M&S Bank Conveyancing Lender Panel Compliance Tool

Lexsure’s COMPLETIONmonitor is web-based pre- and post-completion checklist for residential conveyancing lawyers. Supported by the CML and PI insurers such as AmTrust. COMPLETIONmonitor is a unique risk mitigation tool.

This system facilitates the way you can prove to lender panels that you are, and can remain fully compliant with their requirements, with notifications given on M&S Bank’s changes. Notwithstanding that utilising COMPLETIONmonitor is not a prerequisite for M&S Bank , demonstrating you can stay up to date with M&S Bank’s Handbook requirements is an excellent support to your application to their lender panel and, more importantly, protect your firm’s panel standing.

COMPLETIONmonitor creates real-time alerts, automatically produces regulatory and CQS reports, and will increase your firm's efficiency. It is also user friendly, cost-effective and, for some firms, leads to reduced PII premiums.

Find a Law Firm approved by M&S Bank

Banks and building societies frequently change their requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements from M&S Bank are not guidelines, they are instructions from a client. As with many clients, instructions can change - and they do change, frequently:

A Timeline of Policy Changes


Since 2008, M&S Bank has made 129 revisions or additions to sections of their version of the CML Handbook.
That equates to a section change every 21.2 days. In total, 36% of the sections of P2 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for M&S Bank have been changed since 15/12/2008.

To find out more about lender panel compliance,

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Frequently asked questions relating to the M&S Bank Conveyancing Panel from members of the public

I have just been informed by my IFA that my the law firm I have appointed is not on the M&S Bank Conveyancing panel. What can I do to check?
The first thing you need to do is to contact your conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for M&S Bank.
My conveyancer has discovered an inconsistency between the information in M&S Bank’s valuation survey and what is in the conveyancing documents. My lawyer informs me that as he is on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel he is obliged to ensure that the lender is with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s course or action correct?
A precondition to being on the M&S Bank approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on M&S Bank) 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 both parties.
I see that you have a post code search directory identifying law firms on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for my own house purchase?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.
I was scheduled to complete on my dream home last Thursday. My solicitor is on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel but has moved offices in the past couple of months and had not informed M&S Bank of their new address. M&S Bank is now refusing to release my funds as the information from the solicitors isn't correct.
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 M&S Bank branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can assist.
On the whole I have been dissatisfied with the level or service received from my lawyer. Is there a M&S Bank conveyancing panel complaints department or do I complain directly to the law firm?
Complaining to M&S Bank about their conveyancing panel is unlikely to yield much of a response. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. You can get information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.

The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.

If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.

M&S Bank have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up M&S Bank or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. M&S Bank will tell you what documents they want. M&S Bank will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. M&S Bank will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. 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 do I do now? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with M&S Bank?
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 M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.