Scottish Widows Conveyancing Panel Example Support Desk Enquires from members of the public
I have just been informed by my IFA that my property lawyer is not on the Scottish Widows Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?
The best course of action for you to take is to contact your conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you of the situation. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a firm that is on the conveyancing panel for Scottish Widows.
Please assist. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Scottish Widows was date stamped random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6 months + 3. My lawyer has advised that as she is on the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are no longer valid.
One of the many conditions to being on the Scottish Widows approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Scottish Widows)which specifies that a local authority search be not more than 6 months old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Scottish Widows.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Scottish Widows 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 Scottish Widows 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 Scottish Widows solicitor panel.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Scottish Widows Conveyancing panel prior to the moving date as agreed at exchange of contracts?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
I have a mortgage with Scottish Widows. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Scottish Widows?
Scottish Widows must be informed of your intention before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Scottish Widows’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Scottish Widows 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 Scottish Widows directly. You need not do this via a Scottish Widows conveyancing panel lawyer.
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 booked. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage app going with Scottish Widows?
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 Scottish Widows 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 Scottish Widows and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
Next month my fiance and I are remortgaging a 1st floor apartment in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon will soon begiven the go-ahead. My brother-in-lawrecommended that we make sure that the conveyancer in Hendon is on the Scottish Widows list of approved conveyancing firms. Is this really necessary?
It is not that case that all Hendon conveyancing practices are on the Scottish Widows conveyancing panel. 5 people a month use our search tool to locate a Hendon conveyancing practitioner on the on the Scottish Widows panel.
