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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Progressive list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Find an Approved Solicitor on the Progressive Building Society Conveyancing Panel
Progressive BS Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions
My partner and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Progressive BS have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact Progressive BS and see if they can apply for membership of the Progressive BS conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Progressive BS will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Our solicitor is asking me for proof of ID documents saying that this forms part of his requirements as a conveyancer on the Progressive BS Conveyancing panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Progressive BS your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Progressive BS
Are the lawyers identified as being on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Progressive BS?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Progressive BS directly.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Progressive BS Conveyancing panel before the completion date?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Can you point me to a directory of Progressive BS panel conveyancers on the CML Handbook Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online.
Do the majority of lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Progressive BS conveyancing panel requirements are different to Progressive BS’s conveyancing panel criteria.
Planning on purchasing a flat with a mortgage with Progressive BS. I have received an online quote from a licensed conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the Progressive BS conveyancing panel