NatWest legal fees

MozGhul

Hi everyone, new to the forum.


I'm starting the process of purchasing my first property. One thing that seems uncertain is whether I'd have to pay my mortgage lender's own legal fees (NatWest in this case).


I've asked for a quote from a solicitor for my legal fees, which I'm happy with. However, there's also a quote for lender's legal fees which are "to be advised on receipt of the mortgage offer" and these are almost double the fees for acting for me.


Would anyone be able to tell me whether I'd have to pay NatWest's legal fees??

Thrugelmir

Yes you'll be liable. Far easier and cheaper to use a solicitor on the lenders panel. Rather than involve two.

MozGhul

Thanks for responding.


How do I find out who's on a particular lender's panel? Would this be something I can set up when I sit down with them and make my mortgage application?

Candyapple

MozGhul wrote: »

How do I find out who's on a particular lender's panel? Would this be something I can set up when I sit down with them and make my mortgage application?

I had this particular problem with Natwest recently as their panel has changed requirements to be eligible so even though my original solicitor was on their panel, when the application went in, turns out that they no longer met the new criteria so I had to get a bridging solicitor and again, found out that even though they were on the panel they still had to re-register to fulfil the panel's requirements.

This whole process added an extra month onto the timeline and that was only down to me finding out what was going on and chasing everyone as no-one understood what the process was as this is a new thing apparently. Natwest ended up paying me £250 in compensation due to having to constantly chase them and because they kept on passing the buck and also having to liaise with their panel.

Natwest also told me that solicitors re-registering with the panel can take anywhere up to 10 days to be added as there is a backlog.

My advice is whatever solicitor you choose, ask them:
1. If they are on Natwest's panel
2. What was the date of their last mortgage that was put through with Natwest
3. Have they re-registered/do they meet the criteria of joining Natwest's new panel?

Or failing that, just don't bother applying with Natwest.