Royal Bank of Scotland Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
Is the fact that my conveyancer is not isted on the Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of the firm’s conveyancing?
That would more than likely be a wrong assumption to make. There are all sorts of perfectly reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should simply call the firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for Royal Bank of Scotland.
I do hope you can help me. My conveyancer is informing me me that she is duty-bound to apply for a Local Authority search as the firm are on the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. The searches cost a lot of money. Can this be avoided?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with Royal Bank of Scotland your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Royal Bank of Scotland’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Royal Bank of Scotland. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your directory have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the Royal Bank of Scotland 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 solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Newcastle has without warning shut down. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will 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 Royal Bank of Scotland 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 lawyers should be in a position to help
I have a mortgage with Royal Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Royal Bank of Scotland?
Your original mortgage agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland will provide that you need their approval in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Royal Bank of Scotland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Royal Bank of Scotland will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Royal Bank of Scotland directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel firm.
The for formalities of my remortgage has taken place with a loan from Royal Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about Royal Bank of Scotland. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the Royal Bank of Scotland branches or the Customer Care Team at Royal Bank of Scotland head office. In most cases complaints to Royal Bank of Scotland are sorted out very quickly. If you feel that the matter is not resolved you can write to the
Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Royal Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Royal Bank of Scotland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.