State Bank of India UK Conveyancing Panel Information

Lexsure has not been advised of any intention on the part of the CML to develop such a tool.

The criteria to join the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

You need to be careful here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the lender. 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. Lenders such as Nationwide BS make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which are to followed if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. (I) You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as valued and the title and other documents which a reasonably competent conveyancer should obtain, and, if there are, you must tell State Bank of India UK immediately. (b) You should take reasonable steps to verify that the assumptions stated by the valuer about the title (for example, its tenure, easements, boundaries and restrictions on its use) in the valuation and as stated in State Bank of India UK’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let State Bank of India UK know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for State Bank of India UK to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. State Bank of India UK are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) State Bank of India UK recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by their valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to them as a lender but which would matter to the borrower. State Bank of India UK recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that State Bank of India UK have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection such as a homebuyers report or structural survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from State Bank of India UK or the borrower. You still need to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Requirement relating to valuation reports even if you don't receive one directly. Failure to comply not only runs the risk of facing a claim by the lender but also being removed from the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel

The Law Society’s CQS membership is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of firms. A number of mortgage companies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC.

You should communicate with State Bank of India UK to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an individual inquiry for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. State Bank of India UK in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to disclose the firm’s State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel reference.