Legal PR experts help tell dynamic legal firm’s innovative partnership

A HI-TECH Scottish legal firm has signed a groundbreaking deal with Britain’s largest financial supermarket, in a move which will change the face of remortgaging.

The PSM Law Group has ditched the traditionally dusty image of legal firms by embracing the IT revolution and developing leading edge technology – most notably its online conveyancing system.

Eighteen major lenders, including Lloyds-TSB, already use the company’s PSM Online division to process their remortgage cases, because the technology is fast, simple and  allows borrowers and lenders to opportunity to view their cases via the internet 24-hours-a-day.

Now The PSM Law Group – which currently handles almost 4000 remortgages every month – has agreed an innovative partnership with financial services giant, Personal Touch Insurance.

PTI, which has its headquarters in Solihull, is the country’s largest financial supermarket and has a network of almost 8500 agents across the UK.

The business tie-up will see it offer its own brand Personal Touch Conveyancing, driven by The PSM Law Group’s technology and backed up by the law firm’s expert legal service operations in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

Hundreds of PTI agents have already signed up to use PT Conveyancing, which can save their clients up to 40 per cent on their conveyancing bills. Each case which completes earns a fee for the agent and PTI hopes the powerful internet tool will help it win a far bigger share of the lucrative remortgage market.

The partners of The PSM Law Group, based in Dunfermline, Fife, are also delighted with the deal and believe exporting their technology in such “white label” deals, where another firm adds its own corporate identity, is a key to business growth.

The PSM Law Group founder and chief executive Kyle Peddie said:  “This is a major milestone for us because it takes our business to a new level, thanks to the technology we have worked long and hard to develop.

“We are delighted to have Personal Touch as our first partners in this type of initiative. With the speed of technological change it is easy to look genuine innovation – in our sector this is truly groundbreaking.

“I am confident it will prove rewarding to both The PSM Law Group and Personal Touch. However, the real winners are the borrowers who are getting constantly enhanced service and improved delivery at increasingly competitive costs.”

Mike Allison, Managing Director of PTI, added: “This is just one example of the many opportunities we offer those intermediaries who work with us to create additional income streams and give extra value to the clients.”

With online conveyancing, every case is handled by the same legal expert from beginning to end. PTI agents and their clients, via password protected access, can track their cases online in real time to see all developments as they happen. They can also arrange to be notified of updates by phone, text or email. The service is backed by a dedicated phone helpline.

The PSM Law Group’s multiple award-winning technology has already catapulted it from provincial law firm to one of Britain’s biggest volume conveyancing experts. Expansion in the past four years has seen it open offices in England and Northern Ireland, while the staff has increased from 18 to 100.

The success of its online division has been mirrored by the success of its property arm, Hunters-psm, which has seen turnover grow by 80% in the past year. For the first time the firm was also named in the top five of best performing property firms compiled by the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre.

Earlier this year, The PSM Law Group scooped back-to-back technology awards, claiming an International Business Award, known as a Stevie, for its corporate website. The company was the sole Scottish winner and one of just six UK firms among the 67 winners from 19 countries. The company was also crowned Best E-business at the 2004 Fife Business Awards.

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