By James Boxell
Hammond Suddards has ploughed more than £1m into building an online conveyancing management system, which it claims will transform its conveyancing division into a 'virtual department' of its large UK mortgage lender clients.
The firm will use the new browser-based system, HammondsDirect, to store electronically all information on conveyancing transactions on which the firm is instructed.
Mortgage lender clients will then be able to use a standard web browser to access that information.
Partners at the firm have said that the new system is an example of 'partnering' with clients, and that it will be tailored to the individual needs of each mortgage lender.
Halifax, Prudential, Bradford & Bingley and Egg have already signed up for the HammondsDirect system. The firm's other lender clients include Cheltenham & Gloucester, Britannia and Chelsea.
The system will also be offered to estate agency chains and mortgage houses.
Lucci Dammone, chief executive of HammondsDirect, said the firm had spent the past three years fine-tuning the system and had invested more than £1m in the past year alone, not including the cost of lawyer time.
He said the system made use of advanced workflow and imaging technology and was developed by Hammond Suddards' in-house IT team, with "perhaps 15% of the technology bought in".
Dammone said the firm had also used a consultant to advise on setting up the system – although he declined to give details.
He said as well as offering management benefits to financial institutions, the service would also speed up the conveyancing process, bringing advantages to both lenders and house-buyers.
According to Dammone, the system makes use of web browser technology, but will be linked directly to clients, rather than going through the Internet.
"A couple of years ago, the client would have to have had compatible systems, making these systems difficult to implement, but with browsers all they need to know is how to point and click," he said.
Dammone said mortgage lenders could be given access to any information relating to their transactions on a real-time basis.
"We are geared-up to deal with thousands of transactions every month and we can store all of the related information electronically. It is a big step towards having a truly paperless environment."
The launch of the system comes at the same time as Hammond Suddards' rebranding of its Bradford-based conveyancing division under the HammondsDirect banner.
Dammone, a Hammond Suddards partner, becomes chief executive of HammondsDirect, which will be backed by 280 support staff, including 120 lawyers and a large number of call centre staff.
Dammone said his firm eventually hoped to offer the on-line service directly to home-buyers, once the brand had been well-established.