Coutts & Co Conveyancing Panel Example Support Desk Enquires
from members of the public
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Coutts & Co have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
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 Coutts & Co and see if they can apply for membership of the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Coutts & Co will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My son-in-law is in the process of securing a newly built flat with a home loan from Coutts & Co. His solicitor 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 purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked.
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 Coutts & Co conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Coutts & Co approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Coutts & Co conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Coutts & Co solicitor panel.
I am thinking of remortgaging my property does my lawyer have to be on the Coutts & Co Conveyancing panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor but Coutts & Co will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
Is there a list of Coutts & Co panel solicitors on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Coutts & Co as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Coutts & Co do not ordinarily appoint a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Coutts & Co panel
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Coutts & Co. Solicitors have been appointed? How long does it take for Coutts & Co to send the offer to our conveyancer
There is no definitive answer here. Have Coutts & Co completed the valuation? Have you advised Coutts & Co as your lawyers details and checked that your lawyer is on the Coutts & Co conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through
