Monday, 17 September 2012

Panel selection greatest threat to conveyancing

Solicitors expect the main threat to their industry in the next year to come from lenders’ panel selection decisions, a survey from SearchFlow reveals.

More than half of conveyancing firms (51%) believe the recent controversy over panel management has caused lenders to worry more about fraud, and this will have a potential impact on business levels. But at the same time solicitors report that despite initial fears ABSs have not made an impact yet, with the threat of competition from ABSs (14%) ranked behind a weak property market (22%) and the increasing cost of insurance (15%).

When questioned as to how they plan to adapt to the arrival of ABSs almost half of conveyancers (48%) said they would be making no changes to their business, with 15% saying they would be increasing their marketing spend. Only 12% said they would change their practice areas and just 10% said they would begin to offer fixed fees.

Read more - http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/mortgages/244351/5/Industry_in_depth/Panel_selection_greatest_threat_to_conveyancing.htm