Insurance News Archive

'No reason' for upfront Hips payments

A rebellion against the payment plans for the controversial home information packs (Hips) has received support from an unlikely source as the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) said there was "no reason" to pay upfront.

Although the AHIPP has had to fight to protect the Hips scheme ferociously over the last few months, the association agreed with home sellers that they should not be forced to pay for the packs before they conclude the sale of their property.

This follows last week's survey by Hip Payment Services which found that two thirds of sellers were unhappy at being charged upfront and called for the payment to be deferred.

Mike Ockenden, the director general of Ahipp supported this position, saying: "You don't pay estate agents' fees upfront and you don't pay solicitors' fees upfront, so there's no reason why you should have to pay Hips fees upfront."

However, he pointed out that not all pack providers require payment before the Hip is put together and that "there are all sorts of different deals out there".

Payment schemes for the packs, which currently apply to all three and four bedroom homes on the market, range from 'no sale, no fee' Hips to upfront payments.

And Mr Ockenden said: "It comes down to cash flow. When four-bedroom houses were rolled out, about half of the people listing their homes actually paid upfront and that was their choice – they could have chosen to delay payment until completion."

24 Sep 2007