Barclays plc Conveyancing Panel Information

Some might be tempted to steer clients away from those who impose the greatest restrictions on panel membership. John Scott, secretary to the Society’s Property Law (formerly Conveyancing) Committee, advises: “The difficulty there is that you are effectively giving financial advice to clients. It might be that the best choice for them is from one of these lenders and it’s difficult to see how you could give advice not to choose that product without putting yourself in a conflict position.”

The Council of Mortgage Lenders are not a regulator and therefore do not investigate complaints against lenders. You can contact Lexsure to see if we can assist. Please see our contact details below.

We have come across many solicitors who feel they have been removed from lenders’ panels without an explanation or a good reason. Given that lenders have distanced themselves from creating a standardised appeals process for brokers, it is highly unlikely that an appeals process will be introduced for lawyers. Commenting on the call by brokers to have a standardised process, the CML said’ “While we understand that some lenders do have an appeals process, it would not be appropriate for a trade body such as the CML to seek to be prescriptive about such a process.” Some lenders do, however, set out an appeals policy. The Law Society does have information on its site that may be of assistance. If you would like to talk to one of our compliance experts about our Lender Panel Protection Service, please click here .

One might ordinarily expect Barclays plc via their Part 2 conditions to address this issue, but the Handbook is silent on deadlines to send deeds. You need to look at the Terms of Barclays plc’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you previously signed. For a number of banks, these Terms have a clause such as this one: ‘To keep us informed of the reasons for any delay in your being able to send the title deeds and documents we require to us within 3 months of completion or evidence of proof of registration within that period’. (We will send reminders if the deeds have not been received but will not acknowledge receipt of deeds). It is imperative to keep Barclays plc updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

With lenders and solicitors working so closely together, it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Barclays plc conveyancing panel but for all lender panel listings.