Pepper Money (UK) Conveyancing Panel Information

We can't comment specifically on Pepper Money (UK). Many major lenders are now introducing ‘file auditing’ as standard practice in relation to completed matters. This raises questions of confidentiality in relation to the borrower and the purpose to which the results of such audits will be put. The starting point is to remember that the file does not belong to your firm, it belongs to the ‘client’. But, of course, we will normally have two clients – the buyer and the lender - and you will owe a duty of confidentiality to each. So basically, you have to separate the file and just send the lender the parts solely relating to themselves. But, of course, as this will basically be correspondence with the lender, mortgage instructions etc.

Check with your COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if he is in arrears with the lender she is hardly likely to agree. However, if the lender can establish a prima facie case of fraud, then you may be under an obligation to disclose the whole file.

The emerging convention is that lenders are including an authority to disclose in loan application forms to counter this problem. Mortgage Express v Sawali, [2010] EWHC 3054 (Ch) indicates that such provisions are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.

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

CQS membership gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their panels. A number of Lenders now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel acceptance such as HSBC.

You would be advised to get in touch with Pepper Money (UK) to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an explicit inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Pepper Money (UK) in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Pepper Money (UK) conveyancing panel number.