Consumer information
Consumer information (Annex E) HIP CODE
This Annex includes prescribed information which must be included by Registered Firms withing a search report or Home Information Pack
HIP Code: Registered Firms
The following prescribed information must be included within each Home Information Pack.
Important Consumer Protection Information
This Home Information Pack (HIP) has been produced by Home Information Packs (UK) Ltd trading as HIPs UK of 56 Lansdowne Place, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 1FG, Co Reg 4905140 which is registered with the Property Codes Compliance Board as a subscriber to the HIP Code.
The HIP Code provides protection for homebuyers, sellers, conveyancers and mortgage lenders, who rely on information included within a Home Information Pack provided on residential property within England and Wales. It sets out minimum standards which organisations providing HIPs have to meet. This information is designed to introduce the HIP Code to you.
By giving you this information, your HIP provider is confirming that they keep to the principles of the HIP Code. This provides important protection for you.
The Code’s main commitments
The HIP Code’s key commitments say that HIP organisations will:
- Provide HIPs promptly and include the most up-to-date available information when compiled.
- Handle complaints speedily and fairly.
- Respond promptly to queries raised on a HIP, to ensure improved understanding.
- At all times maintain adequate and appropriate insurance cover to protect you.
- Act with integrity and ensure that all HIP services comply with relevant laws, regulations and industry standards
Keeping to the HIP Code
How HIP providers maintain compliance with the HIP Code is monitored independently by the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB). If you have a query or complaint about your HIP, you should raise it directly with the firm, and if appropriate ask for your complaint to be considered under their formal internal complaints procedure. If you remain dissatisfied with the firm’s final resolution after your complaint has been formally considered or if the firm has exceeded the response timescales, you may refer your complaint to the Independent Property Codes Adjudication Scheme (IPCAS). IPCAS can award compensation of up to £5,000 to you if it finds that you have suffered loss as a result of your HIP provider failing to keep to the Code.
Please note that all queries or complaints regarding your HIP should be directed to your HIP provider in the first instance, not to IPCAS.
IPCAS Contact Details:
Telephone: 020 7520 3800
Email: info@idrs.ltd.uk
You can also get more information about the Property Codes Compliance Board from our website at: www.propertycodes.org.uk
PLEASE ASK YOUR HIP PROVIDER IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THE FULL HIP CODE.
Complaints Procedure
Information for customers
If you want to make a complaint, we will deal with it speedily and fairly. We will:
- Acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receipt
- Try and resolve your complaint fully within 4 weeks of receipt. If there are valid reasons for consideration of the complaint taking longer, we will keep you fully informed in writing or via telephone or email as you prefer and you will receive a response at the very latest within 8 weeks.
- Liaise with counselling organisations acting on your behalf, if you ask us to.
- Send you a final decision on the complaint in writing.
If you are not satisfied with the final decision, you may refer the complaint to the Independent Property Codes Adjudication Scheme (IPCAS) and we will give you contact details. We will co-operate fully with the independent adjudicator during the consideration of a complaint by the IPCAS and comply with any decision.
Complaints should be sent to:
HIPs UK
56 Lansdowne Place
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 1FG
E-mail: info@hipsuk.co.uk
IPCAS can be contacted at:
IDRS Ltd, 24 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT
HIPS UK Terms of Business
Standards of Service
We aim to keep you fully informed about your HIP. At the outset we will confirm in writing the confirmation of the HIP order along with your receipt, complaints procedure and terms of business. We will communicate by phone, email and written correspondence where needed.
Confidentiality
Although we will not discuss the nature of the sale of the property certain information is available within the HIP that is required by law to be included. This includes proprietorship details of the property which is made available to prospective purchasers on request.
Data Protection
We use the information you provide for the provision of preparing your HIP and related purposes. Please note that due to the nature of the HIP we will need to pass on your contact details to carefully selected Domestic Energy Assessors who are accredited to a governing body in order for them to arrange a suitable appointment time to carry out the Energy Performance Certificate.
Complaints procedure
You will find a copy of our complaints procedure include within your confirmation of order letters. It is our intention to provide you with an excellent service and therefore we hope you will not have cause to complain about the service you receive. You should not in any way feel intimated at making a complaint. Experience shows that most problems can very soon be remedied especially when we are informed of the complaint as soon as it arises.
Outsourcing of Work
As stated in the ‘Data Protection’ section to complete the pack we must contact third parties to carry out work for us. The only third party that may need to contact you is the Domestic Energy Assessor- Where a client does not live at the sale address the Domestic Energy Assessor will liaise with your chosen estate agent to arrange access to the property.
Accreditations Schemes
All parts the HIP are accredited with the relevant governing bodies. Our search provider is registered with PCCB as a subscriber to the search code. All of our Domestic Energy Assessors are accredited with a national accreditation company (Various accreditation schemes exists) HIPs UK themselves are registered with the PCCB as subscribers to the HIP code and are also registered to the HIP Association.
Further details can be sent on request.