Remortgaging is often perceived as a simple administrative task, especially compared to buying a home. However, it is a significant financial and legal transaction that requires a property law professional to help you along the way to ensure that nothing goes wrong. It’s important to seek a professional who has past experience and will give you the best service, as if they don’t, you will have to hire conveyancing negligence solicitors, like Been Let Down, to help you with a negligence claim.

This guide will explore the remortgaging conveyancing process in more detail, so you can understand when you need legal help. Continue reading to learn more.

What is Remortgaging Conveyancing?

Remortgaging conveyancing is the legal process of moving your existing mortgage from one lender to a new one, or securing a new loan with your current lender, while keeping the same property. The conveyancer's primary job is to legally discharge the mortgage with your existing lender and simultaneously register a new charge against your property’s title deeds at the Land Registry. This ensures the new lender's financial interest in the property is protected and it's a mandatory step for virtually all lenders.

When to Get Legal Help

In most scenarios, a solicitor or licensed conveyancer is always required for a remortgage. Even if you are staying with your current lender, a conveyancer might still be necessary if there are any changes to the property's title or the security documents.

For a standard remortgage where you are switching lenders, the process cannot be completed without a conveyancer, as they are legally required to:

1. Request the Title Deeds: Review the official documentation to ensure the property ownership is correct and there are no new charges or restrictions.

2. Deal with the Existing Lender: Secure the exact redemption statement from your current lender.

3. Execute the Charge: Prepare and execute the new legal charge deed and apply to the Land Registry to formally remove the old lender and register the new one.

When You Might Not Need a New Conveyancer

The only scenario where you might avoid a new conveyancing instruction is a product transfer, which is when you switch to a different interest rate or product with your existing mortgage lender. Since the legal charge on the property remains with the same bank, there is no transfer of legal security required. In this case, the transaction is purely a financial arrangement and the lender will simply update your account internally.

However, even with a product transfer, if you combine it with a Transfer of Equity (scenario 1), you must instruct a solicitor.

When Can Conveyancer Negligence Occur?

Conveyancer negligence occurs when a solicitor or licensed conveyancer breaches their duty of care to the client, resulting in a foreseeable financial loss to the client. While the conveyancing process is largely standardised, negligence can arise at almost any stage, so it’s important to make yourself aware of the duty of care that conveyancers owe you. One of the ways negligence occurs is if they miscalculate the amount of tax or fail to file the return on time, leading to penalties and interest charges for the client.