Lloyds Conveyancing Panel Information

The concern here is if you are expect to enter into ‘more onerous’ conditions that than the Handbook obligations. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Lloyds 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.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Lloyds to take a much more pro-active approach in relation to the management and make up of their conveyancer panels. The knock on effect of this is that it is more likely that there will be a higher number of cases where a conveyancer is not on the Lloyds panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Lloyds have appointed a separate lawyer to act on their behalf where the new CML Part 3 requirements apply. Section 11.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3 requires Lloyds’s panel solicitor to ‘ ...transfer the mortgage advance directly to the Seller’s conveyancer. The Seller’s conveyancer must be required to hold the mortgage advance on the terms of the required undertaking. The example borrower’s conveyancer’s undertaking letter includes a specific example of the seller’s undertaking’. You should expect to be advised to received the mortgage advance directly from the conveyancing solicitors for Lloyds. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Lloyds’s solicitors to discharge any charges secured on the property and to send directly to them the executed transfer and any other documents required to enable us to effect registration. Please remember to carefully consider undertakings in accordance with your firm’s protocol and record them in your undertakings logg. Please remember that as well as this breach of this undertaking having regulatory and compliance implications it’s breach could also result in your firm being removed off the Lloyds conveyancing panel.

Given that your practice in is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel and you are acting for them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Lloyds are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Lloyds’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Lloyds will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Lloyds alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee landlord.

With banks and solicitors working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Lloyds conveyancing panel but for all bank panels

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 Lloyds solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to get in touch with Lloyds to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an explicit section for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Lloyds in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Lloyds solicitors panel reference.