paid out for you, such as searches and identity checks, which it can keep from any money you paid on account, refunding the rest.

On a sale, if your buyer pulls out, your firm carries on with your next buyer on the same quote. Only if that second buyer pulls out too can it charge for the work it has done, and it tells you in writing before it does. Your quote page says this too, and the firm confirms it in its terms of engagement.

Some costs cannot be known until the legal work starts, so we mark them "To be confirmed" rather than guess. A common example is the fee a landlord or managing agent charges for a leasehold management pack (information about the building, its service charges and how it is run). Registration fees in Northern Ireland are also confirmed by the conveyancer.

Items marked "To be confirmed" are not included in your quote's totals, so leave room for them in your budget. Where property tax depends on details we cannot assess online, such as on a shared ownership or company purchase, your quote says your conveyancer will calculate it. The law firm tells you each amount once it is known.

VAT is charged at 20% on the law firm's legal fees, including its admin fees, such as for a leasehold, and its fee for acting for your mortgage lender. For example, every £100 of legal fees has £20 VAT added.

Disbursements (payments the firm makes to other organisations on your behalf) follow the VAT rules of whoever supplies them:

• HM Land Registry fees, paid to the government department that records who owns property, are not subject to VAT.
• Many search providers and identity check services charge VAT, so it is added to those lines.
• Property taxes, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax, never have VAT added.

Your quote shows the net amount, the VAT and the total for every line, so you can see exactly where VAT applies.

Your quote covers the cost of the conveyancing: the legal fees, VAT, the usual disbursements (third-party costs such as searches) and an estimate of any property tax. It does not include other costs of moving, such as:

• A survey of the property's condition.
• Mortgage arrangement or broker fees.
• Estate agent fees on a sale.
• Removals and storage.
• Extra legal work caused by problems found later, such as a defect in the title (the legal ownership records) or lender requirements beyond the standard.

Your quote lists its exclusions under "What is not included". Our moving costs page helps you plan the wider budget.

Go to find your quote and enter the email address and phone number you gave us, with the reference shown on your quote if you have it. We will then give you a secure link back to it. If we emailed your quote to you, the email contains the link too.

On your quote page you can also press "Remember on this device", so this browser lists your quote on the find your quote page for 60 days. Keep the link private, because anyone who has it can open your quote. If your quote has expired, your quote page has a link to get an updated one.

Yes. If you are buying with Sharia-compliant home finance, such as a home purchase plan, choose an Islamic finance purchase quote, or answer yes when a purchase quote asks whether your finance is Islamic finance. Your quote then includes an Islamic finance admin fee, at least £650 plus VAT (at least £780 including VAT), for the extra work with your provider's documents, on its own line. Our guide to buying with Islamic finance explains how the plans work.

Choose your law firm on your quote page and press Go ahead. We then email you a link to confirm your email address: press it, then Confirm and go ahead on the page it opens. It shows us the request is genuine. Then:

• We introduce you to the law firm you chose, and the firm accepts the referral.
• We tell you how to reach the firm, its regulator and exactly what it pays us, if anything.
• The firm confirms its fees and sends its terms of engagement, often called a client care letter.
• You sign the firm's terms and provide your identity documents, and the legal work begins.

Once the firm accepts the referral, it deals with you directly. You are not committed to anything until you sign its terms.

No. Keyfolio is a quotation and referral service. We help you understand the likely costs of your transaction and, if you ask us to, introduce you to a regulated law firm.

The law firm does all the legal work and gives you legal advice under its own terms of engagement. It also holds any money you send for your transaction, such as your deposit, in its client account (a bank account kept only for clients' money). Keyfolio never gives legal advice and never holds your money, so never send purchase money to us. If anyone asks you to, stop and call your law firm on a number you already trust.

You can always go to a solicitor or licensed conveyancer directly, and getting a quote from us does not commit you to anything. What Keyfolio adds before you choose:

• An itemised quote in minutes: the legal fee, searches, Land Registry fees, VAT and an estimate of stamp duty or Land Transaction Tax, before you speak to anyone.
• Where more than one firm on our panel can act for you, each firm's price for your quote, so you can choose.
• Only regulated firms: we check each firm's regulatory details before it joins our panel.

We are not a law firm: the firm you instruct does the legal work, gives you legal advice and holds any money for your transaction. Firms on our panel pay us for introductions out of the fees they charge, so it is not an extra item on your bill, and we tell you what the firm pays us before you instruct it.

Every firm on our panel is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or, in Northern Ireland, by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. When you ask to go ahead, we look for a firm that:

• Handles your type of work, for example leasehold, new build or commercial property.
• Covers the area where the property is.
• Is on your mortgage lender's or finance provider's panel, the list of firms it allows to act for it.
• Has the capacity to take your matter on now.

Where more than one firm on our panel could act for you, your quote page names each of them, with its price for your quote, and you choose; the firm we would suggest is chosen to start with.

The firm then decides whether to accept the referral. If it cannot act, we look for another suitable firm and keep you updated.

No. Conveyancing is done by email, post and telephone, and the searches find out what matters about the area wherever the firm is: the local authority, drainage and environmental searches cover the property itself. You can usually prove your identity online or by post, and sign the documents without visiting the office. What matters more is that the firm handles your kind of property, covers the nation it is in (the law and the property tax differ in Wales and Northern Ireland) and, if you have a mortgage, is on your lender's panel.

Yes. You are free to use any conveyancer you like, and getting a quote from us does not commit you to anything. You can compare our quote with others, and you only become a client of a law firm when you sign its terms of engagement.

If you are buying with a mortgage, check that your chosen firm is on your lender's panel (the list of firms it allows to act for it). If it is not, the lender may instruct its own solicitor, and you would usually pay that firm's fees as well. Our guide to choosing a property solicitor suggests questions worth asking.

Your law firm keeps you informed. Once it accepts you, it deals with you directly and tells you as your matter reaches each stage, such as exchange of contracts (when the deal becomes legally binding) and completion (when the money moves and you get the keys). The private link to your quote keeps your quote, the firm's contact details and a fraud warning. For questions about the legal work itself, speak to your law firm.

Raise your concern with the law firm first, using the complaints procedure in its client care letter. The firm has up to eight weeks to respond. If you are not satisfied with its final response, or it has not replied within eight weeks, you may be able to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, which has time limits for bringing a complaint.

Please tell us too, because we want to know how the firms we introduce are serving our customers. If your complaint is about Keyfolio itself, follow our complaints process.

No, you do not pay Keyfolio anything directly. There is no charge from us for getting a quote, sending us messages or being introduced to a law firm. The costs in your quote are the law firm's legal fees, VAT and disbursements, which you pay to the firm, not to us.

Instead, law firms on our panel pay us for introductions and panel membership out of the fees they charge, so it is not an extra item on your bill. We tell you about this before you go ahead, and before you instruct a firm we tell you what it pays us for your matter. Our referral disclosure explains how it works.

The law firm pays it. A referral fee is a payment a law firm makes to a business that introduces a client to it. In England and Wales referral fees are allowed in conveyancing, and regulated firms must be open with clients about them. In Northern Ireland the Law Society's rules restrict them, so we do not charge Northern Ireland firms for introductions unless the rules allow it.

You do not pay Keyfolio anything directly. Law firms on our panel pay us for introductions and panel membership out of the fees they charge, so it is not an extra item on your bill. Under our agreements, a referral fee is paid only when your matter completes, not when you are referred. Before you instruct a firm, we tell you exactly what it pays us for your matter. If an estate agent or mortgage broker introduced you to us, your quote says what we pay them, and it comes out of what we receive. If you have questions about how an arrangement affects you, send us a message before you go ahead.

Before you commit to anything, and twice:

• Your quote explains that the law firm we introduce you to pays Keyfolio a referral fee, and shows the most it currently is for each property transaction.
• When a firm accepts your matter, we tell you its name and the exact fee it pays us, before you instruct it.

The firm may also mention the arrangement in its client care letter. To find out more about how we are paid, read our referral disclosure or send us a message.

For you. Once you instruct the firm, you are its client and it owes its professional duties to you, not to Keyfolio. If you have a mortgage, the firm usually acts for your lender as well, which is normal practice.

Regulated firms must act in their clients' interests and keep their advice independent, whatever referral arrangements they have. Keyfolio has no say in the legal advice the firm gives you. If you ever feel a referral arrangement is affecting the service you receive, raise it with the firm and let us know.

They may be. If a partner such as an estate agent or mortgage broker introduced you, Keyfolio may pay that partner a fee when your matter goes ahead. Your quote tells you when a partner introduction applies and names the partner.

Any fee we pay a partner comes out of what Keyfolio receives. It is not a separate charge to you. You are still free to choose any conveyancer. The partner hears whether your matter goes ahead and completes and, only if you agree, your law firm's updates on its progress, never anything from your legal file.

A straightforward freehold purchase often takes 10 to 16 weeks from instruction to completion (the day the money is paid and you get the keys). Leasehold purchases commonly take 12 to 20 weeks, because information has to come from the landlord or managing agent.

The things that most often slow a purchase down are:

• A long chain of linked sales and purchases.
• Slow searches or replies to enquiries.
• Waiting for a mortgage offer or for lender conditions to be met.
• Problems with the title or missing documents.

Nobody can promise a completion date in advance, so avoid fixed moving plans until contracts are exchanged.

Your conveyancer normally files the tax return and pays the tax for you, using money you send before completion (the day you pay the price and get the keys). The deadlines are:

• England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax: return and payment within 14 days of completion.
• Wales, Land Transaction Tax: within 30 days.

The figure on your quote is an estimate for an ordinary purchase. Owning another home, buying through a company or other special circumstances can change it, so your conveyancer confirms the final amount. You can explore different prices with our stamp duty calculator.

In England and Northern Ireland, you qualify if everyone buying is a first-time buyer, meaning none of you has ever owned a home or a share of one, in the UK or abroad, and you will live in the property as your main home. The relief is:

• No Stamp Duty Land Tax up to £300,000.
• 5% on the part from £300,001 to £500,000.
• No relief at all if the price is over £500,000.

For example, a first-time buyer paying £400,000 would pay an estimated £5,000. Wales has no first-time buyer relief.

They do different jobs, so it is worth considering both. Searches are enquiries your conveyancer makes of the council, the water company and other bodies about matters such as planning, roads, drainage and environmental risks. A survey is an inspection of the building's condition by a surveyor.

Your lender's valuation is for the lender's benefit and is not a survey. RICS Home Surveys come in three levels, from a basic condition report (Level 1) to a detailed building survey (Level 3). You arrange a survey separately, and it is not part of your conveyancing quote. Our guide to property searches explains what each search covers.

Yes, and help from family is common. Tell your law firm and your lender about it from the start, because they must check where the money comes from. The person giving the money will usually need to:

• Provide identification and evidence of where the money came from, such as bank statements.
• Sign a letter or form confirming it is a gift, not a loan, and that they will have no share in the property.

Tick "Part of the deposit is a gift" when you get your quote, as it involves extra work. Our guide to gifted deposits and ISAs explains more.

No legal fee. Every law firm on our panel, other than a firm you choose instead (your quote page says whether it does too), works on a no completion, no fee basis: if your purchase does not complete, whatever the reason, you pay only for disbursements the firm has already paid out for you, such as searches and identity checks. It can keep these from any money you paid on account, and it refunds the rest. Your quote lists each disbursement separately from the legal fee, so you can see what would be paid out early, and the firm confirms all of this in its terms of engagement before you instruct it.

Wait until contracts are exchanged. Exchange of contracts is the point where the deal becomes legally binding and the completion date (the day you pay the price and collect the keys) is fixed. Before exchange, either side can still pull out or change the date.

Exchange often happens a week or two before completion, though it can be on the same day or further ahead. Ask removal firms about provisional bookings, and check the agreed date with your conveyancer before confirming. Our guide to exchange and completion day explains what happens on each day.

Having your paperwork ready early can save weeks. Your conveyancer will usually ask for:

• Photo identification and proof of address for every owner.
• The Property Information Form (TA6) and the Fittings and Contents Form (TA10), which you fill in.
• The Leasehold Information Form (TA7), your lease and recent service charge details if the property is leasehold.
• Planning permissions, building regulations certificates and guarantees for any work done.
• Details of your mortgage lender and account number.

If you are also buying, choose sale and purchase for two linked quotes. Our guide to selling your home walks through each step.

Yes. Your answers on the property forms must be accurate, complete and honest, because the buyer relies on them. If you give a wrong or misleading answer, the buyer may be able to claim against you, even after completion.

Tell your conveyancer about anything that could matter, such as disputes with neighbours, building work done without approval, flooding, notices from the council or problems with boundaries. If you do not know an answer, say so rather than guessing. Your conveyancer can explain how to deal with a problem, for example with indemnity insurance (a one-off policy that covers a specific legal risk).

Your conveyancer arranges it. They ask your lender for a redemption statement, which shows exactly how much is needed to repay the mortgage on the completion date, including interest and any early repayment charge (a fee some lenders charge for paying off a mortgage early).

On completion day the buyer's money reaches your conveyancer, who pays your lender straight away. The lender then confirms the mortgage is repaid so it can be removed from the title at HM Land Registry. Check your mortgage terms early, because an early repayment charge can be significant and may affect your plans.

On completion day, once the buyer's money has arrived. Your conveyancer pays off your mortgage and any other amounts you have agreed, such as the estate agent's fee and the legal costs, then sends the balance to you, or on to your purchase if you are buying too.

You receive a completion statement showing every amount paid in and out. Give your bank details only in the way your law firm asks, and check them carefully. Criminals target sale proceeds, so never act on an email asking you to change account details, and call your law firm on a number you already trust if anything seems wrong.

No legal fee. Every law firm on our panel, other than a firm you choose instead (your quote page says whether it does too), works on a no completion, no fee basis, and on a sale that means:

• If your buyer pulls out, you pay only for disbursements already paid out for you, such as fees for documents ordered.
• When you find another buyer, your firm carries on with them on the same quote.
• Only if that second buyer pulls out too can the firm charge for the work it has done, and it tells you in writing before it does.

Before exchange of contracts (the point where the deal becomes legally binding), either side can withdraw without penalty. After exchange the position is very different: pulling out is a breach of contract, a buyer who fails to complete can lose their deposit, and either side can face a claim for losses.

Yes, if you are the executor named in the will, or the administrator where there is no will. GOV.UK advises not to put the property on the market or agree a sale until you have the grant of probate or letters of administration (the court document confirming your authority to deal with the estate), and in practice contracts are not exchanged until it is issued. You can instruct a conveyancer and prepare the paperwork while you wait.

Tell us if more than one person is acting, as each will need identity checks. Get a probate sale quote, and read our guide to probate property sales for the steps.

If you are moving your mortgage to a new lender, yes. The new lender needs a conveyancer to check the title, pay off your old lender and register its own mortgage at HM Land Registry. Your conveyancer usually acts for the new lender as well as for you, so the work follows that lender's requirements.

If you are simply switching to a new deal with your current lender, often called a product transfer, there is usually no legal work at all. Borrowing more from your existing lender may not need a conveyancer either, unless the owners are changing. Our guide to remortgaging explains the steps.

A remortgage commonly completes in 4 to 8 weeks once your mortgage offer has been issued. The legal work is simpler than a purchase because there is no seller and no chain, but it still involves identity checks, a review of the title, any lender conditions and a redemption statement (the figure needed to clear your current mortgage).

To keep things moving, start well before your current deal ends and reply quickly to any requests. Leasehold properties can take longer, because some lenders need information from the landlord or managing agent. An online quote does not secure a completion date with any lender. Our remortgages page explains the legal work.

Yes, if your lender offers one and it suits you. Some lenders pay for the legal work on a straightforward remortgage, using a firm they choose, or offer cashback instead.

Before you decide, check what the package covers. Free legal work often applies only to a simple remortgage, so you may be charged extra for things like a transfer of equity, a leasehold property or a change of owners. You also do not choose the firm. Comparing the package with our remortgage quote helps you see the full cost either way, and the choice is entirely yours.

A transfer of equity changes who owns a property without selling it, for example adding a partner to the title or removing someone after a separation. The legal work usually includes:

• Identity checks on everyone involved.
• Your lender's consent if there is a mortgage, and often a new mortgage application.
• A transfer deed and registration of the new owners at HM Land Registry.

If co-owners are putting in different amounts, ask about a declaration of trust, a document recording who owns what share. Our guide to transfers of equity explains more, or get a transfer of equity quote.

Sometimes. In England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax can be due if the person receiving a share gives something in return. Taking over part of the mortgage counts as payment, as does any cash paid. For example, taking on half of a £300,000 mortgage counts as paying £150,000.

• A gift of a share in a property with no mortgage normally has no stamp duty.
• Transfers between spouses or civil partners on divorce, dissolution or separation are generally exempt.
• Owning another home can bring in the higher rates for additional homes.

Your quote estimates it from the money paid and the share of the mortgage taken on, and your conveyancer confirms the figure. Wales has its own rules.

A management pack is the information a buyer's conveyancer needs from the landlord or managing agent (the company that runs the building). It is usually requested on a standard leasehold enquiries form known as LPE1, and it normally includes:

• Service charge accounts and the current budget.
• Ground rent and buildings insurance details.
• Planned major works and any reserve fund (money set aside for them).
• Any building rules or consents that apply.

The landlord or managing agent sets the fee, which the seller usually pays. The pack can take some time to arrive, so sellers should order it as soon as a sale is agreed.

There is more to check. Your conveyancer reviews the lease (the contract setting out your rights and obligations for its remaining term), the management pack and any restrictions, and deals with the landlord or managing agent before and after completion.

That is why your quote may include a leasehold admin fee, and why landlord and managing agent fees appear as "To be confirmed". Leasehold sales and purchases commonly take 12 to 20 weeks, compared with 10 to 16 weeks for a freehold, because so much depends on replies from others. Our leasehold guide explains what to prepare.

Check the remaining term early, because it affects the value of the property and your ability to get a mortgage. Lenders set their own minimum terms, and your conveyancer checks the lease against your lender's requirements.

When 80 years or less remain, the cost of extending a lease increases significantly under the current rules. If you are buying a flat with a short lease, ask whether the seller will extend it, or start the process, before you buy, or budget for extending it yourself. Changes are being brought in by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024; your conveyancer will tell you what applies on the date of your transaction.

Often, yes. If you own a flat on a long lease, you may have a legal right to a lease extension that adds 90 years to your current term with no ground rent to pay. Since 31 January 2025 you no longer need to have owned the flat for two years first. Owners of leasehold houses may be able to extend their lease or buy the freehold, and flat owners can sometimes join together to buy the freehold of their building, which is called collective enfranchisement.

These rights involve formal notices and a valuation. Changes are being brought in by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024; your conveyancer will tell you what applies on the date of your transaction. See our lease extension and freehold acquisition services.

Service charges pay for running the building, such as insurance, cleaning, repairs and the managing agent's fees. Ground rent is a separate yearly payment to the landlord under the lease. Most new long leases of homes in England and Wales granted on or after 30 June 2022 can only charge a peppercorn, meaning no ground rent in practice.

A section 20 notice is part of the consultation a landlord must carry out before major works costing any one leaseholder more than £250, or a long-term contract costing more than £100 a year. If you are buying, ask whether any notices have been served, because you could inherit the cost. The Leasehold Advisory Service has free guidance.

In England, shared ownership lets you buy a share of a home, from 10% to 75% of its full market value, and pay rent to the landlord, usually a housing association, on the share you do not own. All shared ownership homes are leasehold, so there is a lease to review, and the landlord has its own requirements when you buy or sell.

Buying more shares later is called staircasing, and your rent goes down as your share goes up. Each further purchase needs a valuation and legal work. Our guide to shared ownership explains more, and you can get a shared ownership purchase quote.

Yes, for many transactions. Commercial purchases and sales, mixed-use purchases (property with both business and residential parts) and commercial auction purchases all have instant quotes. Start from our commercial property page.

Other commercial work varies too much to price automatically, such as new leases for landlords or tenants, lease renewals, licences to assign or alter, refinancing, bridging finance and development land. For these you send a short request, and our team prepares a tailored quote, usually within one working day. Either way, the law firm confirms its fees and the scope of the work in writing before you instruct it.

Possibly. The sale of a commercial property is usually exempt from VAT, but VAT at 20% is charged if the seller has opted to tax it (made an election that makes its sale and rent subject to VAT). The sale of a newly built commercial building is also usually subject to VAT.

If the property is let and you will carry on the letting business, the sale may be a transfer of a going concern (TOGC), with no VAT, provided strict conditions are met. VAT also affects property tax, which is worked out on the VAT-inclusive price. For example, on a £500,000 purchase in England with £100,000 VAT, Stamp Duty Land Tax is estimated on £600,000: £19,500 rather than £14,500. Read our guide to VAT on commercial property.

Commercial property, and mixed-use property with both business and residential parts, usually pays non-residential rates, which are worked out in bands:

• England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax: 0% up to £150,000, 2% to £250,000 and 5% above.
• Wales, Land Transaction Tax: 0% up to £225,000, 1% to £250,000, 5% to £1 million and 6% above.

For example, a £400,000 commercial purchase in England has estimated tax of £9,500. Rent under a new lease, linked transactions and reliefs can change the position, so your conveyancer confirms the final amount.

Agree the main terms in writing first, often called heads of terms, and ask your conveyancer to check the draft lease matches them. Points to understand before you sign include:

• The rent, any rent review and what else you pay, such as service charge and insurance.
• How long the lease lasts and whether there is a break clause (a right to end it early).
• Your repairing obligations, which can be costly at the end of the lease.
• Whether you will have security of tenure, a right to renew under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
• What you can use the premises for, and any alterations you need.

Our commercial lease guide explains more.

It varies more than residential work. A simple commercial purchase can complete in 8 to 12 weeks, while deals involving tenants, finance, planning issues or several properties often take longer. New leases and licences commonly take 4 to 12 weeks, depending on negotiation and any landlord consents.

Auctions work differently. At a traditional auction a successful bid usually creates a binding contract straight away, and completion commonly follows about 20 working days (about four weeks) later. Have the legal pack (the seller's documents for the sale) reviewed and your funding ready before you bid. Our commercial purchase checklist explains what to prepare.

No law firm or other company is given your details to contact you unless you, or the partner who referred you, ask us to, and we never pass them to anyone for their own marketing.

We pass them on only:

• When you ask us to: to the law firm that will act for you once you go ahead, and to anyone else you ask us to, such as one provider of a survey or removals you ask about.
• If a partner introduced you: we tell them your name, your quote reference, the type of transaction, when your quote is ready, whether your matter goes ahead, completes or closes, and the law firm acting, so they are credited and paid, and anything more about your matter only if you agree. If they referred you to a law firm on our panel that you asked them for, we pass your details to that firm when we take on the referral, or to another firm on our panel if it cannot act for you.
• If your solicitor or conveyancer asks us for a law firm to act for your mortgage lender: to that firm, for that work.
• Where the law requires it: to regulators, courts or the police.

Companies and advisers who work for us, such as our website host and our accountant, also handle your details, as our privacy notice explains. If you came from one of our Google adverts, Google is told only the click's reference, whether it became a quote or went ahead, and when, never your name or contact details.

You can ask us to delete your details at any time, and we will, unless we have a legal reason to keep them, such as for a matter that went ahead. Copies in our backups go as those backups are replaced. Anyone we passed your details to, such as the law firm acting for you, keeps its own records under its own privacy notice. Our privacy notice has the full details.

We protect your information in several ways:

• Your quote page has a private address with a long random code, and search engines are asked not to list it.
• The website uses an encrypted connection.
• Only authorised people can see your details, and staff and partner accounts are protected by passwords, with two-step verification available.
• We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking, and we never pass your details to anyone for their own marketing.
• We send no more than three short follow-ups about a quote and one request for a review. Once you have your quote, its page lets you stop them, and each email has a link to stop them all.

Our privacy notice explains what we hold, why we hold it and how long we keep it.

Only the people who need it to deal with your quote and your matter:

• The Keyfolio team, to prepare your quote and answer your messages.
• The law firm allocated to your matter, so it can confirm its fees, carry out checks and act for you if you instruct it.
• The partner who introduced you, if any: your name, your quote reference, the type of transaction, when your quote is ready, whether your matter goes ahead, completes or closes, and the law firm acting, and your law firm's updates on its progress only if you agree.
• Companies that host and support our systems, under contracts that require them to protect it.

Regulators, courts and law enforcement can also receive it where the law requires. We never pass your information to anyone for their own marketing.

Criminals target people who are moving home, often with emails that appear to come from a law firm and ask for money to be sent to a new account. Keep to these rules:

• Keyfolio never asks you to send money for your purchase, and never holds it.
• Neither we nor your law firm will ever change bank details by email, phone or message.
• Before sending money, call your law firm on a number you already trust, not one given in an email, to check the account details.
• Never send bank details or passwords through the messages on your quote page.

If something feels wrong, stop and speak to your law firm before sending anything.

Law firms must follow the money laundering regulations, so they check who every client is and where the money for a transaction comes from. These are often called AML (anti-money laundering) checks. Expect to provide:

• Photo identification, such as a passport or driving licence, and proof of your address.
• Bank statements showing how your savings built up, or evidence of a sale, a gift or an inheritance.

Many firms use electronic identity checks, which usually appear on your quote as a disbursement for each person. Have your documents ready early, because delays here can hold up the whole transaction.

You can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or transfer it to someone else. Contact us using the details in our privacy notice and we will respond within one month. We may need to confirm your identity first.

Some information has to be kept for a set period, for example to deal with claims or meet legal duties, so we will explain if we cannot delete something straight away. If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, you can complain to us, and also to the Information Commission (ICO).

Apply through our partner application form with your organisation's details, the areas you cover and the work you do or refer. We review every application and agree terms in writing before anything starts, then set up portal access for your team.

We work with estate agents, mortgage brokers and other introducers, and with law firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or, in Northern Ireland, by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. Read more about our partner network.

Each approved introducer gets its own referral link and code, shown in its portal. When a client gets a quote through your link, it is recorded as your introduction. We ask visitors who arrive through your link whether we may remember you for 60 days, so you are still credited if they come back later.

You can also refer a client directly from your portal, once they have agreed to be contacted. Your clients see on their quote that you introduced them and, once your commission is agreed, what we pay you. They remain free to choose any conveyancer. Please explain the arrangement to them when you make the introduction.

Your portal is where you manage the clients you introduce. You can:

• Find your referral link and code.
• Refer a client directly, once they have agreed to be contacted.
• See whether each referral goes ahead and completes, and the law firm's updates on it where the client agrees to them.
• See the commission due to you in your statements.

You never see the confidential legal file. Please do not promise clients a completion date or a legal outcome, because those depend on the law firm and the other parties.

Once your firm is approved and terms are agreed in writing, your team gets its own portal. In it you can:

• Accept or decline each new referral within the agreed time limit.
• Record the stages each matter reaches, such as exchange and completion. Once you accept a client, you deal with them directly.
• Set your capacity, the regions you cover, the work you take on and the lender panels you are on.
• Use your own prices if you wish, instead of our standard fee schedule.

Your firm remains responsible for client care, conflict and AML checks, legal advice, supervision and complaints handling. See our page for solicitors and conveyancers.

Each firm's fees are set out in a written agreement before any referrals start: once a firm applies, we send it our proposal with the terms. We invoice the firm as its agreement sets out: each invoice is numbered, emailed with its PDF and shown in the firm's portal.

The firm pays the referral fee out of its own fees, not as a separate charge on the client's bill. We disclose the arrangement to every client before they go ahead, and before they instruct the firm we tell them its name and what it pays for their matter. Your portal shows your invoices, payments and statements.