Optima Legal - Newcastle upon Tyne

Matthew S.

Uncontactable, find excuses to delay completion due to their high workload. Avoid at all costs!

Currently they're pretending there's an issue with the mortgage provider, however I've checked and this isn't true. They're not replying to my messages and their receptionist has been told to refuse to put calls through to solicitors.

They're now costing me more money and they will you too - stay clear.

Giuliano B.

** Services provided by Optima Legal between Dec 2023 and March 2024 **
Giving one star as I can't give zero stars.
Optima Legal has given me lots of unnecessary delays and stress for a property re-mortgage where the property was the same and no chain was involved at all.
There was also a court order involved which had a 2 months deadline to complete. Optima Legal managed to complete on the last available day, the level of stress I went through was over the roof.
You can't speak to case executive when you call, they can't transfer a call either. I only went with them because HSBC informed me they have a panel of conveyancers who they recommend. How HSBC can recommend this company is beyond me, they are a nightmare to deal with and caused several weeks delay, totally unnecessary. If it wasn't for the fact that I chased both HSBC and Optima Legal multiple times a day for the past 3 weeks prior to completion, I totally would have missed the court order deadline.

Ben O. (.

Lazy, unhelpful company who left us having to pay more for our mortgage because they sat on documents rather than actioning them. If we hadn’t chased the other party on Optima’s behalf, we would have had to pay even more, even though Optima said it was the other party not doing their part which was a lie. AVOID!

Mary A.

Do not use this company! This is the worst legal practice I have ever dealt with! Their portal is horrendous and not at all user friendly, it’s impossible to get a response to
an email and the staff on the phone are unable to help much other than reading
Notes from their system. I have been waiting nearly 3 months to complete my remortgage which should have taken about 4-6 weeks maximum. Do yourselves a favour and believe the reviews. I rarely write reviews but am so appalled by the bad service was compelled to do so.

Matthew A.

I have just had the displeasure of optima legal ‘looking after’ my re mortgage. I can see why they have a rating of 1 star I would give Lower if I could, I was lied too on many occasions, I
Kept catching them out through out the process. I highly doubt any of the staff care at all about any client, it caused me massive anxiety dealing with optima and cost me a lot of money as they lied about completing documents so
I had to stay on a variable rate. As someone who works in customers services I can honestly say this is the worst I’ve seen. Absolutely
Disgraceful is an understatement. I was heavily stressed through the whole process and would urge anyone to stay away. What a shambles of a company - I chased through out to make it happen in the end. I can’t tell you how happy I am to never have to deal with them again.

Ben P.

Pushed into using them for a remortgage via the lender. Their portal is not user-friendly, cumbersome and inflexible. Their staff are unhelpful. We had a shortfall and despite having provided every document required to get approved for the mortgage the muppet there insisted on providing them again. Despite having every in place months in advance they couldn't complete on the required business date, leaving me paying house rate on my previous mortgage at 7%. I sent an email. They claimed it was within their terms and conditions. Lastly, they charge £42 for a bank transfer. What they don't say is if you remove your bank details they send you a cheque with no charge. Disgusting business practices. Disgusting behaviour. If you have the misfortune to have them linked to your mortgage on the basis of 'free legal' ask for another legal provider. Even for free they're overcharging!

Denzil D.

I am very surprised to see this rating as I just finished my remortgage with optima and it was a good experience n I guess it was due to Victoria Fletcher. She is an absolute star and has been a great helpful person to talk to ... I would please request anyone reading this to ask for Victoria Fletcher and then follow up because she will do everything possible and required to help you. I hope this helps to anyone and everyone having hard time with optima and want things to be right n correct for you.

Andrea M.

Had a really stressful experience when remortgaging my property. All of the paperwork and details were provided months in advance so that when my old mortgage ran out my new one could automatically start. However, Optima failed to get my redemption statement from my previous lender in time which resulted in me having to pay the 7% variable rate on my mortgage. I have spent hours on hold waiting to speak to someone to resolve this issue and have requested callbacks. The people I have spoken to have failed to answer my questions or resolve the issue and never call back as requested. They also do to reply to messages on their portal and so you are in a constant loop of being on hold and not getting any answers or help. Why should customers be penalised by having to pay extortionate variable rates because "professionals" can't do their job efficiently?
I am currently in the process of logging a complaint and am waiting for a call back (yet again) and will be taking this further with the ombudsman.
Save yourself a lot of stress and hassle and do not use them, I will be advising my mortgage broker to not use them in the future to save other people from being in this situation in the future too.