Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Bank of Scotland Solicitor Panel: Recently Asked Questions
Will the fact that my firm subscribes to Alerts via this site help in my application to join the Bank of Scotland solicitor panel?
The criteria to join the Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.
What can you suggest we do if we wish to appeal being removed from the
Bank of Scotland approved solicitor list?
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:
- Comprehensive disclosure of your firm’s conveyancing history
- Your COMPLETIONmonitor reports, assuming you use the Lexsure software
- Your recent claims history
- Full details of all employees in your firm and their position.
- Note down if a solicitor has been admitted to the role on completion of the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test.
- Supply copy practising certificates, the firm's current professional indemnity policy and the firm’s accountant's certificate, setting out what percentage of the firm's gross fee income is generated from residential conveyancing transactions
On appeal some 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 a ‘low risk’.
Is it true that the Law Society has advised that firms check their status on the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel?
The Scottish Law Society has advised 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
An established client of mine is looking to purchase a property for £800,000 in Liverpool requiring a mortgage advance over GBP 450,000.
I am on the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel but do Bank of Scotland have a separate approved panel when the advance is above 350k?
Lexsure only know of a couple of banks that operate a separate conveyancing panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain level.
You should nevertheless check directly with
Bank of Scotland. At one stage HSBC would only allow Sole
practitioners to act for them where the mortgage was below
£150,000. We are not sure if HSBC still operate such a condition. In
your case it is best to check with Bank of Scotland
I noticed the following question on my PI renewal form this year ‘Has your Firm been asked by a lender to agree to more onerous terms and conditions than provided for in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook?’ My firm is on the majority of bank panels including the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel. We have Terms and Conditions of appointment which we have to follow. Do I disclose these these Conditions ?
The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’.
You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before completing the answer.
Our membership of the
Bank of Scotland conveyancing panel was suspended but was reinstated on appeal, do I need to include these details on my application for CQS accreditation?
You should provide 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 firm’s application but gives the CQS team a complete picture of what has occured.
My firm is listed on the
Bank of Scotland
conveyancing panel and scheduled to complete a remortgage within the next few weeks. I can not locate a Mortgage Deed for the client to sign.
Who do I contact at Bank of Scotland to request substitute deeds?
You should get in touch with Bank of Scotland
to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an explicit question for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents.
Bank of Scotland in their Part 2’s state:
Please remember to disclose your 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
