Find a Law Firm
approved by Banks & Clients
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Banks & Clients list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Is my firm on the Banks and Clients plc Conveyancing Panel? How does my firm apply to be on the Banks and Clients plc Conveyancing Panel? How can my firm be reinstated onto the Banks and Clients plc Conveyancing Panel?Find an Approved Solicitor on the Banks and Clients plc Conveyancing Panel
Banks and Clients Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions
My property lawyer is not on the Banks and Clients Conveyancing Panel. Is it possible for me to use my preferred solicitor notwithstanding that they are not on the Banks and Clients panel?
You will need to have a conveyancer complete the legal work required when you take out a Banks and Clients mortgage to buy your property. They’ll carry out all the necessary legal checks on the property, make sure that you’re properly registered as the owner and ensure that all the necessary mortgage documentation is in place. You can instruct a conveyancing firm of your choice. However, if the firm selected is not a member of the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel additional costs will be incurred as separate legal representation will be required by Banks and Clients. Conveyancing panel applications can be submitted, so if your conveyancer has not previously applied for membership they can do so.
Please help. My conveyancer is assuring me that he has to order a Local Authority search because the firm are on the Banks and Clients solicitor panel. Do I not have a choice here?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with Banks and Clients 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 Banks and Clients’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Banks and Clients. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I require the services of a Banks and Clients panel solicitor in Belfast. Can you assist?
It is not clear why you need a Banks and Clients panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Banks and Clients to find out which solicitors in Banks and Clients are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. After all the cost is only one £1 a month
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Banks and Clients Solicitor panel prior to the moving date as agreed at exchange of contracts?
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 for a fee.
Do the majority of banks 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 Banks and Clients conveyancing panel requirements are different to Banks and Clients’s conveyancing panel criteria.
I have paid off my mortgage with Banks and Clients. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Banks and Clients panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm
If you have finished paying off your Banks and Clients mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Banks and Clients mortgage from the register. Banks and Clients,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the Banks and Clients has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Banks and Clients has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Banks and Clients mortgage has been paid off.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Banks and Clients 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 Banks and Clients mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Banks and Clients 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 Banks and Clients 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.
Other Topics
Transfer of Equity for Banks and ClientsPlease note that Lexsure Ltd is in no way associated with nor affiliated with Lexsure Solicitors