Bluestone Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The Law Society of Scotland has advised that solicitors should check their panel status with lenders before accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include mumsnet.com

Bluestone Mortgages make no specific obligation to carry out any of the searches listed. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook simply states that ‘you must ensure that any other searches which may be appropriate to the particular property, taking into account its locality and other features are carried out’.

Remember that most ‘less usual searches’ (as described in the Law Society’s Conveyancing Handbook) are not optional as far as Bluestone Mortgages are concerned if they are ‘appropriate’. Most lenders will not require environmental searches (you should Check Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook to be sure), but you are obliged to explain risks and availability to the borrower.

Ground stability, Plansearch,flood searches as well as the searches listed in the question are optional – but only to the extent that you have allowed the borrower client to make an informed choice. Regardless of whether there is a mortgage, If you have not advised the client that these (and other) searches are available and what risks they cover, then you will be liable if the client suffers loss through not conducting one. Is this covered within your Terms of Engagement or Report on Title?

One search supplier lists over 65 property searches – do you know what all of them are and when they may be relevant? If you are unsure as to which searches are appropriate based on location contact your search provider or call one of the leading search companies such as STL.

There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:

• The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale/purchase and remortgage)
• Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
• Evidence of undertaking logs
• Number of conveyancing cases by lender
• Current and historic missed priority dates

The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before moving forward on this question.

Your insurance brokers are your best port of call to address this question. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Bluestone Mortgages solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You should communicate with Bluestone Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an express inquiry for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bluestone Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: Always remember to quote the firm’s Bluestone Mortgages solicitors panel number.