Cumberland Building Society Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and PI insurers. COMPLETIONmonitor is a unique risk management tool.

This software optimises the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their instructions, with automatic updates on Cumberland Building Society’s changes. While utilising this technology is not a condition for acceptance on the Cumberland Building Society panel, demonstrating you can stay up to date with Cumberland Building Society’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, safeguard your firm’s panel status.

The system generates real-time alerts, automatically produces SRA and CQS reports, and will increase your firm's efficiency. In addition it is simply to use, cost-effective and, for many firms, results in reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by Cumberland Building Society

Banks and building societies often change their requirements. The BSA instructions from Cumberland Building Society are not guidelines, they are instructions from a client. As with many clients, instructions can change - and they do change, over time:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2010, Cumberland Building Society has made 78 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the BSA Requirements.
That equates to a section change every 35.0 days. In total, 34% of the sections of the BSA Requirements for Cumberland Building Society have been changed since 26/1/2010.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Cumberland Building Society Conveyancing Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public

My husband and I are purchasing a 3 bedroom apartment in Newcastle with a mortgage from Cumberland Building Society. We would like to retain our lawyer but Cumberland Building Society says she’s not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the Cumberland Building Society panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Cumberland Building Society
Our conveyancer has identified a defect with the lease for the flat we are purchasing. The other side have suggested defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor says that as he is on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel he must ensure that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or Cumberland Building Society?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Cumberland Building Society are the client. A precondition to being on the Cumberland Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Cumberland Building Society). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Cumberland Building Society can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . 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.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Cumberland Building Society 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 Cumberland Building Society 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 Cumberland Building Society solicitor panel.
I would like to get my ex-husband taken off the mortgage deeds. Can Cumberland Building Society really insist on which solicitor I can or can not use?
You can use any solicitor you like but Cumberland Building Society then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the Cumberland Building Society solicitors panel
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel?
Some major banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Cumberland Building Society as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Cumberland Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
Cumberland Building Society would not normally instruct 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 Cumberland Building Society panel
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties booked. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Cumberland Building Society?
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 Cumberland Building Society 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 Cumberland Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.