1 What do online and local conveyancing mean?
Online conveyancing describes how you work with the firm: for example, by telephone, email, document upload or a client portal. A high-street practice may offer those options alongside office appointments. A nearby address does not tell you whether your case handler works there or whether you can drop in.
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers recommends considering both online and local firms and choosing a working style that meets your needs. If face-to-face explanations would help, ask about booked appointments with someone who knows the file. If you want to handle tasks from home, ask which parts can actually be done that way.
2 Agree the practical arrangements before you choose
Think about the point where the process could be awkward for you. It might be scanning a long document, receiving a security code while abroad, or finding time to visit an office. Tell each firm about that need before comparing its service.
| Your need | What to agree before instructing |
|---|---|
| Talk through documents | Can you book a call, video meeting or office appointment with someone who knows your matter? |
| Use an office | Which office can you visit, for what purpose, and is an appointment needed? |
| Work from home | Which tasks need an app, printer, scanner, original document or witness, and what alternatives are available? |
| Get help with technology | Who helps if an upload or identity check fails, and how can you continue without that tool? |
| Keep up while busy or away | What contact hours, message route and absence cover are available? Tell the firm about travel dates early. |
| Meet an access or language need | Explain the format or support you need and ask the firm to confirm the arrangement. |
MoneyHelper’s choosing guidance recommends checking how to contact the firm, absence cover and the practical value of its location. Ask what a portal status means and who can explain an outstanding issue. Keep the agreed arrangements with your written quote.
3 Can identity checks be completed remotely?
They may be, depending on the firm’s process and your circumstances. Ask which documents and equipment it needs, whether there is a charge, and what happens if the digital check cannot be completed. Completing an app does not mean the firm has finished every check it needs to make.
The SRA’s identity-check guidance explains that the firm remains responsible when it uses digital tools. It also says passports are not the only possible identification documents. If you lack the requested ID, explain this before paying for a check and ask what evidence the firm can accept in your case.
Do not assume you must buy a new device or send away an original passport. Ask whether the firm can offer an appointment or another suitable checking method, what it costs and how documents will be returned. The firm must confirm what meets its requirements.
4 Will you need to sign or post paper documents?
Possibly. Ask for a document-by-document explanation: what can be uploaded, what must be signed, whether an original is needed, who can witness a signature and how to return it. An online quote or portal does not establish the signing method for the whole transaction.
HM Land Registry’s electronic-signature guidance distinguishes several routes. For conveyancer-certified electronic signing that requires a witness, the witness must be physically present. A separate route using qualified electronic signatures, with specific identity and technical requirements, can avoid witnessing when its conditions are met. Your conveyancer needs to confirm which method is available and suitable for your documents.
- Before signing, read the firm’s instructions and ask about anything unclear in the document.
- If a witness is needed, confirm who is suitable and how they must attend and sign.
- If originals must be posted, confirm the destination, deadline and return arrangements with the firm.
- Tell the firm early if you will be away or cannot use the proposed method. Do not improvise a different signing process.
5 Does online mean cheaper, faster or less suitable?
Those are questions about the particular quote and team. Compare the same property and transaction details, then ask each firm about relevant experience and capacity. A local address does not establish expertise in a difficult lease, and remote working does not establish a lack of it.
Include any ID-check, document-handling or other additional charges when comparing the written totals. Check what work is included and when extra costs could arise. Our quote-comparison guide has a worksheet for this; the costs guide explains the components.
Ask the firm how it will deal with your target date and what remains outside its control. Fast replies and convenient uploads help you communicate, but they do not promise a completion date. For the wider firm-selection checks, use our guide to choosing a conveyancer.
6 Check the firm and agree a secure contact route
Get the legal firm’s full name and registration number, then check the firm or practice on the SRA register or CLC register, as applicable. If another regulator is named, verify its authorisation and scope directly. Check the legal provider, even if you found it through a comparison website.
For a mortgage, confirm who can act for your lender on this transaction. UK Finance’s handbook includes lender-specific requirements and arrangements for separate representation. Ask about the permitted arrangement and any extra costs rather than assuming a local or online label answers the lender question.
Agree how to verify the firm’s payment instructions at the outset. If a message gives new bank details or an unexpected payment request, contact the firm using a number you have independently verified, rather than one supplied in that message. The SRA describes email-modification fraud targeting conveyancing payments. This precaution applies to local and remote services alike.
7 A short request to send before instructing
I would like to handle my move mainly by [phone, online or office appointments]. Please confirm which steps need an app, paper originals, a witness or a visit, and what alternatives you offer if I cannot use the proposed method. Who can explain documents to me, and how do I reach them? Please include any related charges and confirm that you can handle my property and lender requirements.
Use the reply to make the decision. If office access matters, confirm the appointment you would be able to book. If you prefer remote handling, confirm the equipment, document process and help available. A combination may suit you; ask for the service you need rather than deciding from the label.
Compare conveyancing quotes with MoveGuide, then talk through these questions before choosing a firm. We compare firms on our panel, not the whole market. MoveGuide provides comparison and onboarding help; the conveyancing firm accepts the instruction and provides legal advice.
If you proceed through MoveGuide, the £150 file-opening payment is included in your quoted total and credited against the final bill. Read the written quote and payment terms before paying.
Sources and further reading
Sources checked on .
- CLC: choosing a conveyancer. Compare working preferences, quality and scope.
- MoneyHelper: find a solicitor or conveyancer. Contact arrangements, absence cover and location.
- SRA: money-laundering questions and answers. Identity evidence, digital checks and disclosed charges.
- HM Land Registry: practice guide 82. Electronic-signature routes and their conditions; sections 3 and 8.
- SRA Solicitors Register. Verify an SRA-regulated firm.
- CLC public register. Verify a CLC-regulated practice.
- UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook. Lender instructions and separate representation.
- SRA: reducing cybercrime risk. Email-modification fraud and payment-detail precautions.