News In Focus
21 April 2009
Abbey backtracks on panel strikeoffs
Mortgage lender Abbey has agreed to reverse some of the cuts to its panel of approved solicitors following a meeting with representatives of the Law Societies of Scotland, England & Wales, and Northern Ireland last Friday.
John Scott from the Law Society of Scotland's Professional Practice Department said: “It was a very constructive meeting and Abbey has promised to keep all three law societies informed on how it intends to proceed, which will allow us to keep our own members fully up to date.
“The bank has admitted that it has been inundated with requests for reinstatement following its decision to strike approximately 7,000 solicitors from its approved panels. It has now agreed to an interim approach of automatically reinstating solicitors if they have ongoing transactions with the bank and will continue to deal with requests for reinstatement. Clients who have an Abbey mortgage product can still engage solicitors who have been removed from the panel, on the basis that their application for reinstatement will be fast-tracked by the bank.”
Abbey has committed to work towards a permanent solution which will not disadvantage solicitors in the UK and their clients.