UK homebuyers are losing an average of £78,393 to conveyancing fraud
And three steps would prevent almost all of it
Payment-diversion scams — where criminals impersonate a buyer’s conveyancer and intercept the deposit or completion funds — are among the most costly frauds in the UK. Action Fraud and the City of London Police recorded an average loss of £78,393 per victim in October 2025, frequently a buyer’s entire deposit. Three simple checks — verifying account details by phone against a separately-sourced number, sending a small test payment first, and treating any last-minute change of bank details as a red flag — would stop the overwhelming majority of these losses.
Full press release available on request →
42% of UK buyers don’t know buildings insurance must start at exchange, not completion
Leaving them legally exposed for weeks on the biggest purchase of their life
Under a standard property contract, risk passes to the buyer at exchange of contracts — not at completion, which can follow weeks later. If the property is damaged by fire or flood in that window, the buyer is liable and still legally obliged to complete, yet 42% don’t realise their buildings insurance needs to be live from the moment they exchange. The result is buyers left uninsured on the largest purchase of their lives at exactly the point they become responsible for it.
Full press release available on request →