Find an Approved Solicitor on the Atom Bank plc
Conveyancing Panel
Atom Bank Solicitor Panel Example Support Desk Enquires
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Atom Bank have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
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 solicitors should contact Atom Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the Atom Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Atom Bank will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Atom Bank conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
can you help? My conveyancer is advising me that he has to conduct a Local Authority search as the firm are on the Atom Bank approved lawyer panel. Is my lawyer correct?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with Atom Bank your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Atom Bank’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Atom Bank. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I require the services of a Atom Bank panel solicitor in Inverness. Can you assist?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Atom Bank panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Atom Bank to find out which solicitors in Atom Bank are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. After all the cost is only one £1 a month
We're in London, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Atom Bank , but our solicitor is on the Atom Bank conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Atom Bank conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
Can you point me to a directory of Atom Bank panel conveyancers on the CML Handbook Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online.
We were going to get a DIP from Atom Bank this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the Atom Bank recommend a solicitor on the Atom Bank conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Atom Bank conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the Atom Bank through the process.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 200. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Atom Bank 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 Atom Bank 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.