Pepper Money Conveyancing Panel Information

We are not aware of any intention on the part of the CML to develop such a register.

What you should do largely depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Pepper Money conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the compliance officer you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Pepper Money conveyancing panel.

The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Pepper Money 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 completing the answer.

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

You need to contact Pepper Money to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has an explicit inquiry for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Pepper Money in their Part 2’s state: You will need to quote your Pepper Money conveyancing panel number.