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4th April 2009 Search Price increases affect Hip prices
Under the new Hip regulations due to come into force on the 6th April personal search companies will no longer be able to use insurance as an alternative to including information in the Local Authority searches that they provide for Hips.
Under the new Hip regulations due to come into force on the 6th April personal search companies will no longer be able to use insurance as an alternative to including information in the Local Authority searches that they provide for Hips.
Some Local Authorities have now published their prices for providing the required information to the search companies. Several are charging over £15 for answering each question that has to be asked. In the light of this the search companies have little alternative but to increase the prices that they charge to Hip companies.
In some parts of England and Wales the cost of a personal search will now exceed the cost of obtaining a search direct from the Local Authority as a result of which the search companies covering those areas will find it difficult to compete with the Authorities on price alone.
There are ongoing legal arguments as to whether the Authorities should be entitled to charge for the information. Formal complaints have been lodged with the Information Commissioners office against several Authorities over their approach. If the Authorities are found to be entitled to charge it is expected that arguments will then ensue over the amounts they are charging. Litigation is also expected in the cases where Authorities are undertaking restrictive trade practices. The OFT is expected to be drawn into the issue. It will clearly take some time for matters to come to a head.
At present the position is both confusing and unclear as many Authorities have still not published their fees despite the close proximity of the implementation of the new Hip regulation. Search and Hip companies are therefore finding it difficult to set their prices with any degree of certainty other than in the very short term.
However, what it is clear is that the increased costs to the search companies will inevitably have some knock on effect to the price of Hips and that from the 6th April Sellers will have to pay more for their packs in most areas of the country.
In some parts of England and Wales the cost of a personal search will now exceed the cost of obtaining a search direct from the Local Authority as a result of which the search companies covering those areas will find it difficult to compete with the Authorities on price alone.
There are ongoing legal arguments as to whether the Authorities should be entitled to charge for the information. Formal complaints have been lodged with the Information Commissioners office against several Authorities over their approach. If the Authorities are found to be entitled to charge it is expected that arguments will then ensue over the amounts they are charging. Litigation is also expected in the cases where Authorities are undertaking restrictive trade practices. The OFT is expected to be drawn into the issue. It will clearly take some time for matters to come to a head.
At present the position is both confusing and unclear as many Authorities have still not published their fees despite the close proximity of the implementation of the new Hip regulation. Search and Hip companies are therefore finding it difficult to set their prices with any degree of certainty other than in the very short term.
However, what it is clear is that the increased costs to the search companies will inevitably have some knock on effect to the price of Hips and that from the 6th April Sellers will have to pay more for their packs in most areas of the country.
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