Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Bank of Scotland Solicitor Panel: Recently Asked Questions
Is it probable that
Bank of Scotland
will select a different solicitor on the
Bank of Scotland
conveyancing panel for a further advance during the lifetime of a mortgage?
Section 16.2.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook relevant to a solicitor on the
Bank of Scotland
conveyancing panel reads ‘Our mortgage secures further advances. Consequently, when a further advance is required for alterations or improvements to the property we will not normally instruct a member of our conveyancing panel but if you are instructed the appropriate provisions of this Handbook will apply’.
What can you suggest we do if we wish to appeal being removed from the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel?
If you are removed from the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel and you are unaware of or disagree with the reasons for your removal you should: (a) Contact
Bank of Scotland directly. (b) If there is an appeals process detailed on your letter you should follow the process.
In appealing a decision by Bank of Scotland, it may be useful to provide the following information:
- Full disclosure of your firm’s conveyancing history
- Your COMPLETIONmonitor reports, assuming you use the Lexsure software
- Your recent claims history
- comprehensive details of all employees in your practice and their position.
- Note down if a solicitor has been admitted to the role on completion of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test.
- Forward duplicate practising certificates, the firm's current professional indemnity policy and your accountant's certificate, summarising the % of the firm's gross fee income is resulting from residential conveyancing
On appeal some conveyancing firms have been able to regain membership to panels notwithstanding the policy by the respective lenders to refuse panel membership to firms with certain profiles or characteristics. Success is primarily due to the firms’ ability to persuade the lender to make an exception if there is sufficient evidence to reassure them that the firm is well risk-managed.
Is it the case that the Law Society has advised that firms check their status on the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel?
The Law Society of Scotland has suggested that solicitors should check their lender panel status prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include moneysavingexpert.com
Can you give me an example of some of the reports available via COMPLETIONmonitor to support my appeal to be reinstated on the Bank of Scotland solicitor panel?
There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:
- Analysis as to the nature of clients (e.g.existing/new/seen in person)
- Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
- Buy to Let transactions
- Evidence of undertaking logs
- Current and historic missed priority dates
Are figures published revealing the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel size as well as the number of conveyancing firms removed from their panel each quarter?
With mortgage companies and solicitors working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel but for all bank panel listings
my firm’s membership of the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel was revoked but was reinstated on appeal, do I need to include these details on my CQS application?
We would recommend that you supply details of the date of removal, information on the reason for
removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This
should not adversely impact your application but gives the Law Society a complete picture of what has happened.
I am on the
Bank of Scotland
conveyancing panel and scheduled to complete a purchase within the next week. I dont have a Mortgage Deed for the client to sign.
Who do I contact at Bank of Scotland to obtain duplicate documents?
You should contact Bank of Scotland
to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates a specific section for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents.
Bank of Scotland in their Part 2’s state:
Always remember to disclose the firm’s Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel number.
Find a Lawyer on the Bank of Scotland Solicitor Panel
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Bank of Scotland
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2025 | [no data] |
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
| 2020 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
Other related topics:
- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited Bank of Scotland Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Bank of Scotland borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Bank of Scotland panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Bank of Scotland lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Bank of Scotland
- Consent-to-Let help for Bank of Scotland
- Contractor Mortgages with Bank of Scotland
