Countrywide Conveyancing/HSBC - avoid like the plague if you want to complete

glastolover

adamshlong wrote: »

Glastolover - did you complete you HSBC application? I'd be very grateful to hear what happened - whether you were assigned a forum solicitor by CW, or whether you were given a choice?

Yes I did, the night before last. What you do is phone the panel management bit of CC and they give you a quote (it is a standard price that all the panel firms charge) and tell you what the nearest panel solicitor to you that can do it is. They told me of a solicitor quite near me who I checked out and seem fine. I have instructed them, and confirmed with them and HSBC that this way both my and HSBC side will be dealt with by them and not CC. CC still "oversee" the case and provide case management through an online portal, but they will not actually do any of the work. Basically you can choose another solicitor and make sure CC don't do the conveyancing, and I am hoping that this will mean that I don't have the problems others have been having.

I have fed back this massive amount of poor feedback to HSBC. Apparently this panel has only been in place since January, I think it is probably a case of CC being overwhelmed with volume of work due to this and the stamp duty change this week. I am guessing it will improve, but clearly it is very poor for those stuck with CC actually doing the case work at the moment...

Hope this helps.

betmunch

glastolover wrote: »

I have fed back this massive amount of poor feedback to HSBC. Apparently this panel has only been in place since January, I think it is probably a case of CC being overwhelmed with volume of work due to this and the stamp duty change this week. I am guessing it will improve, but clearly it is very poor for those stuck with CC actually doing the case work at the moment...

Hope this helps.

I'm afraid I dont think you will be right on this. Countrywide Property Lawyers, now known as Countrywide Conveyancing Services have been consistantly poor for years.

Check out the reviews on Ciao for Countrywide Property Lawyers.

glastolover

betmunch wrote: »

I'm afraid I dont think you will be right on this. Countrywide Property Lawyers, now known as Countrywide Conveyancing Services have been consistantly poor for years.

Check out the reviews on Ciao for Countrywide Property Lawyers.

Fair comment, you could be right. That is why I have studiously avoided them!

betmunch

glastolover wrote: »

Fair comment, you could be right. That is why I have studiously avoided them!

Having had to deal with them regularly in my line of business I know I'm right!

But I prefer to point people to an independent source in case I get accused of having an "agenda"!!!!

AdamS_CivilServant

glastolover wrote: »

What you do is phone the panel management bit of CC and they give you a quote (it is a standard price that all the panel firms charge) and tell you what the nearest panel solicitor to you that can do it is. They told me of a solicitor quite near me who I checked out and seem fine.

Thanks - that does help. And do you think, if one doesn't want to use the local firm, that instead you could use another? I've heard good things about "1st property lawyers" (even though they mainly operate online, I've heard that things get done quickly), and so was thinking of asking to use them (as they are on the panel of 42 too).

Richard_Webster

1st property lawyers

Unless that's another name for Premier Property Lawyers - they are not on the list I have seen.

glastolover

adamshlong wrote: »

Thanks - that does help. And do you think, if one doesn't want to use the local firm, that instead you could use another? I've heard good things about "1st property lawyers" (even though they mainly operate online, I've heard that things get done quickly), and so was thinking of asking to use them (as they are on the panel of 42 too).

I nearly went with 1st Property Lawyers. I got a callback from them having got a quote from them through reallymoving.com or compareandconvey.com. They seemed OK and they were the ones who originally told me about the HSBC panel setup, so yes they are on it and you could go with them.

glastolover

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Unless that's another name for Premier Property Lawyers - they are not on the list I have seen.

1st Property Lawyers are on it, HSBC confirmed this to me. I wish you could share this list. I find it incredible that HSBC and CC can get away with refusing to publish this list. They have point blank refused to show me it on multiple occasions now. All they will do is say "yes" or "no" as to whether a solicitor is on the list if you ask. I went through about 10 which came up on a compareandconvey.com search, and they were all "no"..!!

Surely this is anti competitive practice of some sort, I can't believe it is legal.

Mobeer

My own HSBC application is on track.

Did have an odd experience whereby a different solicitor from the same company as I am already using (pre-mortgage application) phoned me as a referral from HSBC. I had to point out that I was already using them as my solicitors, having appointed them 3 weeks before. Other than this, HSBC did a valuation and agreed to lend what I wanted.

thebunny99

jonas123 wrote: »

Are they still insisting on the 11 day exchange to completion timescales?

My seller is threatening to pull out if we don't complete soon, but the 11 day thing seems a bit of a joke (we're still waiting for permission to exchange)

Due to some last minute delays in exchage we did exchange on Monday and complete tomorrow so only 3 days turnaround. It would seem the 11 day is not set in stone...