Opt for Nationwide solicitor with mortgage ?

nirish

The nationwide mortgage I am proceeding with includes free 'standard legal fees' or £250 cashback.

The explanation of what this covers is as below :

'Nationwide will provide a solicitor from its own panel and will pay the basic fee for the legal work involved in a standard property purchase and any additional legal fee if the property is leasehold or commonhold. The offer of free legal fees does not include any payment for costs that the conveyancer must pay to a third party such as local authority or other search fees, Stamp duty or registration fees payable to the Land Registry. The offer also does not include the charge, plus VAT, payable to the conveyancer to deal with the settlement of any Stamp Duty and the submission of the Stamp Duty Land Tax form. These costs have to be paid by you. If you opt for the £250 cashback alternative, it will be paid within one month of completion of the mortgage. Where more than one qualifying mortgage product is selected as part of a single application, only one cashback payment will be payable.'

Does anyone have any experience with nationwide solicitors or know how much I am likely to have to pay for the items which aren't included, fees to third parties, search fees and registration fees.

Any advice on this appreciated, really not sure whether to opt for the Nationwide solicitor or take the £250 and find my own.

nirish

Can anyone please help advise on this ?

Thrugelmir

You'll pay more than £250 if you choose your own solicitor.

The additional costs are more or less standard charges that you'll incur who ever you choose.

So I would suggest that you obtain a list of panel solicitors from the Nationwide and select a couple that are convenient for you. Give them a call and ask for a quote for the additional fees that are payable.

nirish

I hadn't realised the system would work this way.

Panel solicitors in different areas which I can choose between.

I had assumed it would be done through a central nationwide soliciting service which would more than likely be remote.

Has anyone got experience of this option with a nationwide mortgage ???

Jimbo1976

Sometimes the lenders appointed conveyancer can be less accountable than one you choose and instruct yourself. It is likely to a be a large scale operation so there is a degree of call centre/no one responsible/10 days to open a letter etc. Whereas you are in control of any solicitor that you appoint and pay for.

Ultimately whether or not to use Nationwide's conveyancer depends on balancing a couple of things.

1) The timescales involved. If you are remortgaging and have a decent period before your old rate expires (or it has already expried) then using Nationwide's conveyancer isn't a huge risk. If you are releasing funds for something with a specific deadline then i would choose your own conveyancer from the panel.

2) Cost. as Thrugelmir has pointed out your own conveyancer will charge you more than £250.

So you need to find out how much more than £250 it will cost and whether its worth paying this premium to have more control and a potentially faster completion.

Ms-Money-Penny

I used Nationwide's panel of solicitors with "free legal fees" still cost me about £600.00 on top.

Word of advice the reason why they're offering the £250.00 cash back is due to the number of complaints.

I for one wished i'd opted for my own solicitor (no cash back option at the time).

Thrugelmir

Jimbo1976 wrote: »

So you need to find out how much more than £250 it will cost and whether its worth paying this premium to have more control and a potentially faster completion.

Appointing your own solicitor guarantees nothing. Speed of completion depends on the players in the transaction/chain.

Many medium sized solicitors practices have specialist conveyancing teams. Not all work is farmed out to battery farm companies.

Ms-Money-PennyI for one wished i'd opted for my own solicitor (no cash back option at the time).

If the solicitor is not on the NW's approved panel. Then you would also be required to pay yet more fees as the NW would appoint their own.

The solicitor handling the transaction also represents the lender not just the borrower. A point which frequently gets overlooked.

bigadaj

nirish wrote: »

I hadn't realised the system would work this way.

Panel solicitors in different areas which I can choose between.

I had assumed it would be done through a central nationwide soliciting service which would more than likely be remote.

Has anyone got experience of this option with a nationwide mortgage ???

If nationwide covered soliciting then I think their profits would increase dramatically!

kevin0410

i recently used nationwide's own solicitor which was o'neill patient.
they were fine, had own case manager and were quick at responding to emails. They even chased me when the mortgage offer was taking longer to arrive than planned.

nirish

Thanks everyone, few interesting thoughts in there.

Can I just clarify how this would work, when I apply for the mortgage do they just assign me a lawyer or do I get a choice from the panel ??

I would like to get a quote from the companies involved for work that isn't included but my nationwide mortgage advisor is away for a week and no one else seems to be any use on this front !!

sockpuppet

As far as I am aware Nationwide will just allocate a solicitor to you.
None of our clients have ever been given the option to 'choose one from their panel'
We have dealt with Nationwide a lot and havent really had any problems with their solicitors
Once instructed by Nationwide they will send you paperwork with costs on etc and you could always get a quote or two from local firms and just see how their total cost will compare, as others have said i would expect it to cost more using your own solicitors - but then you would also get the cashback once you had completed.