Using a search agency

olbas_oil

If a solicitor uses a search agency to conduct a local authority search, why is this quicker than asking the LA itself?

Is it
1) they simply pass on the request ... but I don't see why that is faster?
2) they have pre-prepared searches ... But surely these expire once they are done ?
3) they go directly to the LA planning website... but we are doing that anyway so it makes it rather pointless?

Are there any downsides I should be wary of? Is there any difference in liability? If something turned up later that should reasonably have been discovered in the search, would the solicitor be any less liable because the had delegated the search to an agency?

davidmcn

It's quicker because they're private sector and have an incentive to provide a faster service than you'd get from the council. In Scotland we've long since given up ordering searches directly from the councils, everybody gets them from private suppliers these days. No idea why the English put up with the delays.

The information is all publicly-accessible (not necessarily from the council's website), what you're paying for is someone to look it up accurately. If the searchers get it wrong then you can sue them.