Frequently asked questions relating to the National Westminster Bank Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
My partner and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. National Westminster Bank have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
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 National Westminster Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable National Westminster Bank will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Expecting to complete my purchase next Tuesday. My conveyancing lawyer has asked me to provide him with a copy of the building insurance for the house as as he informs me that he is duty bound to validate that it is in order for National Westminster Bank. What does the insurance need to cover?
Any lawyer on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in National Westminster Bank’s Part 2 requirements of the CML Handbook (last updated on National Westminster Bank). Being on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel your lawyer is expect to follow these requirements.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your directory have online case tracking as I was under the impression that this was a precondition of being on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel?
No. There is no CML Part 2 or Building Society Association requirement relating to online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
The lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in London has without warning shut down. I chose them because I needed a lawyer on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel and my preferred lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist
I was thinking of purchasing my friend’s property. Assuming we can agree a figure, what’s the best way to move forward? I plan to obtain a mortgage with National Westminster Bank. Is there anyway to cut out the solicitors to save us both money? My dad reckons back in the day he did a lot of it himself, just went into the land registry office and providing them with the info they needed himself
If you are getting a mortgage with National Westminster Bank involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to National Westminster Bank. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel.
I have today made my last payment due on mortgage with National Westminster Bank. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the National Westminster Bank panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your National Westminster Bank 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 National Westminster Bank mortgage from the register. National Westminster Bank,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 National Westminster Bank has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the National Westminster Bank has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your National Westminster Bank mortgage has been paid off.
Planning on purchasing a flat with a mortgage with National Westminster Bank. I have received an online quote from a licensed conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel
