Q and A’s regarding the Barclays - Woolwich Solicitor Panel
from members of the public
My wife and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays - Woolwich have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme.
Your property lawyers should contact Barclays - Woolwich and see if they can apply for membership of the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Barclays - Woolwich will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My son is buying a new build apartment with a home loan from Barclays - Woolwich. His lawyer has advised him of a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. This document is news to me - what is it and who needs sight of it?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested.
The Developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it.
The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am purchasing a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in London who is on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing. Can you recommend a local solicitor?
Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Barclays - Woolwich . We don’t recommend any particular firm.
I was expecting to complete on my flat last Thursday. My lawyer’s firm is on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel but has changed address 8 weeks ago and had not informed Barclays - Woolwich of their new address. Barclays - Woolwich has locked down the release of mortgage funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is as unusual as it is unlucky. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Barclays - Woolwich branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Barclays - Woolwich. Solicitors have been chosen? What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Barclays - Woolwich?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Barclays - Woolwich conducted the survey? Have you advised Barclays - Woolwich as your lawyers details and checked that your lawyer is on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 200. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Barclays - Woolwich panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My offer on house has been accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage app going with Barclays - Woolwich?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey/valuation, conveyancing search costs, etc). First you should check that your solicitor is on the Barclays - Woolwich conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot mortgage some buyers would pally for the mortgage with Barclays - Woolwich and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
