Gift deposit and solicitors

Sam2030

Hi my mother in law is gifting some money towards our deposit this has already been passed by the mortgage company and the mortgage offer has been issued dead signed now the solicitor is saying that she has come back flagged as a politically exposed person she is 75 years old worked in a shoe shop and retired years ago do you think they are taking the micky as they have now wrote to her about this and no doubt will be charging us for this x

princeofpounds

Well, is she connected to someone who does hold office, or is it just a mistake (Someone with a similar name)?
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/topics/anti-money-laundering/peps

I should imagine that she will be treated as a low-risk PEP, unless you've left out the bit about her brother being an oligarch. So it shouldn't be anything too out of the ordinary. But if it appears to be a mistake, there's nothing to stop her contacting the solicitor and asking why she has flagged up, when she's not aware of any political connections.

davidmcn

Sam2030 said:

Hi my mother in law is gifting some money towards our deposit this has already been passed by the mortgage company and the mortgage offer has been issued dead signed now the solicitor is saying that she has come back flagged as a politically exposed person she is 75 years old worked in a shoe shop and retired years ago do you think they are taking the micky as they have now wrote to her about this and no doubt will be charging us for this x

Hardly in their interests to "take the Mickey", is it? Haven't they explained why? As above I presume she's just unfortunate enough to have the same name as somebody who is a PEP.

AdrianC

Sam2030 said:

do you think they are taking the micky

No, I think there's a genuine issue you need to resolve... Perhaps it is mistaken identity. Perhaps it isn't.

Sam2030

I think so it must be 

Sam2030

The lady at the solicitor said that they had run a credit check and it had flagged as a PEP no other explanation she has no connections with any peps people. I was just thinking it seems very far fetched and obviously they will charge for writing to her about it 

davidmcn

Sam2030 said:

she has no connections with any peps people. I was just thinking it seems very far fetched

As explained above, it's done by a search against the name, not whether she actually has connections with any PEP. You haven't told us her name (and you don't have to) but without it I doubt anybody here can confirm whether what they're saying is true. But it would be bonkers for them to just make it up.

TBagpuss

It's not uncommon - I know with my solicitors that where they think it's likely to be a false positive they send a questionnaire out to specifically ask about any connections, and then proceed - it's about them being able to show that they have processes in place and have taken reasonable steps to address any issues.  Since they don't know your mum, they have to go by what the checks they are doing say, and they can't just ignore it because she appears, on the face of it, an unlikely person to have problematic connections. 
Since it's a requirement imposed from outside they aren't 'taking the mickey' , they are just not willing to risk financial or even criminal charges by ignoring or not carrying out relevant checks. 
Are you sure that there is an additional charge? Most conveyancing transactions are done on a fixed fee basis, in which case it's just extra work for them but no extra cost to you.