Me and my partner are purchasing an apartment in Dingle. My property lawyer is not on the bank conveyancing panel. Am I still permitted to use my Dingle conveyancing solicitor even though they are excluded from the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?

You have a number of choices available to you here

• Proceed with your chosen Dingle lawyer but your mortgage company will undoubtedly appoint a solicitor on their conveyancing panel. The net result is additional charges and probable interruption.
• Choose a new conveyancer to conduct the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
• Convince your conveyancer to seek to join the mortgage company panel

We see that you have a search directory identifying law firms on the UBS conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I retain them for our conveyancing in Dingle?

We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the UBS conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Dingle.

Is it correct that all Dingle CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the TSB conveyancing panel?

It is true that some lenders now use the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.

My wife and I are at the point of looking at apartments in Dingle and I am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with RBS.

It would be wise to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their contact information on to the estate agent. As you are taking out a mortgage with RBS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the RBS conveyancing panel.

I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Dingle. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £175. A few days later, the solicitor called me to say that they were not on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Nationwide panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

Am I right to be wary by brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting a factory type conveyancing firm rather than a High Street Dingle conveyancing company?

As is the case with many service providers, often suggestions from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. But there are many players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and lenders might all put forward lawyers to use. On occasion the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there exists a commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to choose your preferred conveyancer. However, bear in mind that many banks specify a panel list of lawyers you must use for the lender related work in your house move.

I am thinking of appointing a conveyancing practitioner in Dingle for my home move. Is there any facility to review a solicitor's complaints history with the profession’s regulator?

One may find presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from investigations from 2008 onwards. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, ring 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could recorded call for training requirements.