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approved by Scottish Widows

You will need to have a conveyancer complete the legal work required when you take out a Scottish Widows mortgage to buy your property. They’ll carry out all the necessary legal checks on the property, make sure that you’re properly registered as the owner and ensure that all the necessary mortgage documentation is in place. You can instruct a conveyancing firm of your choice. However, if the firm selected is not a member of the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel additional costs will be incurred as separate legal representation will be required by Scottish Widows. Conveyancing panel applications can be submitted, so if your conveyancer has not previously applied for membership they can do so.

Your lawyer being on the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Scottish Widows of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Scottish Widows then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Scottish Widows.

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

This is as unusual as it is unlucky. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Scottish Widows branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.

Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the Scottish Widows branches or the Customer Services Team at Scottish Widows head office. We understand that complaints to Scottish Widows are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is resolved you can write to the Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.

There is little point in complaining directly to Scottish Widows. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this 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.

Scottish Widows will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Scottish Widows will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller. or Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Scottish Widows you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.