Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Britannia Solicitor Panel: Recently Asked Questions
Is it true that the Law Society has recommended that firms check their status on the
Britannia conveyancing panel?
The Law Society of Scotland has advised that solicitors should check their lender panel status before accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the
Britannia 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
Given my firm’s membership on the Britannia conveyancing panel how long am I obliged to archive the original conveyancing file?
The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of
Britannia are silent on this. Most lenders deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms of panel appointment where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for at least of 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally
suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in
that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing
file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be
used against them. It is therefore important to retain these
documents to protect Britannia’s interest. To be
absolutely sure of Britannia requirements in this regard
please check the Terms and Conditions of Britannia’s
conveyancing panel membership.
What sort of information are Lenders such as
Britannia are asking for when it comes to applying to be on their approved conveyancing panel?
Criteria differ from lender to lender.
We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the
Britannia conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):
List of all Licensed Conveyancers within firm
Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers
top-up split and history of any refusals
Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer
Solicitor
Summary of annual accounts
Full complaints history for each licensed conveyancer
purchase and remortgage)
Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.
Whether the firm has ever accepted instructions in respect of property clubs and investment schemes
A recent SRA survey reveals that 76% of
solicitors have been removed from a lender conveyancing panel. Britannia and other lenders have restricted their panel over
the years. Why?
In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as Britannia
face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While
there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to
solicitor–led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders
indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of
pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is
lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a
conservative estimate.
These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK) which is in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One top 5 lender pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.
Britannia and other lenders are in varying stages of reviewing their approach to vetting firms on their conveyancing panels, to ensure their ongoing exposure to unsuitable firms is reduced. There is also regulatory impetus on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.
Can you give me an example of some of the reports available via COMPLETIONmonitor to support my appeal to be reinstated on the Britannia solicitor panel?
There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:
- Evidence of undertaking logs
- Average time frame to register charges at the Land Registry
- Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
- The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale/purchase and remortgage)
- Average mortgage advance
my firm’s membership of the
Britannia conveyancing panel was suspended but was reinstated on appeal, do I need to include this information on my application for CQS accreditation?
It would be advisable to provide details of the date of removal, information on the reason for
removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This
should not adversely impact your firm’s application but gives the CQS team a complete picture of what has happened.
My firm is listed on the
Britannia
conveyancing panel and due to complete a purchase within the next few weeks. I dont have a Mortgage Deed for the client to execute.
Who do I contact at Britannia to request substitute deeds?
You should get in touch with Britannia
to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an individual inquiry for lenders to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents.
Britannia in their Part 2’s state:
Please remember to quote the firm’s Britannia conveyancing panel reference.
Find a Lawyer on the Britannia Conveyancing Panel
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Britannia
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
| 2020 | [no data] |
| 2019 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
Other related topics:
- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited Britannia Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Britannia borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Britannia panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Britannia lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Britannia
- Consent-to-Let help for Britannia
- Contractor Mortgages with Britannia
