The Bold Group, a national network representing high street law firms, has received a vast number of complaints following HSBC’s launch of its conveyancing panel last Monday.
The panel consists of 42 firms and is being managed by Countrywide. Customers are still free to use their own solicitor or conveyancer but HSBC uses a panel to undertake its own legal requirements.
Rob Hailstone, founder of The Bold Group said that since the launch, it has been contacted by a number of high street solicitor firms, who have expressed their anger over the lender’s decision to use a panel.
He said: “It’s understandable that many law firms feel both threatened and angry about this. HSBC’s decision will not only cause concern among conveyancing law firms but it will result in increased costs and delays for consumers as well as alarming the thousands of estate agents operating in the UK.
“I strongly believe that within a relatively short period of time, HSBC and its mortgage customers will regret this badly thought through and poorly implemented development and I would urge HSBC to reconsider its position now.”
A spokesman for HSBC said that it launched its conveyancing panel to help protect its borrowers from mortgage fraud.
“Following the FSA’s thematic review of lenders’ systems and processes, we looked at how we could better comply with their guidance to prevent mortgage fraud and decided to set up a conveyancing panel.
“We’ve never had a panel before and all of our customers are able to use their own solicitor if they want. If that is what they choose then we will work with them in a professional way, so we can’t see why it would take any longer for a case to complete.”
Eddie Goldsmith, partner at Goldsmith Williams said that HSBC’s restricted panel is a shape of things to come.
“HSBC, like any other lender, have a right to restrict their panel in view of that anxiety over the quality over legal services, which their general panel provides.
“The downside to that is that there will be potentially extra expense to the borrower if they still wish to use their own solicitor rather than the HSBC panel. But this is a restricted panel model, it does provide for a full service for the borrower and the lender at a competitive price, therefore the lender gets what it wants, which is a quality legal service from trusted conveyancers and the borrower has a choice to use their own solicitor.”
Goldsmith added: “I’m sorry for high street solicitors who may not be on the panel but this is just a shape of how the market will be in the future. There will be more restricted panels, lenders are taking more control of the management of their panels and I think this is just the way it has to be.”
The Bold Group said it will be collating feedback and concerns from member organisations, which it plans to submit to HSBC over the coming weeks.
