0 Lancashire firm Clifford Smith & Buchanan, which is both a solicitors' practice and an estate agency, has cut out the middlemen to create its own home information packs


Electronic conveyancing has transformed paper-based conveyancing into a faster, more efficient service - in some cases, using the latest technology, reducing processing from weeks to just minutes. As this high-tech approach to conveyancing becomes the norm, automated firm-generated home information packs (HIPs) now look set to follow.



One way firms are achieving this is with HIP wizards, which let law firms build their own HIPs in-house rather then outsourcing them, avoiding paying HIP providers to collate all the information on their behalf. This latest approach to HIP production provides a simple solution for law firms that want to provide HIPs directly to clients and/or those that receive referrals from estate agents looking to hand over HIP production to local legal experts.



Clifford Smith & Buchanan, a Lancashire firm with offices in Burnley, Nelson and Colne, is one of the firms now preparing HIPs in this way. In what might be a vision of things to come for many firms, Clifford Smith & Buchanan operates as both an estate agent and solicitors' practice. For house-hunters the attraction of such an arrangement is apparent - not only can customers access all their property services from one place, but the firm also offers one all-inclusive fee, which includes all the conveyancing costs and other legal fees.



Clifford Smith & Buchanan decided to use Easy Convey's electronic conveyancing products and services, taking on Easy Convey's HIP wizard after the company added it to its Conveyancing Administration Software Application (CASA) system. The HIP wizard in CASA lets firms produce HIPs from within the application, then post the HIPs online for access by the client.



Clifford Smith & Buchanan's estate agency staff comprises experienced estate agents with local knowledge of the market, while its team of lawyers take care of all the legal and administrative aspects of HIPs and conveyancing. The combination has proved popular with clients, and providing HIPs in-house makes for a useful cross-over between the two sides of the business.



'Being able to manage the whole HIP process ourselves, without the need to involve a third-party supplier, means that we effectively become a one-stop-shop for our clients and can therefore save them time, money, and effort,' says Alan Riley, partner at and Burnley office manager for Clifford Smith & Buchanan. 'I honestly can't imagine handling HIP production any other way.'



By using the HIP wizard, fee-earners at Clifford Smith & Buchanan can now easily piece together all the various elements that they need to produce a comprehensive HIP for clients, as well as for other local estate agencies and law firms. Although Clifford Smith & Buchanan provides a complete package when it comes to conveyancing, clients are under no obligation to use the company for any particular aspect of the process, so local competition - and cooperation - still exists.



But, by preparing HIPs electronically and in-house, the firm can present and brand the HIP however it likes. 'The software allows us to produce a very professional-looking document that is branded with our name and logo, and which is very much in keeping with our image,' adds Riley. 'We can produce these HIPs with great speed, which means that our agents can begin marketing the property very quickly indeed.'



The reason the HIPs can be produced so quickly is the software's ability to import all the required documents, regardless of how they have been generated. For example, searches and home efficiency reports that are received as email attachments or downloaded from websites, as well as scanned guarantees supplied by clients, can all be imported and saved directly into CASA. CASA also facilitates this process by offering a scanning function that enables guarantees, warranties and other printed documents and booklets to be included within both the matter history and the HIP.



Once all the HIP information is imported, the HIP wizard combines the selected documents into a standard format HIP that Clifford Smith & Buchanan can use, complete with the firm's own branded front and back cover and index pages. The completed HIP is then delivered as a password-protected PDF document that can be uploaded to a website, sent as an email attachment, burnt to CD or DVD, or printed.



When prepared this way, even the most comprehensive HIPs can be produced electronically - and branded by the law firm - for a fraction of the cost of outsourcing. This approach lets law firms create value out of the HIP, which is typically not the case when ordering a HIP from a third-party HIP provider.



Clifford Smith & Buchanan has broken new ground by combining both estate agency and solicitors practice under one roof, says Riley, a set-up enabled by 'up-to-the-minute systems and technology', such as the HIP wizard.



'We believe that our clients receive a much more efficient service as a result,' he says, 'especially since this approach encourages the speed of the transaction, and also enables us to provide very competitive rates compared to instructing a separate estate agent, solicitor, and HIP provider.'



This case study was provided by Easy Convey and has been edited by the Gazette