What did TSB require when a purchase or remortgage completed? Checking the bank’s current mortgage instructions may not answer that historical question.
A complaint, lender enquiry or professional indemnity claim can bring an older conveyancing file back into focus. Before assessing whether the instructions were followed, establish which instructions applied to the transaction and the decision being examined.
The TSB Lender Handbook Archive provides access to historical mortgage lender requirements recorded by Lexsure for England and Wales, with records beginning in September 2013.
Why the historical TSB requirements matter
Mortgage instructions change. A requirement appearing in today’s UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook may have been introduced after the transaction under review. Equally, wording relevant to the earlier transaction may subsequently have been amended or removed.
For a conveyancing firm responding to an audit or allegation, applying the wrong version can distort the assessment. A dated record helps identify the lender-specific wording against which the file should be examined.
Our guide to historical lender Part 2 requirements explains the wider evidence problem created when online instructions are replaced.
Confirm the lender identity before searching
Begin with the mortgage offer, legal charge and contemporaneous correspondence. Establish the lender description used for the particular transaction.
A reference to Lloyds TSB on an older document should not automatically be treated as a reference to the TSB record covered by this page. Historical names, account details and the transaction date may affect which record needs to be investigated.
If the documents are unclear, resolve the identity before relying on a historical search result.
Which date should you investigate?
The completion date is a useful starting point. It is not necessarily the only date relevant to a detailed review.
Depending on the allegation or question, the investigation may also need to consider the instructions applying when:
- The firm accepted the lender’s instructions.
- A title or lease issue was identified.
- A report was submitted to TSB.
- Contracts were exchanged.
- The Certificate of Title was submitted.
- Mortgage funds were requested or used.
Identify the act or omission being examined, then establish the relevant instruction history. Do not assume that selecting a year alone provides sufficient precision.
What questions can arise on an older TSB file?
A later sale or remortgage may expose a property feature that needs investigation. Examples include a defective lease, escalating ground rent, missing rights, an absent freeholder or missing planning and Building Regulations documentation.
The historical review should ask whether the applicable instructions addressed the issue, required a report or specified conditions for proceeding.
These are subjects for investigation, rather than a statement that TSB had an express requirement on every issue at every historical date.
A lender’s silence on a particular question also needs careful interpretation. Relevant requirements may appear in general instructions, the mortgage offer, separate correspondence or another part of the lender’s documentation.
Read the archived wording alongside the original file
The historical Part 2 record is one component of the evidence. Review it alongside:
- The applicable Part 1 instructions.
- The mortgage offer and special conditions.
- The title documents, searches and replies to enquiries.
- Reports to TSB and any lender responses.
- Consents, deeds or indemnity policies obtained.
- The report on title and advice to the borrower.
- The Certificate of Title and completion records.
Case-specific instructions or approval may explain why the transaction proceeded. An archived general requirement cannot reveal that correspondence by itself.
For firms facing an allegation from a lender, our article on identifying which Handbook instructions applied to a lender claim considers the importance of establishing the instruction set before evaluating the alleged breach.
What can you obtain through the TSB archive?
The archive offers a Lender Snapshot containing the complete recorded TSB Part 2 requirements for a selected historical date.
Where a specific issue is selected, a Market Context Report adds applicable recorded requirements from other lenders on that issue for the same date. This can assist a comparison of the historical wording, without determining its legal significance or whether anyone was negligent.
Check the available coverage and select the report appropriate to the question being investigated.
Historical instructions and current panel membership are separate questions
If you are arranging a new TSB mortgage, you need to establish whether your conveyancer can act for the bank now. Our TSB conveyancing panel guide addresses that question.
This article concerns the instructions recorded for an earlier transaction. It should not be used as a statement of TSB’s current lending requirements or a confirmation of a firm’s panel status.
Check TSB’s requirements for the relevant historical date
Investigating an earlier TSB purchase, remortgage or conveyancing file? Select the completion date and, where relevant, the property issue to check the available record.
Search the TSB Lender Handbook Archive
Purchase the historical lender record needed for your review, with wider market context available where appropriate.
This article concerns historical TSB requirements for England and Wales. Lexsure is independent of TSB and UK Finance. Historical lender material does not, by itself, establish negligence, liability, causation or loss.