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Mortgage Lenders' Solicitor's Panel

dirk8gently
dirk8gently Posts: 3 Newbie
in House buying, renting & selling
I am a first time buyer and have been completing my mortgage application with the Post Office (Bank of Ireland) and now asked to enter solicitors details and have been advised of the following;

Please note, if you appoint your own solicitor, they should be a member of our Solicitor’s Panel. This means that they have been approved to work on our behalf and have Partnership status (they are not a Sole Practitioner). If you choose to appoint a solicitor who is not on our panel, we will appoint a solicitor to act on our behalf and you will have to pay both sets of charges. Please consult your solicitor if you wish to confirm that they are included in our panel.

If the mortgage deal you are applying for does not include free legal fees, and you would like us to refer you to our partner LMS for your legal services, please input your answer as: LMS REFERRAL. We will then call you to arrange this.

I am yet to appoint a solicitor. Is the above typical of most lenders? Is the list of solicitors available to me dramatically reduced now?

I mentioned the above to my estate agent and they said not to worry about it and advised me to use their recommended solicitor, but I do not want to be charged twice?

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • Yorkie1
    Yorkie1 Posts: 11,552 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    This is a duplicate thread. At the time of posting this thread you already had answers to your first (identical) post here:

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2640765
  • QTPie
    QTPie Posts: 1,373 Forumite
    We used a solicitor not on our Lender's (Britannia) panel. The branch simply got the Solicitor to send a fax to Head Office and added them to their panel.... BUT your lender may be different - you need to talk to them directly.

    Personally I would not use your estate agent's "recommended" solicitor: there have been cases (talked about on here) of "conflicts of interest". You want your solicitor to be able to act completely independently of your EA....

    QT
  • bOingball
    bOingball Posts: 45 Forumite
    The Post office use the LMS Panel.

    If you want them to find you a solicitor just type in LMS Referral in the solicitor box.

    They have started my FTB No Chain - Empty house purchase with http://www.grindeys.com/

    So far so good, a bit slow.

    A Bonus you get to use http://trackmycase.com/ which gives you updates on what's going on.
  • Richard_Webster
    Richard_Webster Posts: 7,646 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    The really big lenders such as Halifax Bank of Scotland, Santander, Nationwide, lLoyds/C&G, Barclays/Woolwich, HSBC, RBS/Nat West, Northern Rock, Yorkshire BS, Coventry BS, and so others do not discriminate against sole practitioners like me and I can happily act for both the buyer and the lender.

    Less well known lenders including now Co-op/Britannia, Kensington Mortgages, Skipton BS, West Bromwich BS, and a whole load of smaller lenders will only instruct 2 or sometimes 3 partner firms (and some will not use licensed conveyancers). If you get a mortgage from one of these you need to make sure your chosen solicitor can act for them - it is only a question of asking when you seek a quote - that's what I ask people to tell me who their lender is when they request a quote through my website. If they are getting a mortgage from a lender I cannot act for then I tell them to go to another solicitor. I do this because if they use me for the legal work on the purchase, the lender will chose its own solicitor to check what I do and there will be delays. Also there will be an extra charge for this work made by the other solicitor.

    Bank of Ireland/Post Office is a special case. They normally only deal with 2 partner firms or bigger but do have some sole practitioners on their panel (including me) - so the point is that when seeking estimates/quotes from solicitors OP needs specifically to ask if they can deal with a Post Office/Bank of Ireland mortgage. There are plenty of practices out there that can deal with them so it isn't a real problem and there is no need to go miles away to find someone.
    RICHARD WEBSTER

    As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.
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