News

Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Birmingham Midshires, has informed The Law Society that they intend to change their panel membership criteria.

Panel criteria changes

Lloyds Banking Group intends to remove firms from its panel which have conducted a low volume of transactions on a rolling twelve month period.

Lloyds Banking Group will send letters to firms who are affected by this over the course of the next month. Lloyds Banking Group also confirmed the following:

• Regardless of this review their panels will remain open to new applicants. New applicants will have to meet the volume threshold within twelve months of membership.
• Firms which are to be removed from panels will still be entitled to carry out ‘pipeline cases'.

Following this action, Lloyds Banking Group will look to further rationalise during the remainder of 2010 using a risk based model which would assess firms individually. Although the low volume criteria will be applied across the board, Lloyds Banking Group will look at each firm on a case by case basis to ensure that, in for example, rural areas, access to solicitors' advice and representation is maintained.

Firms who receive a letter from Lloyds Banking Group will be provided with a contact telephone number to use to raise any issues.

Law Society reaction

The Law Society is disappointed to learn of these decisions by Lloyds Banking Group but recognises that like any client, they are entitled to choose which firms they instruct. We will continue to engage with the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Building Societies Assocation and individual lenders, encouraging them to recognise that across the board cuts to panels based on a ‘one size fits all' model is not the best way to address lenders' concerns in the current economic climate.