Cynergy Bank Conveyancing Panel Information

Please tread carefully here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the lender. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not at liberty instruct a panel firm of your choice. An increasing amount of lenders are making it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

During 2013, 21 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Cynergy Bank. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Cynergy Bank conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 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: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

When a solicitor is acting for both Cynergy Bank and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Cynergy Bank and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Cynergy Bank the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Cynergy Bank conveyancing panel status.

With banks and conveyancers working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been much call for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Cynergy Bank conveyancing panel but for all mortgage panels

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 application but gives the CQS team a complete picture of what has occured.

You need to get in touch with Cynergy Bank to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit question for lenders to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Cynergy Bank in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose your Cynergy Bank conveyancing panel number.