Scottish Widows Conveyancing Panel Information

The requirements to join the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

The CML Part II requirements of Scottish Widows are silent on this. Most lenders deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms of panel appointment where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for at least of 6 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 Scottish Widows’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Scottish Widows requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Scottish Widows’s conveyancing panel acceptance.

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

With mortgage companies and solicitors working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been much call for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel but for all bank panels

In the circumstances please clarify on the application what action you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Scottish Widows panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before cessation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender advising you as to their reasons?

You should get in touch with Scottish Widows to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook includes a specific question for lenders to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Scottish Widows in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to quote the firm’s Scottish Widows solicitors panel reference.