Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Cambridge Building Society Conveyancing Panel Assistance:
What are the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel criteria?
Unlike the CML the Building Society Mortgage Instructions deal with this. Section A.12 states ‘In order to act on our behalf your firm or company must be a member of our conveyancing panel provided we are a society that operates one – see specific requirements for details of our arrangements.
The Special Requirements state:
The minimum criteria for appointment to our panel are:
- At least two qualified partners who hold current Law Society practising certificates
- The practice must be listed in the Law Society or Council for Licensed Conveyancers directories
- The firm must have a minimum of £2 million professional indemnity cover
You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Cambridge Building Society solicitor panel appointment.
Does the fact that my practice receives LENDERmonitor Alerts assist in my application to join the Cambridge Building Society solicitor panel?
The requirements to join the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.
Being on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel for what period of time am I expected to retain the complete conveyancing file?
The BSA Mortgage Instructions state that the firm must keep the file for a minimum six years from the date of the mortgage. Data imaging is normally suitable
compliance with this requirement. As a firm on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel you must allow Cambridge Building Society to conduct such reasonable audit of your
information security measures as Cambridge Building Society or their
agents may to ensure your compliance with your file retention
obligations.
What sort of information are Lenders such as Cambridge Building Society 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 Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):
- Summary of annual accounts
- Charge registration history
- Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group
- List of all those who can sign off the Certificate Of Title
- Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application
- Whether the firm is able to operate in other jurisdictions
- The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing purchase and remortgage
- Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society
- Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor
- SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable
Are there conditions, outside the BSA Mortgage Instructions, that a
firm should be aware of when on the Cambridge Building Society
conveyancing panel?
In order to be on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors have to complete an application form and agree Terms and Conditions. A sample of 5 conditions that we see amongst many lenders Terms (but not necessarily Cambridge Building Society) are as follows:
- That any deeds you borrow from us in connection with the personal mortgage of a partner or director at your firm must be requested by a partner or director other than the partner or director concerned and the transaction must be handled by that other partner or director. If you are a sole practitioner and require the loan of deeds in connection with your own mortgage, you must nominate a different firm on our panel to request the deeds and handle the transaction.
- Without prejudice to your obligation to comply in full with the Safeguards provisions in the BSA Lenders’ Handbook, to report to us as soon as possible any suspicion that you have about the genuineness of any transaction in any respect.
- To quote on all communications with us relating to deeds issues, whether by telephone or in writing, the panel number that we provide for each practising address and the mortgage account or application number for the mortgage concerned.
- You have the consent of all borrowers to apply for the deeds, before making any request for deeds. We will accept your request for deeds on the understanding that you have obtained such consent. If this is not the case then you should advise our Deeds Services Department in writing when you make your request
- To forward the title deeds and documents to another solicitor within 24 hours of an instruction from us requiring you to do so. On forwarding the deeds as instructed you will confirm to us that you have done so. Upon receipt of your confirmation, we will release you from all undertakings relating to your holding the title deeds.
I recently attended a seminar arranged via my PI broker where it was mentioned that solicitors are being sued for non-compliance with BSA Mortgage Instructions. I am on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. Can you tell me how many Specific Requirement changes took place by Cambridge Building Society during 2013?
During this period 19 sections of the BSA Mortgage Instructions were changed by Cambridge Building Society. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with lender requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.
Remember: BSA requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.
I have been a qualified solicitor for nearly 25 years without a single claim against me and have been refused acceptance on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel with no explanation. Am I not entitled to know why?
Participation on the lender's panel of conveyancers is at the absolute
discretion of the the lender. The days of open panels are now long
gone. Many lenders reserve the right to accept or reject any
application without giving any reason. You should check your original
application to join the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel
to see if you are entitled to a reason.
What lender panels do you receive the most questions about?
BSA lenders do not come within the top 20 lenders in terms of
frequency of questions. The most popular lender panels in terms of
questions are as follows:
Find a Lawyer on the Cambridge Building Society Approved Conveyancing Solicitors
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Cambridge Building Society
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2026 | [no data] |
| 2025 | [no data] |
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
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- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited Cambridge Building Society Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Cambridge Building Society borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Cambridge Building Society panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Cambridge Building Society lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Cambridge Building Society
- Consent-to-Let help for Cambridge Building Society
- Contractor Mortgages with Cambridge Building Society
