Virgin Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
A solicitor my husband and I wanted to use for conveyancing on a purchase said he will levy higher legal fees if my lender is due to their unusual legal requirements. Am I likely to be frustrated using Virgin? Is Virgin conveyancing so much more difficult?
Virgin conveyancing requirements for their panel are no better or no more complicated than most lenders.
It is the case now the CML Handbook, the "bible" used by solicitors to establish lender requirements, is different for each lender.
It is not clear if your lawyer is on the Virgin conveyancing panel. If they are not, this does add further risk of delay as Virgin will appoint their own solicitors to look after their interest.
My lawyer has identified a discrepancy when comparing the surveyor’s assumptions in Virgin’s home valuation report and what is in the conveyancing documents. My solicitor has advised that as he is on the Virgin conveyancing panel he needs to check that the lender is with this discrepancy and is content go ahead. Is my lawyer’s stance correct?
A precondition to being on the Virgin approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Virgin) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Virgin conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Virgin 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 Virgin 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 Virgin solicitor panel.
My house is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does my solicitor have to be on the Virgin conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Virgin conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. it might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
My fiance and I are in the throws of viewing flats and now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Virgin
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on the the EA. As you are getting a mortgage with Virgin , make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Virgin conveyancing panel.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Virgin mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Virgin mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Virgin mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Virgin in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.
My offer on house has been 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 Virgin?
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 Virgin 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 Virgin and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
