Established national property search provider Thames Water Property Searches has collaborated with Lawyer Checker to provide conveyancers with the ultimate product when looking to protect client money and beat the criminal conveyancer.
As experienced, national providers of due diligence searches; top of their agenda is protecting conveyancers and their clients with a comprehensive range of products and a proven dedication to quality customer service.
As part of this dedication, Thames Water Property Searches recognise that 2014 was the year the industry sat up and started to understand that bogus and criminal conveyancers pose a real threat to the conveyancing industry. There was a massive increase in the amount of scam alerts seen by the SRA; with over 70 more in 2014 than in 2013. The SRA ‘In the Shadows’ report dedicated its content to the ever increasing issue of an industry plagued by rogue firms and criminal conveyancers looking to cash in on the opportunities that a conveyancing transaction presents.
An official provider of the CON29DW Drainage and Water enquiry across London and the Thames Valley area, Thames Water Property Searches enjoy a well-established heritage and track record of good service to their customers. The introduction of the Lawyer Checker Account and Entity Screen (AES) search gives their users the opportunity to ensure best practice and enhanced due diligence during a conveyancing transaction.
What does an AES Search provide?
The LC database has been created to enable the AES search to demonstrate whether or not an account has had a track record of successful use within conveyancing.
The unique database has been collated over a number of years and only continues to grow with use. Significantly, it performs a check on the account number, which the purchasing conveyancer and law firm has provided, to give an indication of whether Lawyer Checker has seen that account being used in conveyancing transactions.
The search provides conveyancers with the information they need to offer peace of mind to both themselves and the client, whether borrower or lender. Due diligence requires all solicitors and conveyancers to check the firm that they are sending monies to. Checking the roll of solicitors is no longer enough.
One of three results is provided with regards to the account details submitted:
1. FREQUENT– The account has a good track record of successful use. It has been used by numerous other conveyancers in the past and LC has known it for some time.
2. INFREQUENT– The account is recognised by the database, but is relatively new or there have been a very small number of searches carried out against it.
3. UNKNOWN– The account details are not known and there is no track record of it being used in conveyancing transactions.
What are the benefits?
- Enhance your due diligence – give yourself, your firm and your client added confidence
- Immediate response
- All entities are subject to real-time searches – further research is conducted within four working hours across over 10 databases when a search result is infrequent or unknown.
- Identify evidence – when were the account details previously seen by the LC database?
- Demonstrate outcomes focused processes – free search update before completion to ensure that details have not changed.
- Safeguard – the transaction against incorrectly typed account details.
Through engaging the services of Thames Water Property Searches and running an AES search you can be assured that you are adhering to Principle 10, meeting OFR and creating a paper trail for your matter file.
To find out more about Lawyer Checker or to arrange some in house CPD training, please call a member of the Customer Service team on 0845 070 9148 or email twps.@thameswater.co.uk.
