LONDON, January 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

From Monday 9 January 2012 HSBC is establishing a panel of solicitors and licensed conveyancers to provide the required legal services to our home buying mortgage  customers.

Customers who choose to use one of the panel firms will have the advantage of competitive fixed fees (see table 1), as well as benefiting from the speed, efficiency and consistent quality of service provided by the firms on the panel.

Customers will continue to be free to use their own solicitor or conveyancer to act for them, but HSBC will use a panel firm to undertake its own legal requirements. Previously the customer's conveyancer has usually undertaken both parties' legal work. Should a customer choose a non panel firm this new process will separate the two pieces of legal work, however, as before, the customer will pay for both.*

HSBC has selected Countrywide to manage the panel of solicitors and licensed conveyancers. If a customer elects to use a member of the panel, the bank will use the same firm.

Customers who choose to appoint a panel firm to act for them can take advantage of two additional benefits should their property purchase fall through:

• No sale - no legal fees: Customers will not be charged for any legal work undertaken if the sale or purchase falls through. Customers will only be charged for external costs incurred to date, such as searches.

• Free searches on your replacement purchase: If a customer paid for searches on a property that subsequently falls through, there will be no fees for the same searches on the next property if they find it within 6 months**

Other benefits for customers opting to use a panel firm include:

• Fixed fees: Customers know exactly how much the legal work will cost for a straightforward purchase. This allows them to budget accurately.

• 24 hour updates, 7 days a week: Customers can see what's happening with their  sale and/or purchase on-line, adding transparency to the process.
  

Managed service: the sale and/or purchase will be tracked to ensure the solicitor is carrying out the work in a timely manner.

Peter Dockar, Head of Mortgages at HSBC, commented: 'Our new panel arrangement will spare customers the time and hassle of searching for a firm to do the important conveyancing work on their new property.

'Customers who choose to use a firm on the panel can benefit from agreed conveyancing costs as well as valuable guarantees should the seller pull out. We also believe this will provide additional protection for our customers and HSBC.'

Table 1

Table showing conveyancing fees for England and Wales

     Purchase Price  Legal Fee (including Vat)
     Up to GBP100,000         GBP399
     GBP100-150,000           GBP449
     GBP150-200,000           GBP475
     GBP200-300,000           GBP499
     GBP300-500,000           GBP549

Notes to editors:

*     Customers have always previously been required to pay the costs of their appointed solicitor/conveyancer acting on behalf of HSBC. Panel fixed fees include the cost of acting for both the customer and HSBC. On choosing a non panel firm the customer will be required to pay £160+VAT (£192) to cover the legal costs incurred by HSBC as well as the costs of the non panel firm.

**    Where the seller withdraws from the sale or the mortgage valuation varies by more than 5% to purchase price. Excludes Scotland and Northern Ireland properties due to different legal process.

Conveyancing firms on the panel have all been approved through The Law Society Convenyancing Quality Scheme

HSBC Bank plc: HSBC serves 16.1 million customers in the UK and employs approximately 58,000 people.  In the UK, HSBC offers a complete range of personal, premier and private banking services including bank accounts and mortgages. It also provides commercial banking for small to medium sized businesses and corporate and institutional banking services. HSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc.    

The HSBC Group: HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 7,500 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$2,691bn at 30 June 2011, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.

SOURCE HSBC PFS