Continuing Competence - Conveyancing Solicitors

The most cost effective, simple yet critical tool for a conveyancing solicitor to prove continuing competence

Conveyancing Solicitors have a regulatory requirement to provide a proper standard of service. To do this, solicitors will need to reflect on their practice and undertake regular learning and development so their conveyancing skills and knowledge remain up to date. The LENDERmonitor Continuing Competence Service is a key resource to provide help conveyancing solicitors ensure continuing competence.

LENDERmonitor is the only notification service that provides protection to conveyancers from the risk of missing updates to Part 2 of the CML Lenders Handbook.

By subscribing to the LENDERmonitor alert service, solicitors and conveyancers receive an email notification any time lenders of interest make changes to their policies. Staying abreast of policy changes is particularly important at a time when lenders are making a significant number of changes – in 2015 LENDERmonitor sent out over 80 email alerts – and solicitors and conveyancers are at greater risk of being sued for non-compliance with lender requirements.

Don't just take our word for it :

A superb risk management initiative…a great tool for all conveyancers that makes checking changes to standing instructions effortless - Andrew Nickels, Zurich Professional

LENDERmonitor send e-mail alerts to subscribers any time a CML lender makes a change to its policies. Emails are sent the morning after the change is made. The CML Part 2 requirements change frequently , and conveyancing solicitors who do not take note of these changes will quickly become out of touch with the latest instructions, and this could lead to claims.

The LENDERmonitor Continuing Competence Service is an upgrade service for individual lawyers. Lawyers will have access to their own reports to supplement their competency statement, which shows that the individual clicked on and read the individual lender changes.

LENDERmonitor and the SRA Competence Statement

The SRA Competence Statement defines what., as a property solicitor, you must be able to do to deliver a proper standard of service. So far as conveyancing solicitors are concerned, complying with the Competence Statement is one requirement of providing a proper standard of service in accordance with Principle 5 and is an important tool in helping maintain ongoing competence.

LENDERmonitor and the Statement of Legal Knowledge?

In keeping with the generic nature of the Competence Statement, it requires a solicitor to "draw on sufficient detailed knowledge and understanding of their field(s) of work and role in order to practise effectively…", i.e. to have detailed knowledge of the law in their area(s) of practice.

No conveyancing lawyer can claim that they are aware of lender changes as when they happen. Lender changes falls within a category that can be described as an ‘identified gaps’ in your knowledge. LM alerts are an effective way of addressing that gap.

LENDERmonitor and the Continuing Competence Development Record?

Once a conveyancing solicitor has completed activity to address a learning and development need, it is important to: Record the activity undertaken. The LENDERmonitor Continuing Competence Service deals with this by automating a Development Record. An example can be seen here.

Continuing Competence: Recording development activity