Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel Information

You need to be careful here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled instruct a panel firm of your choice. Many lenders make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

When a solicitor is acting for both Bank of Scotland and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Bank of Scotland and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Bank of Scotland the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel status.

Given that your practice in is on the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel and you are acting for them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Bank of Scotland are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Bank of Scotland’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Bank of Scotland will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Bank of Scotland alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee freeholder.

14 borrowers attempt to locate a conveyancer on the Bank of Scotland panel on a monthly basis in Hendon. Please contact the team at lenderpanel.com to see how your firm can be identified by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.

You should 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 CQS team viability as to what has gone on.

You would be advised to contact Bank of Scotland to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has an individual section for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bank of Scotland in their Part 2’s state: It helps to disclose the firm’s Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel number.