Auckland Council is getting a big ‘thumbs-up’ from the region’s conveyancing solicitors for a new system which assists them with clients’ settlement calculations.
When completing a property sale or purchase, solicitors have to request a statement of account for any outstanding rates. The council deals with 65,000 such requests every year.
Streamlining the process
Previously, a web form containing the request was sent to Customer Services for manual processing, which was sent back to the solicitor within 5 to 10 days.
Recently, council collaborated with both the Law Society and solicitors’ staff to better understand the customer journey and streamline the process. As a result, the process is now automated directly from the rates database, reducing the turnaround time from days to an email being received within just 10 minutes.
Not surprisingly, solicitors love the system! A lot of positive feedback has been received, including one Legal Executive who says, "I wish all the other councils had a similar tool."
By involving the end user in the design process, solicitors have been given a tool that really works for them. Not only is this quicker and easier for solicitors, it also takes legal time and cost out of the process for their clients, which means cheaper conveyancing fees.
