Bank of Ireland Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

Bank of Ireland Mortgages’s answer to this question can be found at section 6.4.4 of their CML Part 2 requirements

Paragraph 16.2.1 of Part 1 of the Handbook applicable to a solicitor on the Bank of Ireland Mortgages 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’.

The Scottish Law Society has suggested that solicitors should check their panel status with lenders before accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Bank of Ireland Mortgages conveyancing panel. The suggestion 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

There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:

• The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale/purchase and remortgage)
• Average mortgage advance
• Current and historic missed priority dates
• Average time frame to send deeds to the lender (calculated from completion date or title registration)
• Buy to Let transactions

The best placed professionals to answer this question are your insurance brokers. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Bank of Ireland Mortgages solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to communicate with Bank of Ireland Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an individual question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bank of Ireland Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to disclose the firm’s Bank of Ireland Mortgages solicitors panel reference.