SPECIAL FEATURE: The safety net when law firms falter

Two law firm collapses in the last few months have left thousands of property sellers stranded mid-transaction with no safety net.

First, PM Law, the Sheffield-based firm shut abruptly in February with notices taped to the doors of its 25 offices. Beyond over 600 staff, those worst affected were clients who had already exchanged contracts on a property and found themselves with a collapsed transaction, no solicitor and no recourse.

Then more recently, BLB Solicitors, a 40-year-old regional firm serving Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and the South West ceased trading at midday at the end of April, after a planned sale of the business was withdrawn at short notice. It entered formal administration the same day. Again, clients mid-transaction were left totally exposed.

What both cases illustrate is a legal and financial black hole that most home sellers don’t know exists: once contracts exchange, you are still at significant risk. If your buyer fails to complete – whether because of a mortgage withdrawal, a death, a divorce, sudden change in their financial circumstances, or a solicitor’s firm collapsing – you as the seller can be left facing losses of many tens of thousands of pounds.

While in practice you can retain your buyer’s 10% deposit and, in principle, pursue them for further losses, that assumes the buyer is financially able – and worth – pursuing, and that you have the time and appetite for costly legal action.

In practice, none of that helps you complete your own onward purchase. You’re still left exposed: delays can derail your next move, and if that collapses in turn, you will forfeit your own (often larger) deposit and face the prospect of further claims from your seller.

This is why ClozeSure exists. Acting as a safeguard, or ‘safety buyer’, ClozeSure is a first-of-its-kind product that guarantees sellers receive 100% of their agreed sale price if their buyer fails to complete after exchange. Consequently, it also assists buyers by limiting their losses to their 10% deposit, interest and legal fees, as opposed to being exposed to uncertainty and the financial pain of potentially being sued by their seller months later.

For a one-off fee starting at £60, ClozeSure guarantees to acquire the property at 90% of the agreed sale price if a buyer fails to complete. Combined with the forfeited 10% deposit from the buyer, the seller receives 100% of what they were expecting. It’s purchased in under five minutes online, at or before exchange.

This certainty is particularly welcome for those in a chain, who are financially and emotionally invested in their new home, and for risk-averse probate sales.

Beyond the risk of legal firm collapse, wider market conditions are also increasing the risk of post-exchange fall-throughs for sellers.

Two-year fixed mortgage rates have risen to 5.9% – their highest level since July 2024 – making mortgage withdrawal the single most common trigger for post-exchange failure. At the same time, stock levels are at an eight-year high and the proportion of listings taking price reductions is running 44% above last year. The arithmetic is brutal: the harder the market, the longer a second sale attempt takes; and a property already known to have fallen through once is the first to attract lowball offers.

ClozeSure protects against all of this, with total certainty and peace of mind for sellers from the moment they exchange contracts, during what is typically the largest and most stressful financial transaction of their lives.

Ultimately, the property industry needs to embrace innovation that puts people first. Transactions shouldn’t feel like a gamble. And in 2026 and beyond with ClozeSure, they don’t have to. It’s time we gave sellers the confidence and peace of mind they deserve and make failed completions a thing of the past.

Kindly shared by Peter Thompson, founder ClozeSure