Progressive BS Conveyancing Panel Information

Paragraph 16.2.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook applicable to a solicitor on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel reads ‘Our mortgage secures further advances. Consequently, when a further advance is required for alterations or improvements to the property we will not normally instruct a member of our conveyancing panel but if you are instructed the appropriate provisions of this Handbook will apply’.

The criteria to join the Progressive BS conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of Progressive BS are silent on this. Most lenders address the question of file retention via their Terms and Conditions where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for a minimum six years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be used against them. It is therefore important to retain these documents to protect Progressive BS’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Progressive BS requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Progressive BS’s conveyancing panel membership.

What you should do largely depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Progressive BS 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 Progressive BS conveyancing panel.

CQS membership 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 approved list of firms. Some mortgage companies now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel membership such as Santander.

You would be advised to get in touch with Progressive BS to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an individual section for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Progressive BS in their Part 2’s state: It helps to disclose the firm’s Progressive BS conveyancing panel reference.