Coates Solicitors - HIPS

[shadow 10]

Currently on the hunt for a decent HIP provider who's not charging the earth (400+vat, shame on you estate agents...), and who's not some cowboy likely to come up with a HIP full of errors etc. I just got off the phone with Coates Solicitors in mosborough (http://www.coatessolicitors.co.uk) as they seem to get a lot of praise around here.

 

They've quoted me £232 INC VAT. This seemed very cheap (the cheapest I've found including all internet based providers), so I queried it further and surprisingly, it has no tie in to their conveyancing services and they even broke down the charges to justify why they think most hips are overpriced. (£112 for searches, £55 for the Energy report, £6 for office copy, £58 for their fees). They even warned me to double check my agency contract to ensure I wasn't liable to pay a £50 admin fee for getting a third party HIP (as charged by Blundells, Saxton Mee etc).

 

Will most likely go for this, especially as they are local solicitors so hopefully should do a decent enough job - anyone have any experience with their HIPS? Any problems?

[jonhanson 10]

Yeh we had the conveyincing done by them when we bought our house last year and I can definatley reccomend them, they were quick, efficient and cheap no probs at all.

[Dave h-j 10]

They even warned me to double check my agency contract to ensure I wasn't liable to pay a £50 admin fee for getting a third party HIP (as charged by Blundells, Saxton Mee etc).

 

I used a 3rd party HIP with blundells (in Jan) , and they wanted to charge me £50 to vet the HIP before proceeding. I refused, stating that as the HIP provider was registered with teh code of practise and linked to by the official pages, then it would be ok. In the end they backed down..

 

To be honest, i took a week to sort out mainly becuase they didn;t appear to have any hard and fast rules on 3rd party hips - perhaps this has changed now.

[shadow 10]

I used a 3rd party HIP with blundells (in Jan) , and they wanted to charge me £50 to vet the HIP before proceeding. I refused, stating that as the HIP provider was registered with teh code of practise and linked to by the official pages, then it would be ok. In the end they backed down...

 

It's clear that the agents have simply cottoned on to yet another way of ensuring they get some cash out of vendors even when houses aren't selling - if they don't get them to sign up for a £400 hip, then at least they get £50 to get some minimum wage office worker to spend two minutes 'checking' the third party one. I'm sure most vendors don't even shop around for the HIP and assume they have to get it from their agent (who no doubt just get it at trade prices from a white label HIP provider like HipsProfessionals).

[theripsaw 10]

I used a 3rd party HIP with blundells (in Jan) , and they wanted to charge me £50 to vet the HIP before proceeding. I refused, stating that as the HIP provider was registered with teh code of practise and linked to by the official pages, then it would be ok. In the end they backed down..

 

To be honest, i took a week to sort out mainly becuase they didn;t appear to have any hard and fast rules on 3rd party hips - perhaps this has changed now.

 

Nah- hasnt changed. Blundells tried it with me very recently. I argued it and he kind of backed down - said they'd give me an advert free in the paper instead- smallest available (£80). Making me £30 better ....how generous.

 

Saxton Mee charge it too. Dont know about the others.

 

I got mine done by 1stopHIPshop (see Yell.com)- Andy McGowan. £249 no VAT. Estate agents wanted 450+VAT

[Dave h-j 10]

It's clear that the agents have simply cottoned on to yet another way of ensuring they get some cash out of vendors even when houses aren't selling - if they don't get them to sign up for a £400 hip, then at least they get £50 to get some minimum wage office worker to spend two minutes 'checking' the third party one. I'm sure most vendors don't even shop around for the HIP and assume they have to get it from their agent (who no doubt just get it at trade prices from a white label HIP provider like HipsProfessionals).

 

Yeah - Blundells get there's through Taylor and Emmett (their preferred solicitor) and no doubt a kickback. T&E then get there's from hipsworld and no doubt there is further commission involved.

 

Like yuo say, it's just another cash cow for the EA, which is shocking when you consider what they charge in %age compare with what they actually do.

 

The reason they wanted to check it out was that they would be the "responsible person" as defined in law and therefore would be liable if the HIP was "wrong". They really should just have a waiver to say that the responsibilities lies with the vendor if a 3rd party HIP is used. But then that would lose them £££.

 

Sometimes I think I should be an estate agent, but luckily I still have my scruples..

[plunkstar 10]

This is an extract from the Governments HIP site

"The legislation on Home Information Packs isn't intended to provide that the seller or the seller's estate agent should be held responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in documents that have been provided by others. The penalty provisions recognise this, and will not apply so long as the seller or the seller's estate agent has reasonable cause to believe that the document does comply with the Regulations.

The provider of any specific document within the Pack should be responsible for the accuracy of that document"

 

extract from

 

http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk/industry/83_Frequently_asked_questions.html

[shadow 10]

Just got back from Coates after ordering and paying for the HIP. They seem pretty good down there, very efficient and friendly, laid back offices etc, certainly not all stuffy like the city centre clique. They even checked over my title deeds for me as I had a couple of queries about them. Will most likely use them for conveyancing.

[midgecat 10]

am using coates for my conveyancing at the moment. seems good. they reply quickly to my emails in human, understandable language. very happy with them so far.

[Square-Bashe 10]

The provider of any specific document within the Pack should be responsible for the accuracy of that document

 

I fully agree with this post. £50 to check that you HIP is compliant seems reasonable, especially when the EA needs to confirm its compliance to avoid any legal action being taken against them.

 

As for Coates, I would not reccomend them. I have found, in my dealings with them, to not be that good and in some cases somewhat obsrtuctive. I find that when I go in its a rather unwelcoming atmosphere and the front of office staff didnt do much to interact with me in the way of conversation. It could be an isolated occurance but it has put me of using them.

[BertieBasset 10]

Coates are very good, I use them a lot

[Evei 10]

Used them a year ago. Only had to pop in once to sign a couple of things and everything was polite, professional and friendly. They answered phone calls and queries as quickly as possible, and called back when promised, I was a nervous 1st time buyer so most likely a bit of a pain. Although I have nothing to compare them against I would not hesitant to use them again.