Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

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 Furness Building Society 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 mumsnet.com

During 2013, 71 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Furness Building Society. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Furness Building Society 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.

With banks and conveyancers working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been much call for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel but for all bank panels

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 Furness Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You would be advised to contact Furness Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has a specific question for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Furness Building Society in their Part 2’s state: It helps to disclose the firm’s Furness Building Society conveyancing panel number.