Solicitor at Cunningtons LLP

Cunningtons LLP

Palaniappan Ahilan

Solicitor

SRA ID: 404120

Palaniappan Ahilan is a SRA-approved manager - Partner with Cunningtons LLP. They have 16 years' experience in the areas of Housing & Property, Consumer, Commercial Property, Wills, Trusts & Probate working as a solicitor.

First Floor, 135 High Street, Hornchurch, RM11 3YD

Licensed for 16 years

Practice Areas

Housing & Property, Consumer, Commercial Property, Wills, Trusts & Probate

2.3/5 3 Client Reviews 3
3 Client Reviews

2.3/5

Overall experience

  • Value For Money
  • Approachability

Reviews summary

  • Excellent
    1
  • Very Good
    0
  • Average
    0
  • Poor
    0
  • Awful
    2
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Amy
Amy Added 3 weeks ago Report to admin
Cunningtons LLP
Collected whilst working at Cunningtons LLP
April 21, 2025 20250421171636

Cunningtons are truly the worst company I have ever dealt with

1

Cunningtons are truly the worst company I have ever dealt with. Palaniappan Ahilan at the Hornchurch branch was very unprofessional and I hold him responsible for the property purchase (chain-free) having fallen through.
There were errors in the basic information on legal documents – both my name and the purchase price were incorrect!
Phone calls were left unanswered, emails were not responded to and the service throughout was substandard. Due to their delays, failure to meet deadlines and unprofessionalism, the purchase of the property fell through. We were due to exchange imminently, however delayed responses from Ahilan resulted in the seller pulling out of the transaction the day after we were supposed to have exchanged. I hold Cunningtons (in particular Palaniappan Ahilan) entirely responsible for the collapse of the property purchase and truly believe that if we had chosen a different solicitor, we would not have had this issue.
I raised a formal complaint with Cunningtons and even their complaints team could not stick to their own response deadlines, providing far-fetched excuses for their lateness.
I very rarely write negative reviews, but I feel so strongly about this situation that I feel the need to urge anybody to think twice before instructing this firm!

Lawyer named in this review: Palaniappan Ahilan

A representative from Cunningtons LLP responded to this review on 02 May, 2025

Thank you for your review, but it is not quite accurate. This is of course understandable; clients are not expected to understand the intricacies of leasehold conveyancing or the concurrent duties that a solicitor will owe to a client’s mortgage lender. We did explain things to you during the course of your transaction in 2023. You raised a complaint on 2nd January 2024. It is correct that unfortunately, due to staff absences, a full response to this was not provided until 8th February 2024. Your complaint was not upheld. Unhappy with our response to your complaint, you then approached the Legal Ombudsman, who also dismissed your complaint. Whilst you refer to the reasons given for the dismissal of your complaint as “far-fetched”, they were not. A full chronology of events was given to you, including an explanation as to why a defective title indemnity insurance policy was required to protect your mortgage lender in line with their lending requirements. This was required due to the lack of insuring obligations on the freeholder in relation to the building, and was raised in early course with your seller. Your seller was not prepared to agree or pay for this initially but when it was finally agreed, after several chasers, it was also necessary to ensure the policy that was eventually agreed was acceptable to your mortgage lender. You were told in advance this would be necessary to do. We do accept that there was a typo in one draft document (not multiple documents). This was the draft transfer, but this was very quickly and easily corrected, as it was in draft and subject to agreement with your seller. Likewise, you renegotiated the purchase price twice. The first time appears to have caused the initial confusion. This is why solicitors will ask their clients to double check documents before they sign them. On the second occasion you renegotiated the purchase price/agreed an allowance, very late on in the transaction. This caused a small last minute delay as well, because it was necessary to obtain the approval of your mortgage lender and agree a contractual clause with the seller. This was also seen to quickly. The sale didn’t fall through because of anything this firm did or did not do. The email from the seller’s solicitor confirmed that your seller had a change of heart, and had decided to rent the property instead of selling it to you. Whilst this firm’s service may not have met your personal expectations, the huge number of positive reviews that we receive is demonstrable proof that we meet and often exceed the expectations of the vast majority of our clients.

Was this review helpful? Yes

maria
maria Added 10 months ago 5 found this helpful Report to admin
Cunningtons LLP
Collected whilst working at Cunningtons LLP
July 12, 2024 20240712112126

By far the worst solicitors I have ever used.

1

By far the worst solicitors I have ever used. Everyone is aware that buying/selling a home is stressful, but Cunningtons made it more stressful than I could ever imagine. They were rude, lacked ability to do what was needed accurately, non-responsive and slow. They couldn't even get our names correct on multiple legal documents and in order to get things across the line, I ended up having to proof check their work for them and write a letter asking them to copy and paste onto their letterhead and sign (because they couldn't figure it out themselves). I raised a complaint which wasn't handled correctly. Absolutely not the service anyone would expect to be acceptable and will be advising absolutely everyone to avoid.

Lawyer named in this review: Palaniappan Ahilan

Was this review helpful? Yes

Ranjit
Ranjit Added 2 years ago Report to admin
Cunningtons LLP
Collected whilst working at Cunningtons LLP
February 17, 2023 20230217142635

Excellent job done by Ahilan Palaniappan and his Team, Well Done

5

Ahilan Palaniappan was excellent throughout the process. The entire process was very smooth, he was on top of our case at every step and made sure that everything was done on time. We are extremely happy with the professional service from him and I will always recommend him and cunningtons to my friends and family.

Lawyer named in this review: Palaniappan Ahilan

Was this review helpful? Yes

About Palaniappan Ahilan

Palaniappan Ahilan is a SRA-approved manager - Partner with Cunningtons LLP. They have 16 years' experience in the areas of Housing & Property, Consumer, Commercial Property, Wills, Trusts & Probate working as a solicitor.

Languages Spoken: English, Malay, Tamil

Contact Palaniappan Ahilan

Address

Cunningtons LLP

First Floor

135 High Street

Hornchurch

RM11 3YD



Phone 02085530002

Website

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