Tipton Coseley Building Society Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers
from members of the public
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Tipton Coseley Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
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 Tipton Coseley Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Tipton Coseley Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Please assist. My lawyer is not to blame but, the conveyancing for my house purchase has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Tipton Coseley Building Society was dated random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6. My solicitor says that as she is on the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are now out of date.
A precondition to being on the Tipton Coseley Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Tipton Coseley Building Society)which states that a local authority search be not more than half a year old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Tipton Coseley Building Society.
I note that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for my own conveyancing?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.
I am thinking of remortgaging my apartment does my lawyer have to be on the Tipton Coseley Building Society Solicitor panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel, but Tipton Coseley Building Society would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Can I be sure that the solicitor on the Tipton Coseley Building Society panel is any good?
seeking recommendations is a sensible start. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advise that you speak with the lawyer handling your transaction
Can I register a complaint to Tipton Coseley Building Society about the lawyers being on the Tipton Coseley Building Society conveyancing panel?
There is little point in complaining directly to Tipton Coseley Building Society. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this 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.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 225. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the Tipton Coseley Building Society 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 Tipton Coseley Building Society 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.
