Scott Bozinis of InfoTrack on the differences between Australian and UK law, the changing search market and starting from scratch all over again
Scott Bozinis is CEO of InfoTrack which, ten months ago, entered the UK market with a pedigree as the largest one stop shop for legal services in Australia – and a massive 65% of the market over there. Today’s Conveyancer’s Jane Common caught up with Scott at Legalex to ask how the UK launch is […]
Search Acumen comments on the RICS residential market survey, May 2016
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments on the RICS residential market survey, May 2016: “The government must be slightly startled that the possibility of a Brexit is engineering, for a very brief window, what it wanted to achieve along – greater affordability in housing. Fear, whether it’s rational or not, is driving the housing […]
Chancel Searches
Chancel repair liability is an ancient law which benefits around 5,200 pre-Reformation churches (built before 1536) in England and Wales (1). It is a long standing and legally enforceable liability to repair or contribute towards the cost of chancel repair of a parish church (the part of the church containing the altar) (3). During the […]
Andy Crawshaw of Groundsure on historical mapping and the future of Land Registry
At Legalex this year, we interviewed Andy Crawshaw, a Strategic Account Manager at Brighton based environmental search provider Groundsure, who spoke about the importance of historical mapping. Andy spoke of the digitisation of data Groundsure undertook back in 2001 to provide the clearest and most accurate assessment of historical land use. He advised how activities […]
Plans scrapped but majority support equity release qualifications
The recent abandonment of the standalone equity release qualification has split opinions within the equity release market.
£7m of equity released daily
New figures have indicated that the ongoing momentum in the equity release sector is yet to subside.
Lawyers are ten years behind their clients when it comes to service
Jon Whittle of LexisNexis has called on conveyancers to forget about being a legal professional when considering what service their clients need. Speaking to Josh Morris of Today’s Conveyancer at Legalex, Jon Whittle says clients will presume a legal professional understands the legal processes involved in their work, but that understanding the client’s needs is […]
How can the consumer’s home purchase/sale experience be improved?
Eddie Goldsmith discusses issues within the home buying and selling process, following a roundtable hosted by the Conveyancing Association attended by many industry stakeholders.
Not just telling clients what they want to hear the key to great service according to ESTAS winner
Providing a great service through being easily contactable but also not just telling clients what they want to hear is one of the keys to success according to ESTAs winning firm Mander Cruikshank. Shani Box, the QualitySolicitors networked firm’s Head Conveyancer said winning the award was a great validation of how they do business as […]
How safe is your home
The ability to access the title to any property and the increased incidence of property fraud, has opened a whole new can of worms. However, Gary Score from law firm Hart Brown, says there are safeguards that can be put in place to protect your property. Anyone can obtain a copy of the title to […]
If privatisation helps deliver Land Registry services better it has to be considered
Kris Clark, Head of Product at SearchFlow and has called on the conveyancing profession to make it’s voice heard and to lead the debate on privatisation of Land Registry. Kris has been working in searches for nearly 15 years and also believes that if privatising Land Registry, in the same way water boards, Royal Mail or […]
How Consumer Protection Regulations affect environmental searches
Location Intelligence experts Groundsure are committed to assisting solicitors with their training especially in light of the new Law Society Practice Note on Consumer Protection Regulations. The Consumer Protection Regulations apply to any ‘business to consumer’ commercial practice, which in our field would be solicitor / conveyancer to home owner (client). These practices apply to […]
A quarter of law firms are targeted by scammers…don’t let your firm be one of them – Searches UK can help!
Last month The Law Society revealed that nearly a quarter of law firms have been targeted by scammers looking to steel client funds. The research comes from The Law Society’s PII survey, which also disclosed that fewer than 10% of the attempts resulted in fraudsters successfully obtaining the client’s money. Whilst the majority of law […]
Fraud and more fraud
Once again conveyancers are being assailed by a whirlwind of reports (scare stories if you wish) about fraud. Most recently, on April 29th we were warned: ‘PII costs fall – but attempted fraud is rampant, Law Society reveals’. Apparently “Almost a quarter of firms reported being targeted by scammers in the last year”. You have […]
Are you in control of your data?
With law firms’ profitability being squeezed by alternative entrants to the market and consumer demands for fixed fee work, the benefits of powerful business intelligence solutions in delivering key strategies and measuring success in order to sustain profitability are more essential than ever. Quality of data is key to mining meaningful business intelligence. And meaningful […]
Search Acumen comments on the ONS House Price Index, March 2016
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments on the ONS House Price Index, March 2016 “Fears of Brexit appear to be hitting the wealthier, higher-end of the property market, while having no noticeable impact on slowing down house prices for the mainstream market – particularly in areas of high demand like London and the Southeast. Prices […]
Editorial: Advancing legal tech and anti-fraud measures the main take homes from Legalex
Making the legal industry better centred around service for clients through improved technology, as well as safeguarding your firm against fraud, were two of the main topics of discussion at Legalex. With dozens of technology firms exhibiting and hosting talks about using their products to improve your offering, enhance your customer due diligence and potentially […]
Search Acumen comments on the RICS residential market survey, April 2016
Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments on the RICS residential market survey, April 2016: “Whether or not a Brexit will unfold remains to be seen, but the uncertainty is definitely creating an environment of caution in the property sector, as seen in the drop in interest from buyers for the first time in over […]
Two new reasons why mapping properties needn’t be a challenge for conveyancers
Fresh from the release of an update to their new commercial property portfolio tool, tmgroup have announced the launch of two new time-saving mapping features to help conveyancers streamline their property transactions. The two property mapping services have been developed in close collaboration with conveyancers from across the industry and integrate with the Land Registry […]
Mining searches could be an easy way to add value to your client’s home says Tom Backhouse of Terrafirma
Performing mining searches can have real financial benefits to a client according to Tom Backhouse of Terrafirma Mining Searches – even outside of traditional mining areas. A sinkhole recently swallowed up a car on the streets of Greenwich in London, and while not traditionally associated with mining in the same way as areas like Cornwall, […]
