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Conveyancing Panel
Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers
My partner and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Scotland have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for 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 Accreditation Scheme.
Your property lawyers should contact Bank of Scotland and see if they can apply for membership of the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Bank of Scotland will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My property lawyer has informed me that he requires personal identification documents asserting that this forms part of his obligations as a conveyancer on the Bank of Scotland Conveyancing panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Terms and Conditions that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that Bank of Scotland also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with Bank of Scotland CML Handbook requirements last updated on Bank of Scotland
I have been searching for competitive conveyancing fees. Can I be confident that all the law firms that are identified on your website are on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel?
The law firms listed on our site have assured us via an online form that they are on the Bank of Scotland panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Bank of Scotland panel. To date we have not been informed by either a lender or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel is incorrect.
My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor was left the house. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Bank of Scotland , pay off the mortgage etc. Is this allowed?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Bank of Scotland will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Bank of Scotland mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Do the majority of lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel requirements are different to Bank of Scotland’s conveyancing panel requirements.
Can I register a complaint to Bank of Scotland about the lawyers being on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel?
Complaining to Bank of Scotland about their conveyancing panel is unlikely to yield much of a response. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. You can get information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
Intending to buy a house with a mortgage with Bank of Scotland. I have received an online quote from a licensed conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel