Scottish Widows Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Licensed Conveyancers has entered discussions 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. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Scottish Widows as well as the CML.

You need to be careful here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. 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. An increasing amount of lenders are making 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 conveyancing firm. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

When a solicitor is acting for both Scottish Widows and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Scottish Widows and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Scottish Widows the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Scottish Widows conveyancing panel status.

In the circumstances please explain on the form what action you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Scottish Widows panel status. 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 contact Scottish Widows to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook includes an explicit inquiry for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Scottish Widows in their Part 2’s state: Always remember to disclose the firm’s Scottish Widows conveyancing panel number.