Lloyds Bank Private Banking Conveyancing Panel Information

The fact of the matter is that estate agents are suffering if their clients start out on the buying process having appointed a solicitor who is not on the panel with the purchaser’s chosen lender. Many conveyancing firms are only discovering when they begin working on a case that they are no longer able to work with that lender. Given the inevitable resultant delays in the transaction the chances of an abortive deal increases dramatically. in the circumstances there is understandable anguish on the part of the estate agent as a result of the lost time should the client have to change lawyers.

Although not necessarily published, lenders have varying criteria . We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Lloyds Bank Private Banking conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers

Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application

Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society

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.

PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic

and Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Whether the firm has ever accepted instructions in respect of property clubs and investment schemes

The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

You need to be careful here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled 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 conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Lloyds Bank Private Banking 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 Bank Private Banking panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Lloyds Bank Private Banking 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 Bank Private Banking’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 Bank Private Banking. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Lloyds Bank Private Banking’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 Bank Private Banking conveyancing panel.

The Law Society’s CQS accreditation gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to remain on their panels. Some mortgage companies now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel membership as is the case with HSBC.

You would be advised to contact Lloyds Bank Private Banking to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an individual inquiry for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Lloyds Bank Private Banking in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to quote your Lloyds Bank Private Banking conveyancing panel reference.