As a salaried partner in a small mixed practice, I wonder whether fellow conveyancing solicitors have experienced the same problems as my firm with home information packs.

Over the past week alone, my senior partner and I have received four packs, all of which are incorrect and all of which have been provided by online, low-cost, HIP pack providers instructed directly by our clients.

The problems we encountered are: I would question whether this is the ‘speeding up’ of the conveyancing procedure that the government envisaged, and also whether the regulations relating to HIP pack providers need to be tightened.

  • A pack which contains title details for a completely different property near to the one being sold. The office copies and searches have been carried out against that nearby property;
  • A pack which contains a local authority search carried out against the property next door to the one being sold;
  • A pack which contains the freehold office copy entries and freehold title pertaining to the landlord only, and nothing relating to the seller of the property who is the registered proprietor of the leasehold title; and
  • A pack for a leasehold property which contains a lease including plans relating to a property not in the same area as the property being sold.

Clearly, receiving packs which have been shoddily prepared and which clients have paid for does not help anyone progress conveyancing transactions in a speedy or effective manner. I feel that the process needs to be investigated – and quickly – to prevent clients from wasting their hard-earned money on so-called ‘cheap fix’ HIP pack providers.

Carolynne Tovell, Ruth Moores & Co, Clitheroe