Adam & Company Conveyancing Panel Information

We only know of a couple of lenders that operate a separate approved solicitors panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain threshold. You should nevertheless check directly with Adam & Company. 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 Adam & Company

As is the case with the Law Society the CLC has initiated dialogue with banks and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. It is likely that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Adam & Company in recent years.

We can't comment specifically on Adam & Company. Many major lenders are now introducing ‘file auditing’ as standard practice in relation to completed matters. This raises questions of confidentiality in relation to the borrower and the purpose to which the results of such audits will be put. The starting point is to remember that the file does not belong to your firm, it belongs to the ‘client’. But, of course, we will normally have two clients – the buyer and the lender - and you will owe a duty of confidentiality to each. So basically, you have to separate the file and just send the lender the parts solely relating to themselves. But, of course, as this will basically be correspondence with the lender, mortgage instructions etc.

Check with your COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if he is in arrears with the lender he is hardly likely to agree. However, if the lender can establish a prima facie case of fraud, then you may be under an obligation to disclose the whole file.

The emerging convention is that lenders are including an authority to disclose in loan application forms to counter this problem. Mortgage Express v Sawali, [2010] EWHC 3054 (Ch) indicates that such provisions are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.

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)
• Average time frame to register charges at the Land Registry
• Number of conveyancing cases by lender
• Average time frame to send deeds to the lender (calculated from completion date or title registration)
• Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data

CQS accreditation is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of conveyancing solicitors. A number of mortgage companies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership as is the case with HSBC.

You would be advised to contact Adam & Company to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has an individual inquiry for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Adam & Company in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Adam & Company solicitors panel reference.