Fleet Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

Many estate agents will be feeling the pain if their clients start out on the conveyancing process having appointed a solicitor who is not on the panel with the purchaser’s chosen lender. Many conveyancing firms are only discovering when they begin working on a case that they are no longer able to work with that lender. Given the inevitable resultant delays in the transaction the chances of an abortive deal increases dramatically. in the circumstances there is understandable anguish on the part of the estate agent as a result of the lost time should the client have to change lawyers.

As is the case with the Law Society the Council of Licensed Conveyancers 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 Fleet Mortgages since 2008 which is when lenders started being more restrictive.

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 Fleet Mortgages 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.

In this situation please explain on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Fleet Mortgages panel membership. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before termination of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You should communicate with Fleet Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an explicit section for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Fleet Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to quote your Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel number.