I am selling my maisonette in East Yorkshire and the estate agent has just text me to say that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named mortgage company only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in East Yorkshire ?

Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. 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 buyers' case. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.

After researching moneysavingexpert.com for a high-quality lawyer in East Yorkshire, most say that I should look for a CQS kitemarked solicitor. What is CQS?

The Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme is the recognised kitemark for legal experts in home moving process, trusted by some of the UK's biggest lenders. In 2011-12 the Conveyancing Quality Scheme was officially recognised by the Legal Ombudsman. The scheme does not cover licenced conveyancers. East Yorkshire is one of the numerous areas of the UK where there are CQS lawyers.

Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in East Yorkshire?

There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in East Yorkshire and Solicitor firms in East Yorkshire offering conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal aspects of the home buying process. They may both also deal with other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.

I recently had an offer accepted on a house in East Yorkshire. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £225. A few days later, the lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the TSB conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?

You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the TSB panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.

I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in April 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's lender, Skipton are being difficult. The East Yorkshire solicitor who is on the Skipton conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Skipton are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Skipton have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that Skipton have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Skipton may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

Do I need to pay for insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when acquiring a residence in East Yorkshire?

Unless a previous purchase of the property completed post 12 October 2013 you can assume that lawyers delivering conveyancing in East Yorkshire to continue to recommend a chancel search and or chancel repair liability policy.

How do I identify a East Yorkshire solicitor on the National Westminster Bank conveyancing panel? I am a keen cyclist and am happy to travel upto 10miles to meet the lawyer.

You can use the search on this page. Please pick a lender and your location and you will see a number of East Yorkshire conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have listed some East Yorkshire conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can ring them to verify whether they are on the National Westminster Bank approved list