My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a home in Ironbridge and have instructed a Ironbridge conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Ironbridge solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Ironbridge lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We see that you have a search directory identifying law firms on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Ironbridge?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Ironbridge.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Ironbridge 10 years ago have long since closed. What are my next steps?
You no longer need to hold title deeds to prove you own the land or property, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I was advised by numerous estate agents in Ironbridge to get a quote from a conveyancer on your site. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your lawyers over and above a competitor’s?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for directing people to this site. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
My cousin has urged me to instruct his conveyancers in Ironbridge. Do I follow his advice?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to select a conveyancing practitioner is to have feedback from friends or relatives who have actually previously instructed the solicitor that you are are thinking of instructing.