Why do I need independant legal advice?

Are you helping someone to get a loan and you have been asked to get independent legal advice?  The reality is that many people now need guarantors for loans and there are a lot of different options, both for guarantors and the borrowers themselves.  You should get proper financial and legal advice and make sure you are choosing the right option for everyone.

Why do I need independent legal advice?

The reason is (to be blunt) so that the bank can sue you if the person you are helping doesn’t pay their mortgage.  The bank doesn’t want you to be able to say that you didn’t have the documents explained to you properly or that someone tricked you into signing them.

Can’t their lawyer do my independent advice?

No, for two reasons.  Firstly, it would negate their insurance.  Secondly, the bank won’t allow it.  Conflict of interest is a serious problem for a lawyer and so the other lawyer can’t do it, you need your own lawyer.

But isn’t it just signing a form?

No, we have people calling us to ‘just sign a form’ but it isn’t that.  The form says that we have properly advised you.  That means we need to properly advise you.