DIY HIP - worried about land search

sellingup2008

Hi -
To save a bit of dosh, the wife and I are organising our own Home Information Pack (HIP) to sell our house. The only bit we're worried about is the land + drainage searches - I've seen some conveyancers' websites stating that they offer insurance on their searches in case the information in the search is factually incorrect.

Do I need some kind of insurance for my searches, in case the buyer chooses to sue over incorrect info? Or would the local council + water company (who I'm paying to conduct the search!) be insured anyway? We don't want to be sued!!!!! :eek:

Any advice GREATLY appreciated

Doozergirl

It won't be you that's sued. I think the insurance is for personal searches where they go down and compile them themselves from the info available

But it's definately for the companies to provide the correct information. You can't help information you don't provide yourself.

Get your searches directly from your Local Authority and from your water board. I did.

david29dpo

As above. Just get you Local land searches from you local council, these will be official searches which are insured anyway, same with the water. Dont bother with personal searches, some are crap anyway and your buyers solicitor will bin them. Depending where you are, the LLC will be about £100.00 and water £45.00 Easy!

sellingup2008

Really useful advice - thanks people!
:j

Shermanator

Hi everyone

I am also seeling up and was wondering how much it costs to do the HIP yourself instead of getting one off the net for approx £299 inc VAT?

Is it worth the trouble? I am thinking of doing my own to save a few quid but it also looks like a bit of a headache !!

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated

Doozergirl

It's easy the second time you do it!

Mine cost just under £250 but it was a five bed house so it costs more for the EPC than a smaller house.

I had to do a lot of research but it's relatively simple. I popped down to the council and a nice man helped me fill out the form for those searches. I printed off a form on my water company's site and sent that off. Spent £6 downloading the title from the Land Registry and someone on here kindly referred me to an energy assessor. Put it in a folder and printed off the other papers from the Communities website.

Shermanator

Have you gto any idea what it will cost for a 2 bed flat?

chriserenity

sellingup2008 wrote: »

Do I need some kind of insurance for my searches, in case the buyer chooses to sue over incorrect info? Or would the local council + water company (who I'm paying to conduct the search!) be insured anyway? We don't want to be sued!!!!! :eek:

If you get a personal search I'd make sure they are insured yes. There are some excellent personal search agents out there who will provide the information you need for usually less than you will pay the Local Authority however local authority searches are coming down in price now which is good.

Regarding HIP searches generally though the big problem (based on solicitor feedback we have received) with organising the searches yourself or getting searches from standard legally complient only HIP providers however is that if your property is on the market for a while (say 6+ months) the searches will in all likelyhood become useless to the buyer's solicitor due to their age. This results in the buyer/their solicitor being left with the responsibility of replacing the useless searches. IMO this defeats the object of the HIP which is why it makes sense to get a HIP from a company which renews the searches for free.

Of course you can take the risk and hope your property will sell quickly so you won't need the renewal but thats up to you I suppose.

Whatever you decide I hope things go smoothly for you.

System

Hi I am an anti-estate agent who runs an estate agency as a protest. I currently source my HIPs for £200 + VAT and I am thinking about starting my own HIP Company. I would say that you really have to be careful when compiling your own HIP.

Firstly, the HIP is not just local searches; it must have the Energy assessment, EPC, Local search, Water and Drainage Search, Sales Statement, Land Registry plan and Registry of Title. You also have to have an Indexed and put together in a particular way.

Secondly, the searches must be HIP compliant and not a standard search, as the HIP searches have questions and answers that are easier to understand compared to the standard. They also must have additional questions. This is a legal requirement and some search companies cannot provide this. You have to specify that you want a HIP compliant search or they will automatically search a standard search and you will be illegally marketing your property without it. Some search companies do not know about HIP compliant searches and I would not go near them.

Thirdly, if you are producing the HIP, then you will be liable for the content and buyers can sue if it is incorrect! HIP providers who volunteer to various codes will have to indemnify their service for £2 million pounds. The Association of Home Information Pack Providers is one. But note that membership for this is £10000 and small providers like myself cannot afford this.

Search companies often conduct the search for less than your Local Authority, but can be just as good, if not better, as they can produce it quicker. You can comply the HIP and have the search conducted by a personal search company who will indemnify their work. If you do it this way, then officially the HIP is not indemnified, but the individual content is. The EPC and Assessment must be compile by an official DEA and should also indemnify their service.

Finally, the idea of a DIY HIP may seem like a good way to save a little, but you really need to consider the time involved. It may be easier to hire a personal search company to help. Remember that the Energy Assessment and EPC need to be done and this too has to be out-sourced. If you shop around you can produce the majority of the HIP for £130 including VAT, £55 for the Energy Assessment and EPC and you just have to put it together correctly and include the sales statement and index. Also many solicitors may want to have a hard-bound copy which costs about £15 and buyers prefer to view the HIP as a PDF. It is best to have an additional hard copy at the property or with the estate agent.

The quote above takes a while to search for and requires heavy negotiations. Typically it will cost £156 + VAT for the majority of the HIP and £75 + VAT for the EPC and assessment.

There are many companies that sell HIPs for £200 + VAT for up to 2 bed properties and fixed fee £225 + VAT for 3 bed-plus properties. This does not include leasehold properties.

Personally I would avoid the DIY option and find a HIP provider online.

chriserenity

mst77 wrote: »

Hi I am an anti-estate agent who runs an estate agency as a protest. I currently source my HIPs for £200 + VAT and I am thinking about starting my own HIP Company. I would say that you really have to be careful when compiling your own HIP.

There are many companies that sell HIPs for £200 + VAT for up to 2 bed properties and fixed fee £225 + VAT for 3 bed-plus properties. This does not include leasehold properties.

Personally I would avoid the DIY option and find a HIP provider online.

The only place I've seen that does HIPs for £200 are solicitors who use the HIP as a lead in for their conveyancing work. I think you'll be hard pressed to find a HIP provider selling the HIP for that much. It costs more than that to produce one after tax and disbursements! I've seen plenty of HIPPs advertising their packs for £200 but when you get a quote from them it ends up being substantially more.

Can I ask who your provider is or the name of one of these companies you refer to?

By the way it doesn't cost anywhere near as much as you suggest to join AHIPP and 2mil PII cover to be a HIP provider is excessive if you're buying in the searches - whoever told you you need 2mil needs their head examining! The searches carry their own insurance and the DEA needs PII to legally operate anyway so each EPC is insured. All a pack provider needs is PII to cover compilation and associated activities really.

Debt_Free_Chick

mrkeogh wrote: »

You can obtain the necesarry forms for your DIY HIPS from my website www.RapidEPC.co.uk. Just click on DIY HIPSand they are there. Any questions just reply to this message.

Rubbish - you only sell EPC certificates. SPAM - ignore!