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PlanVal have released two new mining products, which are now available to order on tmconvey:

    > PlanVal Coal Mining Search with Professional Opinion

    > PlanVal Non-Coal Mining Search with Professional Opinion

These products are being added to the range of mining products on tmconvey in replacement of PlanVal’s current range of mining products, and are both accepted by Banks and Building Societies.

These checks are also part of PlanVal's branded products, combining data with a professional recommendation from Mining Searches UK, backed by Professional Indemnity Insurance cover.

PlanVal Coal Mining Search with Professional Opinion

The standardised format of the search puts a colour coded ‘Passed’ or ‘Further Action Required’ result on the front cover.  There follows a Professional Opinion based on definitive Official data provided by The Coal Authority, facilitating decision making.

This Coal Mining Search also utilises enhanced datasets from Third Party sources in order to provide an assessment of risk of mine related settlement or subsidence.  The report considers information in order to answer questions as set out in CON29M. Each search includes a professional interpretation covered by £10m of professional indemnity insurance. 

The search returns a rating of: "Passed" or "Further Action", together with opinion details and where necessary, further action required.  Input mapping is supplemented by an Ordnance Survey MasterMap ‘Location Plan’ and a large scale ‘Mining Activity Plan’ for clarity and accuracy. 

PlanVal Non-Coal Mining Search with Professional Opinion.

The standardised format of the search puts a colour coded ‘Passed’ or ‘Further Action Required’ result on the front cover.  There follows a Professional Opinion based on data on 60+ different mineral types (excluding Coal), facilitating decision making.

This Non-Coal Mining Search utilises datasets from both Official and Third Party sources in order to provide an assessment of risk of mine related settlement or subsidence.  Where a property lies within a risk area for either Cheshire Brine or British Gypsum, the appropriate official search is purchased. The PlanVal report considers this combined information to produce a clear opinion. Each search includes a professional interpretation covered by £10m of professional indemnity insurance. 

The search returns a rating of: "Passed" or "Further Action", together with opinion details and where necessary, further action required.  Input mapping is supplemented by an Ordnance Survey MasterMap ‘Location Plan’ and a large scale ‘Mining Activity Plan’ for enhanced clarity and accuracy. 

Note - The standard disbursement is added in the small % of cases where a Cheshire Brine or British Gypsum report is included.

Conveyancers are busy people, often handling hundreds of cases across any given month. With delays costing them time, money, and even clients, they don’t have time to waste when processing transactions.

Yet new research we conducted in recent weeks* has shown that some UK conveyancers are wasting precious time by visiting up to 13 web sites in order to complete a single transaction.

We found that the most commonly used web sites include Land Registry (98%) and search providers (80%), with Google Maps (66%), Insurance (51%) and NHBC (48%) also high on the list.

Slow service can damage your reputation and reduce recommendations

Clients rarely have a grasp of just how busy their appointed conveyancer is and will regularly chase them up to find out what is happening with their property transaction.

Slow responses and unnecessary delays can lead to a disappointing experience for the client, and subsequently reduce the likelihood of them recommending your services.

With just 8% of clients contacting solicitors online (according to Home Moving Trends 2015 [download report here http://web.tmgroup.co.uk/cn/an9um/homemovingtrends2015 ], recommendations and repeat business account for a staggering 92% of new business for conveyancers.

Finding ways to save time can help improve client satisfaction

In a competitive industry, this means that conveyancers need to be taking proactive steps to reduce the time it takes to process each transaction; improving client satisfaction and the chances of receiving positive recommendations.

One of the key ways conveyancers can do this is to invest in solutions which help them to save time. For example, the tmconvey system which provides 5 of the most popular web site services in one site, including tmgroup’s new integrated Map Search solution which saves conveyancers the additional visit to the Land Registry portal.

The Map Search service enables you to quickly establish via a map; the location of land or property, whether it is registered and any associated title numbers, making it quick and easy to carry out title investigation.

Users can then create the case and go on and order additional searches, insurance, and similar products, keeping everything in one place; ultimately streamlining the process for you and your colleagues.

By using services such as this, conveyancers can save valuable time and focus their efforts on providing a pro-active service to their clients, leading to happier clients and more referral business – the best type of business there is!

*The survey was conducted during June-August 2016 by leading property data provider tmgroup, asked conveyancers “How many websites do you visit during a conveyancing transaction?”

About tmconvey and Map Search

The Map Search facility is available as part of tmconvey – tmgroup’s comprehensive conveyancing platform, giving property solicitors everything they need to manage a property transaction.

Existing tmgroup customers can take advantage of the service straight away simply by logging into their account, whilst conveyancers not currently using tmconvey can sign up for a free, no-obligation trial.

To watch our latest webinar on Map Search click here http://web.tmgroup.co.uk/cn/an9um/webinar-hub

Visit http://www.tmgroup.co.uk/convey/MappingTools for more details.

In a property transaction, information concerning a property's relationship with local Highways has not always been readily available for conveyancers to pass on to their clients but serious problems can arise if they aren't identified early on in the transaction.

Recent research conducted by tmgroup revealed that 1 in 10 conveyancers never order a Highways Search, so we sat down with Rebecca Hickey Head of Legal Product at Landmark Information Group to learn more about why it's necessary to obtain this information.

Highways, why can they be tricky?
For residential and commercial conveyancing transactions, it is critical to investigate the precise extent of the adoption status of highways in and around the perimeter of the site. For example, you may believe that the footpath in front of the building is indeed publically owned and adopted but in reality it might not be.

What if the path hasn’t been adopted?
There could be potential issues with access to the property and it could have implications for the property owner regarding responsibility for its future upkeep; it could even affect the potential for redevelopment.

And if this wasn’t identified during the transaction?
Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to transactions as well as pose a risk to the purchaser’s future plans for the site.

So conveyancers should investigate?
Absolutely. If you were to imagine a typical scenario where a purchaser is looking to buy a property and the surrounding land which abuts a neighbouring property and there is a shared access onto the land.  As part of the due diligence the purchaser’s solicitor would need to identify the exact status of the access and the ownership of the area. 

Is it publicly adopted by the local authority, therefore they are responsible for maintenance and granting access or is it privately owned?  In order for the transaction to proceed the status of the access way would need to be confirmed.

What implications could it have for the purchaser?
Well, the purchaser may need to purchase additional pieces of land, negotiate shared access or at least negotiate a regular payment towards repairs.  This will undoubtedly add time and complexity to the transaction, which is not what either party want.

Vital information then – so, what sort of barriers would one normally face when attempting to source Highways data from Local Authorities?

With each Local Authority, the turnaround times for gathering this Highways data can vary widely. The same goes for the cost of the information and the level of detail provided.

How can you have the peace of mind that you have considered all the necessary aspects regarding the highways around the site?
A Highways report is the best way to obtain peace of mind for yourself and your client on this matter. For example, the Argyll SiteSolutions Highways report provides answers on the adoption status of highways surrounding the site; details of any road improvement schemes as well as rights of way. The report is manually assembled by a team dedicated to the production of this report with years of experience in the collation and analysis of Local Authority data and all data is sourced from the relevant Local Authority, Highways Agency or the Ordnance Survey. The report is backed by £10 million professional indemnity cover and has a fixed price of £120 +VAT.

About Rebecca
Rebecca Hickey joined Landmark Information Group in 2006 and fulfilled a number of different roles, including Project Manager and Senior Product Manager before taking the role of Head of Product (Legal Division) in 2015.

Law firms need to be aware of their attractiveness to criminals who seek to launder the proceeds of crime through conveyancing transactions. Image copyright Images Money.

The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) is stepping up its efforts to ensure that law firms do not become embroiled in money laundering activity and are compliant with the various regulations and legislation associated with anti-money laundering compliance.

In their Risk Outlook 2014-15, published in July, the SRA highlighted how law firms are an attractive vehicle through which to launder the proceeds of crime, such is the magnitude of funds being transferred by legal practices.

Since the turn of the year crown and sinkholes have plagued the country, causing significant damage to property as well as inflicting substantial costs and inconvenience upon property owners.

The UK's foremost authority on the subject, Dr Clive Edmonds from Peter Brett Associates, spoke to Begonia Filgueira on the threat that these natural phenomena pose.