Conveyancer charges for remortgaging

Jemma01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82010115#Comment_82010115

sorry by "different case", I meant mortgage rather than remortgage, I'll edit my comment. They do have an approved panel, but they wouldn't tell me who they are, I was told to "ask my conveyncer if they're on HSBC's approved panel", which honestly is a waste of time. I'm supposed to research to find someone with good reviews, and then ask if they're on the panel! I found 2, both said no.

silvercar

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82010121#Comment_82010121

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/mortgages/property-searches/#how-to-choose-a-solicitor

It seems their main criteria is the number of solicitor partners in the practice, the more expensive the property the more they require, I can’t see any other restriction in the link above. So that would rule out single practice solicitors and conveyancing firms that aren’t solicitor partner led.

Jemma01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82010481#Comment_82010481

They're not a single practice, they had at least 5 solicitors that I knew of, when I went there for ID verification, they had 3 receptionists.

silvercar

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82010494#Comment_82010494

That’s odd, those guidelines are linked to are from HSBC.

ACG

Solicitors or partners? There is a difference.

user1977

Indeed, it's who is in charge rather than the number of staff which is the criterion. Sole practitioners (which I think was the term being looked for above rather than "single practice") are associated with added risk, whether just the lack of backup / temptation to cut corners if the boss is struggling for whatever reason, and/or the risk of one person helping themselves to the client account.

ACG

I had a meeting with a mortgage lender in the week that reminded me off this post.

The lender no longer listed their legals as "free legals", they now describe it as "fee assisted" which I think is a better way of wording it. Basically, they will pay for the stuff that they need. But if the conveyancer needs other bits (ID check for example), that is passed on to the customer.