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Brokers - tell me about conveyancing

Journalist: John Fitzsimons, Freelance

ended 15. November 2022

Conveyancing is a big source of frustration for homebuyers - research by Smoove found that around one in five would choose a different conveyancer if they had their time again, while a quarter were unsatisfied with the experience. (https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2022/11/14/nearly-fifth-would-choose-different-conveyancing-firm-smoove/)

I'd love to get your thoughts on how hands on brokers should be when it comes to helping a client select a conveyancer. 

Do you recommend legal firms to work with, or use a panel manager? 

Does this offer an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the client and potentially deliver further revenue streams? 

Or do you leave them to it?

Any and all thoughts on conveyancing very welcome!

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Mike Staton
Director at Staton Mortgages
We live in a competitive industry now and brokers should be going above and beyond for their clients, our brokers all stay with their clients until completion. That way we can guide our client through the process and shoulder some of the burden with them. In my opinion, you should be using your brokers recommended solicitors. Unlike the estate agent, your broker is regulated by the FCA, therefore you should be receiving a better service from your broker. If your broker waves goodbye to you at the point of mortgage offer, then its time to get yourself a new broker.
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Kylie-Ann Gatecliffe
Director at KAG Financial
We as advisors feel some element of responsibility when it comes to discussing solicitors with clients. We have worked with some that are fantastic, and made the whole transaction very seamless, then at the other end of the spectrum we have worked we have some that have caused chains to collapse. Ultimately the client should know the options available to them, the reason some are cheaper than others - and what we feel works best from our own experience. We steer clients away from "free legals" on remortgages as much as possible, and refer through a panel manager of which we have a great relationship with. When it comes to purchases we work closely with a solicitor, we don't receive a penny for referring to her - we simply refer to her because we believe she is the best and we know our clients will be happy. There is nothing worse than a stressed client that can't get hold of their solicitor for updates, or to solve a problem. So knowing we work with someone who has the same ethos as us when it comes to the client being put first, and communication being key makes the whole journey a much better experience for all parties involved.
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Alastair Hoyne
CEO, Finanze Capital at Finanze Capital
We are in quite the unique position to actually have an in-house "seconded" law firm in BWL Legal. The client-lawyer relationship sits solely with BWL Legal, while Finanze separately provides lending advice. As we strive to provide industry-leading levels of client service, I recognised a need for my clients to work with highly skilled solicitors and construction professionals on board with achieving outstanding results. Finanze utilises the teams from BWL Legal and BWL Construction Consultancy to support its clients. We have has direct access to a client relationship manager who manages our client engagement and onboarding process, utilising industry leading technology solutions to speed up the process. We also receive dedicated legal resources to Finanze clients to accelerate legal processes for a faster turnaround. When it comes to our exclusive products, using our trusted law firm is a requirement. When it comes to vanilla products then we give our clients the choice but most opt to use our preferred firm given our relationship with them. Those clients that do opt to use BWL have experienced a far more efficient and professional service from the feedback we've received.