FAQs : The TSB Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
My financial adviser has informed me that I have to pay TSB fees if I use my own solicitor. How good are the TSB conveyancing panel solicitors? I'm happy to use any solicitor in the country TBH as long as they're good and not exorbitantly priced. Would you recommend a specific law firm on the TSB panel?
TSB’s conveyancing panel is substantial so your best bet is just to check with the firms you are getting quotes from that they are on the panel. You can search by postcode on the search tool on this site to find solicitors that TSB will allow to act for them.
I do hope you can help me. My conveyancer is advising me that he is legally obliged to order a Local Authority search as the firm are on the TSB conveyancing panel. Do I not have a choice here?
You have limited options available to you. As you are taking a mortgage with TSB 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 TSB’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated TSB. 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 search have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the TSB solicitor panel?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders or BSA do not require online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
We're in Birmingham, First timers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is TSB , but our lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the TSB conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
When it comes to mortgage companies such as TSB do lawyers have to be pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Is it the case that all solicitor practices on the TSB conveyancing panel overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the TSB conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
My offer on house has been accepted, but there is a chain. 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 do I do now? When should I get the mortgage app going with TSB?
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 TSB 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 TSB and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.