Progressive BS Conveyancing Panel Information

The CML is an association rather than a regulator and therefore will not advise on grievances against lenders. You can of course contact Lexsure to see if we can help.

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 Progressive BS conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer

conveyancer client account(s) details

Areas of Law covered by the firm

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

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

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

List of all solicitors within firm

Number of partners per branch of the firm

House price discrepancies (declared to lender vs. registered at Land Registry)

Charge registration history

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

The Law Society’s CQS accreditation 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 remain on their approved list of firms. Some mortgage companies now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel acceptance as is the case with HSBC.

You need to communicate with Progressive BS to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an express question for lenders to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Progressive BS in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose your Progressive BS solicitors panel reference.