Find a Law Firm
approved by Intelligent Finance
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Intelligent Finance list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Find an Approved Solicitor on the Intelligent Finance Conveyancing Panel
Intelligent Finance Conveyancing Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center
I am in the process of selling my flat and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The reason given is that Intelligent Finance will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major mortgage company only work with specific solicitors?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
Please help. My lawyer is assuring me that he has to order a Local Authority search as the firm are on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel. Do I not have a choice here?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with Intelligent Finance your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Intelligent Finance’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Intelligent Finance. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I am Googling for online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the law firms that are listed on your website are on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel?
The law firms listed on our site have assured us via an online form that they are on the Intelligent Finance panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Intelligent Finance panel. To date we have not been informed by either a lender or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel is not accurate.
I was supposed to move into my first house yesterday. My lawyer’s firm is on the Intelligent Finance solicitors panel but has moved offices in the past couple of months and had not advised Intelligent Finance of their new address. Intelligent Finance has locked down the release of mortgage funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is a rare situation indeed. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Intelligent Finance branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can assist.
I had instructed online solicitors located in London who are on the Intelligent Finance solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £175 for the legal aspects of the Intelligent Finance mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Intelligent Finance?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Intelligent Finance but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Intelligent Finance will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
My existing mortgage is with Intelligent Finance. My uncle has just retired and wants to pay off my mortgage. After Intelligent Finance is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long will it roughly take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Intelligent Finance mortgage is discharged.
Although you do need to retain the services of a lawyer they dont
need to be on the Intelligent Finance panel.
You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and
to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to
consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about
the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die
within 7 years of this. As the property is your main residence you need
not pay CGT but you should speak with your accountants in any event.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Intelligent Finance mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Intelligent Finance mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Intelligent Finance mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Intelligent Finance in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.