Clients of Hoowla’s online conveyancing case management system can now send documents to be electronically signed. An electronic signature is the digital equivalent of a written (wet) signature. The process is tightly integrated into Hoowla and made possible with the use of Hoowla’s document exchange facility which allows solicitors to send and receive digital documents securely.
Hoowla have partnered with Signable, a leading provider of electronic signature solutions to deliver the digital signatures. Signable complies with e-signature laws set by the UK and other member states within the European Union, exceeding all of the regulations regarding accepting and processing documents, signed via electronic signatures.
Olly Culverhouse, Owner of Signable comments, “We are ecstatic that Hoowla have decided to partner with us at Signable. We both share a common goal of making business easier for our customers and Signable can really help when managing the signature process for conveyancing related documents and contracts. We are seeing a large increase in awareness of tools like Signable across many different industries however I personally believe that the legal and property sectors are where we can really make a huge difference to business.”
There are still property documents that cannot be executed electronically, principally the deeds which still require a wet signature by law. However a number of documents involved in the conveyancing process can be signed electronically namely around instructing a client. Clients using Hoowla’s digital signatures save on printing and postage costs, associated delays and benefit from documents being signed and returned in minutes.
The future is set to change however and Scotland has already made steps to allow conveyancing to be concluded electronically, supported by the introduction of their Smartcard which acts as a professional ID and provides a secure digital signature. Professor Stewart Brymer OBE, Past-Convenor of the Conveyancing Committee of The Law Society of Scotland and e-conveyancing specialist has been a strong advocate of change, arguing that legally binding electronic signatures and secure electronic document exchange protocols can only be positive for Scottish conveyancing.
Adam Curtis, CEO of Hoowla comments, “To achieve a total digital office, electronic document signing is a must have. Digital signatures are becoming more common place across all areas of industry as more contracts are handled online. They improve customer experience and efficiency whilst lowering cost and provide huge benefits when integrated with back office systems like Hoowla.”
Hoowla is modernising conveyancing for law firms and is a growing software provider for the conveyancing industry, developed in the UK and using the latest cloud technology. Hoowla promotes a modern approach to conveyancing case management software that includes full accounts and invoicing, precedents and letters, search ordering, online SDLT submissions, dashboard reporting and more.