Hodge Conveyancing Panel Information

The CML is not a regulator and therefore will not advise on complaints against lenders. You can of course contact Lexsure to see if we can help.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders, together with Hodge and other lenders developed a standard set of instructions where a solicitor is representing a lender such as Hodge alone in a residential conveyancing transaction. These requirements are contained at Part 3 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook and are to be read together with Sections One and Two. The CML have published an example requirements letter to the borrower’s lawyer for use by the lender's conveyancer, and sets out to the borrower's conveyancer, the documentary and information requirements of the lender's panel lawyer.

The Scottish Law Society has advised that solicitors should check their lender panel status prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Hodge 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

The CLC has begun discussions with lenders 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 Hodge in the recent past.

In the circumstances please explain on the application what action you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Hodge panel membership. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before cessation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender advising you as to their reasons?

You would be advised to get in touch with Hodge to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Hodge in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Hodge solicitors panel reference.