Bank of Scotland Private Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders do not hold historic copies of P2 requirements Pre January 2011. The CML advise that you make a request of Bank of Scotland Private directly.

The Scottish Law Society has advised 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 Scotland Private 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

Please tread carefully here as what you are intending may not be acceptable to the lender. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not at liberty instruct a panel firm of your choice. Lenders such as Nationwide BS make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

During 2013, 0 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Bank of Scotland Private. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Bank of Scotland Private conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.

Remember: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

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.

You should contact Bank of Scotland Private to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has a specific section for lenders to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bank of Scotland Private in their Part 2’s state: You will need to quote your Bank of Scotland Private solicitors panel number.