Managing Conveyancing Risk? Embracing Change.

Most of my meetings with conveyancing partners or compliance officers centers on one big, game-changing question: “What is the one thing that we can do to make a real difference to avoid a claim?”

They are quick to acknowledge that there is room for risk mitigation and recognise that it is an almost-impossible task to keep up to date with lender requirements without the assistance of technologies such as COMPLETIONmonitor. Who in the world of conveyancing does not recognise that it has become a more complex and risky business over the last 20 years?

This gap between knowing the risks and not addressing them is usually rationalise by their exasperated response that there isn't to change processes and, often, the team doesn't want to embrace change.

The consequence is that the same pattern of behaviour and results continue. The evidence: conveyancing has represented more than 50% of claims for the last 20 years. If anything, the percentage continues to rise.

Marshall Goldsmith, executive coach to over 150 CEOs notes - “our default response in life is to experience inertia. In other words, our most common everyday process – the thing we do more often than anything else – is to continue to do what we are already doing.”

The longer these important things are put off and or avoided, the easier it becomes to stay in the groove of the existing rather than step out in do what is required.

And yet for some firms that do take action the sense of progress, breakthrough and results are ultimately rewarding.