The Mortgage Works Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders are not a regulator and therefore do not investigate complaints against lenders. You can contact Lexsure to see if we can assist. Please see our contact details below.

In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as The Mortgage Works face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to solicitor-led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a conservative estimate.

These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK), in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One out of the top five lenders pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.

The Mortgage Works and other lenders are in varying stages of reviewing their approach to vetting firms on their conveyancing panels, in order to ensure that their ongoing exposure to unsuitable firms is reduced. There is also regulatory pressure on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.

Most lenders do not operate a specific buy-to-let conveyancing panel, but a few do. We do not know what the position is with The Mortgage Works as of today. If you're about to receive instructions from a client on a buy-to-let purchase with a mortgage from The Mortgage Works, we suggest that you call The Mortgage Works to check the position.

Please tread carefully here. What you are suggesting may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. II is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled instruct a panel firm of your choice. Many lenders make it clear to their panel firms that, where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.