The income value of providing conveyancing advice

After all, we are service providers to our clients whether it’s the end consumer or in a business-to-business sense and there will be plenty relying upon us to deliver as close to excellence each and every time.

It’s something we certainly keep an eye on as a conveyancing distributor because if there are service issues at any of our panel firms it makes little sense to heap further work into a firm which might need to play catch-up for a while.

That said, there can always be issues beyond anyone’s control, but we appreciate that this isn’t necessarily what you the adviser want to hear if those issues are impacting on your case, and therefore your own service proposition.

Of course, if you are unhappy with the level of conveyancing service you are receiving following the provision of advice to your client, then I totally understand the sense of frustration this will engender.

After all, and I know this is a point raised by many advisers, the provision of that advice does reflect on your professionalism and overall service. It may not seem worthwhile to secure the kudos and credit from your client for your work in the mortgage arena to then have that scaled back and questioned because of issues with the conveyancer you recommended.

I’ve read recently on a couple of forums about growing levels of frustration with certain conveyancing firms and some advisers suggesting that getting involved in this part of the process hardly seems worth their while because of the pushback they get from clients who hold them responsible for delays, etc.

Again, that’s fully understandable but there is also an argument to suggest that your involvement will actually ensure they get to the outcome they want far quicker, rather than were they left to their own devices dealing directly with the conveyancing firm.

Also, if you have used a distributor like ourselves as well, then you will also be at an advantage. It means you’ll be able to avail yourselves of our BDMs or telephone team in order that we can speak to our contacts directly about any potential case delays, to chase up those conveyancers, and to provide ongoing feedback and communication that should hopefully keep you and your client aware of what is going on and the timescales involved.

The other benefit here is that we have dedicated teams within our conveyancing firms who specifically look after Broker Conveyancing cases, and again this means we have that direct contact, and we have very strong relationships to help expedite cases.

Again, while at the time of those service issues you might think your involvement isn’t worth it, think of what it would mean if your client had chosen a non-specialist conveyancer, or had picked a firm purely based on being the cheapest, or had opted for a firm whose conveyancer only worked two days a week, for example. What are the chances of those delays being even longer?

Of course, no-one wants to be stuck in service-related issues which end up upsetting your clients as they seek to complete within a certain timescale, but wouldn’t you rather be able to help and to use a distributor like us who can also provide a great deal of resource and value to move things along?

We talk a lot in this space about the income value of providing conveyancing advice but perhaps the most important element is the ability to keep control, to walk your client through the process and to lend all the support available to mitigate against the risk of those service issues being raised in the first place. And we will do everything we can to support you in that endeavour from start to finish.