Darren Polson helps a reader understand why their mortgage application was in jeopardy because of their choice of solicitor
The Question
Please could you give us a little bit of background to help us understand a problem we have come across. We are buying a home and have applied for a mortgage, and it was accepted.
However, the lender then said they would not lend to us because the original solicitor we used was not on its list or register.
We had to stick with the lender as their mortgage suited our circumstances, so we decided to change solicitor.
We would be interested to understand – for our own and other people’s benefit – what this register is. Do all lenders have this rule and is this something we should watch out for in future?
Darren’s Answer
Thank you for your question. Yes, the ‘register’ is known as a panel, and this is the lender’s approved list of solicitors/conveyancers. Most lenders maintain a panel of firms they have vetted through various areas of due diligence, such as:
- Meeting certain standards
- Has sufficient indemnity insurance in place
- Has experience handling mortgage-related work properly, and
- Poses minimal risk of errors or fraud
If your chosen solicitor isn’t on the lender’s panel, the lender might refuse to lend at all (as in your case), or insist you appoint a different solicitor who is on their panel.
There are many reasons why a solicitor is not on a particular lender’s panel, and this isn’t always a negative. It could be due to the size of the firm, cost barriers to being on the panel or specialism depending on your lending type.
Solicitors can add themselves to a lender’s panel, provided they can meet the lender’s due diligence and timescales.
My advice would be to always use a mortgage broker; they can check if the solicitor you’re using is on the specific lender’s panel.
Meet our expert…
Darren Polson is head of mortgage operations at Aberdein Considine. He has been writing a regular column for What Mortgage for over three years and every week he answers YOUR mortgage questions.
If you have a question for Darren please email kate.saines@emap.com or leave a message in the comments below.
