FAQs for the Coutts & Co Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I would like to know the reason why all UK lawyers are not on the Coutts & Co Conveyancing panel?
Pre- 2008 most lenders had an appetite for risk which was higher than today. The Financial Services Authority in 2010 conducted a thematic review into mortgage fraud which concluded: know the conveyancing solicitors that you are dealing with. Consequently, lenders have regularly sought more information from law firms about their operations and the individuals who work for them and set certain criteria such a completing on a minimum number of transactions. Many firms that have been excluded from lender panels have 100% healthy track record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Such firms were never going to meet the criteria of volume of transactions the lenders required.
My conveyancer has uncovered a discrepancy when comparing the information in Coutts & Co’s home valuation survey and what is revealed within the conveyancing documents. My lawyer says that as he is on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel he must check that the bank is with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s stance legitimate?
A precondition to being on the Coutts & Co approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Coutts & Co) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
I am looking for conveyancing quotes online. Can I be confident that all the firms that are identified on your website are on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the Coutts & Co panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Coutts & Co panel. To date we have not been informed by either a bank or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel is incorrect.
My solicitors in Manchester have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Coutts & Co. Is it case that being on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the Coutts & Co Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Coutts & Co directly.
Is it the case that all conveyancing solicitors on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel work on a no move no charge basis?
There is generally no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their package
I have today made my last payment due on mortgage with Coutts & Co. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Coutts & Co panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm
If you have finished paying off your Coutts & Co mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coutts & Co mortgage from the register. Coutts & Co,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the Coutts & Co has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Coutts & Co has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Coutts & Co mortgage has been paid off.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Coutts & Co mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Coutts & Co mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Coutts & Co mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Coutts & Co in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.