Nationwide Flexclusive - Free standard legal fees

cameroonmaniac

Hi,

I'm a first time buying, and I have a question about Nationwide's flexclusive fixed rate mortgage.

It says they will provide "Free standard legal fees" by providing a solicitor

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 this mean if we wanted to use their solicitor, we wouldn't need to find one at all? that Nationwide's solicitor will deal with all the money side of things (i.e. transferring to the seller)

I will phone and ask tomorrow but thought that someone here might already know!

Thanks

Yorkie1

Yes, it does mean that you won't have to find your own solicitor.

You will still need to pay for the survey etc fees and any associated costs. Plus if there's anything additional to the legals, e.g. adding someone to the deeds, you'll need to pay for that too.

There have been a few threads on here from people who have used the free lawyer and not been entirely happy with the service provided.

You might want to see how much you might be charged by a different solicitor, and consider whether to take the £250 cashback instead.

kingstreet

Here's one from a few days ago;-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4774435

KolaKube

Just in case - If you're in NI they can't offer a solicitor but you get the £250 cashback as an alternative x