Find a Law Firm
approved by Bank of Ireland

Lenders point to the fact that solicitor-led fraud is thought to be responsible for millions of pounds of fraud every year. The removal of law firms off of lender panels started with the rise in mortgage fraud, which prompted a thematic review by the Financial Services Authority in 2011. Its outcome included recommendations for lenders to review their conveyancing panels, which kicked off a major policy change in the sector. It led to banks and building societies purging less reputable firms off their books

The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Bank of Ireland are the client. A precondition to being on the Bank of Ireland approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Bank of Ireland). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Bank of Ireland can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices on our directory have advised us that they are on the Bank of Ireland panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel is not accurate.

The first thing to point out is that, 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 at a cost.

Your original mortgage agreement with Bank of Ireland will provide that you need their approval prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Bank of Ireland will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel firm.

A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Bank of Ireland to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.

Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller. or Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.