Imagine yourself waiting for an operation (bear with us on this, we do have a point). Just before you start counting down from 10 (so it’s already too late to change your mind) you’re informed that your surgeon hasn’t actually performed an operation like this for over a year – but he knows the theory so there’s no need to panic!
Now, we’re not sure about you, but that sounds like a pretty good reason to panic!
The same is true of conveyancing and, before you instruct a conveyancer to help with your move, you should ask yourself: who would you rather carried out your conveyancing? A specialist conveyancer, who helped thousands of people move home every year, or a high street solicitor who manages to squeeze your case in between all the other areas of law they cover?
This is part of the reason why Nationwide have announced that they will be removing conveyancing firms that haven’t completed any cases in the past 12 months from their conveyancing panel.
Essentially, the firms who only “dabble” in conveyancing will be cut from the panel so that Nationwide can better protect themselves, and their mortgage clients, from mortgage fraud and negligence.
What is a conveyancing panel?
During the conveyancing process your conveyancer will work to ensure that your best interests are protected throughout. What many people don’t realise, however, is that your conveyancer also has a duty to protect the interests of your lender, ensuring that steps are taken to prevent fraud and make sure the mortgage money is being used for its purpose.
In order to manage which conveyancers a mortgage lender is happy to be represented by they will create what’s known as a conveyancing panel. This panel will consist of a number of conveyancing firms, all of whom can act on behalf of your mortgage lender.
How do I know if my conveyancer is on my lenders’ conveyancing panel?
The easiest way to find out if your conveyancer can work with your lender is simply to ask. If you make this one of the very first things you ask a conveyancing firm then you can save yourself time and money in the long run.
What if my conveyancer isn’t on my lenders’ conveyancing panel?
It’s not the end of the world if your conveyancer can’t work with your lender, but it does make the conveyancing process a bit more complicated.
You’ll still be able to use your chosen conveyancer but you will also need to instruct a conveyancer who is on your lenders’ panel to act on their behalf. This is known as Separate Representation. The biggest drawback of Separate Representation is that you end up having to pay double – one set of legal fees for your conveyancer, and one set of legal fees for your lenders conveyancer.
So, to avoid any nasty surprises later on in the conveyancing process, always remember to ask if a conveyancer can work with your lender BEFORE you instruct them.
If you have any questions on conveyancing panels, or whether your conveyancer can work with your lender, you can contact 1st Property Lawyers at any time and we’ll be happy to discuss this with you.
1st Property Lawyers are on all of the major UK lenders’ conveyancing panels.