HSBC chamgig conveyancing rules

Richard_Webster

What I didn't realise at the time, was that the £192 was to pay Countrywide to act as middle man between my solicitor and HSBC so they could check my solicitors work.

Yes, this is just the point we are all concerned about. It is all so unnecessary. HSBC say it is to prevent fraud!!!

If Halifax, Santander, Nationwide, Lloyds/C&G, Barclays/Woolwich, Nat West, RBS, Yorkshire BS, Bank of Ireland etc aren't concerned why are HSBC?

What is even more stupid is that First Direct - their subsidiary, is not operating this silly scheme.

kingstreet

Question - if you use HSBC for your mortgage, you get to pick one of the 42 that isn't Countrywide if you accept them as your solicitor.

If you want to use your own and pay the HSBC fee of £160 + VAT does HSBC automatically use Countrywide or can the borrower ask HSBC to use one of the other 42?

I'm trying to find out if there's any way a borrower can stipulate "no Countrywide" in their transaction.

Richard_Webster

HSBC have just changed their version of the CML Handbook again!

They always were pretty good at sending money to solicitors with fairly short notice so when we were dealing with them we didn't take their 10 working days they said they needed very seriously. Obviously Countrywide etc did take it seriously and stipulated 11 working days as a result. Hence obvious concerns.

Looks as if HSBC have tumbled to this, so they have reduced the 10 working days to 6 working days. Hopefully Countrywide etc will make consequential changes in their requirements!

mjv1986

steevo_h wrote: »

I'm also a FTB and was very happy with the mortgage I found with HSBC as it was a very good deal. I make a point of doing a bit of research to any company I use and so was forewarned about using Countrywide for the conveyancing. I decided very quickly that £192 was money well spent to use a trusted solicitor instead of !!!!rywide and so went for this option.

What I didn't realise at the time, was that the £192 was to pay Countrywide to act as middle man between my solicitor and HSBC so they could check my solicitors work. Now that HSBC have approved the mortgage, everything has ground to a halt and the whole thing is a nightmare. There's been one small issue that has required my solicitor to provide some extra information. But HSBC won't correspond directly with my solicitor who has to write to countrywide, who in turn communicate with HSBC and then HSBC come back to countrywide, who in turn come back to my solicitor. Even though nothing has techinically gone wrong, week after week is now going by because the process of my solicitor asking a question and getting an answer from HSBC or the other way round takes 1-2 weeks, even for a simple query. I am now going to miss the stamp duty deadline because of all this (also Countrywide need at least 11 working days between exchange and completion).

I was prepared to use HSBC and pay the extra fee to use my own solicitor because the mortgage is a very good deal. If I had known that Countrywide would be involved in the process anyway, and that I was going to end up in this situation I would have probably gone for the next best deal and enjoyed a comparatively stress free transaction.

Once the process is finished I will be writing a long letter of complaint to HSBC and although it won't help me, I just hope if enough people complain that they might see that CPL is a company best left to rot.

I'm in exactly the same situation. My Solicitor has sent all the documents over to Countrywide but they are being so slow at getting back despite us telling them it is getting urgent now!

Between these clowns and my sellers solicitor, I am now most likely going to missing the first time buyers stamp duty deduction which is annoying and I would have been better off going for other mortgages which I saw and as you say have a relatively "stress-free" transaction!

Is a letter of complaint going to help. Ideally I would want them to pay my stamp duty, but that is not going to happen! I am just very annoyed with it all and If I had known this process before getting accepted etc, I definitely would not have gone with HSBC!

RobH_2012

mjv1986 wrote: »

I'm in exactly the same situation. My Solicitor has sent all the documents over to Countrywide but they are being so slow at getting back despite us telling them it is getting urgent now!

Between these clowns and my sellers solicitor, I am now most likely going to missing the first time buyers stamp duty deduction which is annoying and I would have been better off going for other mortgages which I saw and as you say have a relatively "stress-free" transaction!

Is a letter of complaint going to help. Ideally I would want them to pay my stamp duty, but that is not going to happen! I am just very annoyed with it all and If I had known this process before getting accepted etc, I definitely would not have gone with HSBC!

We’re in a similar position as the above. First Time Buyers that had an offer accepted mid Jan and having already had a decision in principal from HSBC decided to go with them as they offered the best deal (better than our local broker could source).

Now we ‘thought’ that would be plenty of time to get the purchase through before the stamp duty deadline but there have been various delays due HSBC’s new system and I would now say it’s now touch and go. We’re in Scotland and are currently waiting for HSBC’s solicitors (in our case Warner’s) to respond to our solicitor with the appropriate paperwork for us to sign. If they get this sorted this week then I’m hopeful things will be ok and we’ll avoid the stamp duty but it’s darn stressful! If we end up missing the deadline and paying the stamp duty I will be gutted and will wholeheartedly blame HSBC for the delay. We’ve done absolutely everything we can to move things along quickly, even making a 200 mile round trip to personally deliver documents same day.

I suppose for now we just need to sit tight and see how things pan out but if the worst happens then it might be useful if other FTB’s who have experienced similar delays get together and tackle HSBC as a group to try and get the stamp duty costs back. I’ll post updates on this thread as our situation progresses....

Nynaeve

Does anyone have a list of who is on the panel?

bargainlover100

I'm currently doing my mortgage with HSBC, it has been a nightmare but thats a long story. The solicitors they appointed were McDonalds in Glasgow. So thats Warner and McDonalds are 2 of the 4 in Scotland on the panel.

Nynaeve

timmyt wrote: »

yes, and you'd be shocked by some of the quality.

Despite all the critisism HSBC may still be our best (or only) choice. Are you able to supply the list so I can do my research and try to find the lesser of the evils?

marciehatter

Yes please, timmyt or whoever has access to the list, can we please know who these 42 solicitors are? We really don't want to go with an HSBC mortgage now, but we might have to as it will make a big difference to our repayments. Would be nice to know if there are any on the list who aren't a bunch of idiots!

steevo_h

An update on my situtaion posted above.

Since leaving that post, I have been phoning my solicitor and HSBC most days. I have faxed HSBC a couple of times expressing my concern at missing the stamp duty deadline.

My solicitor requested the money through countrywide 11 working days before the 23rd March (the last working day before stamp duty comes back for FTBs). It was a few days after this, that Countrywide then requested 2 more unnecessary searches to be carried out - and I say unnecessary because no other lender insists on them being done. They could have asked for these searches at any point in the last 6 weeks.

I have now missed the stamp duty deadline, and still have no clue when I might get to complete. The most galling part, is that I am paying Countrywide £200 give or take and for their part all they have done is add delay, and rack up search fees for me. They are happy though, because they still get paid.

I am now left paying stamp duty, extra fees for the extra work my solicitor is having to do thanks to Countrywide, extra searches and the prospect of my house purchase falling through because the sellers are now at the end of their tether because their purchase is at risk thanks to waiting for me.

@MVJ - I will also be seeking for HSBC to pay my stamp duty. I will be writing to them to make an official complaint, I will complain to the financial ombudsman and I will even consider going to the small claims court if needs be. I implore anyone who has had similar experience to me to do the same as it is the only thing that might make HSBC reconsider thier association with Countrywide. I wouldn't wish my situation on anyone.