FAQs : The Virgin Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
It has come to my attention via my broker that my lawyer is not on the Virgin Solicitor panel. What can I do to check?
The best course of action for you to take is to contact your lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the the approved Virgin solicitor panel.
My grandson is in the process of securing a new build apartment with a home loan from Virgin. His lawyer has said that there is a delay in receiving the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested.
The Developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it.
The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am buying a house and need a conveyancing solicitor in London who is on the Virgin conveyancing. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Virgin . We don’t recommend any particular firm.
The lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in Manchester has suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I needed a firm on the Virgin conveyancing panel and my preferred lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £175 for searches. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors 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 Virgin 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 solicitors should be in a position to assist
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Virgin do solicitors 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.
My brother and I have had an offer accepted on a house I spoke to a conveyancer recommended by my mum and he recommended using a law firm approved by Virgin. The estate agent recommended two local firms so I asked Virgin if the 2 suggested solicitors are approved, which they are not. Virgin pointed out that either practice can fill out the appropriate forms to become approved. Do I (1) save myself the aggravation and use one of Virgin 's conveyancing panel solicitors (2) Use the local solicitor and accept there may be delays etc as they go through the approval process.
Enquire of Virgin to suggest a law firm in your location. Lenders have them all over the country. You can also use our search tool at the top of this page to search for a lawyer on the Virgin conveyancing panel based on location. If you particularly like the sound of one of the local lawyers that you have spoken to ask them if they would go onto Virgin conveyancing panel as it may only take about 2-3 weeks. As long as they meet Virgin’s requirements it can be a very simple job for the solicitor. Other stuff will be going on in parallel (as you are at an early stage) so it may not delay matters.
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in month 8 but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Virgin are being a right pain. The solicitor who is on the Virgin conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Virgin are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Virgin have a conveyancing panel of they don’t accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Virgin have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Virgin may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing correctly and safely installed. It merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
