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Rules (2007 Edition)
These rules apply to applications received on or after 1st January 2007.
1. Introduction
1.1 The Independent Property Codes Adjudication Scheme (IPCAS) is provided by IDRS Ltd (the administrator), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, in association with the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB). The scheme is designed to govern the resolution of disputes between individual consumers and either search industry companies arising from searches undertaken as part of the property purchasing process, or home information pack providers arising from Home Information Packs compiled as part of the property purchasing process.
2. IPCAS scope
2.1 IPCAS provides an informal and independent way of settling disputes between the consumer and the company (the parties).
2.2 An independent adjudicator appointed under these rules will make a decision on such disputes by considering the information received from the parties.
2.3 The adjudicator can ask for extra information on any matter from any party if this is necessary in order to settle the dispute in a fair and reasonable way, in line with the law and any relevant codes of practice.
2.4 The administrator manages the process and is responsible for appointing adjudicators.
2.5 The adjudicator’s decision will become binding upon the company when the consumer tells the administrator (within six weeks of the decision being made), that they accept the decision. If the consumer rejects the decision or fails to accept the decision within six weeks, it shall automatically fail to have effect and will not be binding upon either party. It will not be capable of later acceptance.
2.6 The service is free of charge to the consumer.
2.7 The dispute cannot involve a claim for an amount of more than £5,000 including any consequential damages and VAT, for any one consumer. Any element for inconvenience will be limited to £250 per claim.
2.8 The dispute must not involve a complicated issue of law.
2.9 The dispute must not be subject to an existing or previous court action unless that action is suspended or discontinued by agreement between the parties or by order of the court.
3. Applying to use IPCAS
3.1 The consumer must ask the company or the administrator for an application form and bring the claim within 3 months of the last communication from the company. All applications must be made on the IPCAS Adjudication Claim Form and must be endorsed by the company. If the company is a firm registered with the PCCB they are obliged to accept an application for adjudication under IPCAS if the dispute has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer by the company’s internal complaints handling procedure.
4. The adjudication procedure
4.1 Adjudication begins when the administrator receives the consumer’s claim.
4.2 The consumer’s application must give reasons for the items claimed and in particular should include details of the:
- Particular events leading up to the dispute;
- Precise nature of the dispute;
- Grounds for claiming the items or remedy sought;
- Reasons for the amount of any compensation claimed.
The application can be supported by documentation but should not itself consist only of correspondence.
4.3 When it has received a valid claim the administrator will send the company a copy of that claim. The company has 14 working days from the date of receipt of the claim to provide the administrator with either of the following:
- Written confirmation that the claim has been settled together with details of the settlement;
or
- Two copies of their response to the claim.
4.4 In unusual circumstances, the company may request the administrator to extend this period by a further seven working days (so the company would have 21 working days to respond).
4.5 The company may offer settlement terms to the consumer. Any settlement made will be subject to confirmation by the administrator of the consumer’s written acceptance of the settlement before the adjudication procedure will be closed. The administrator will confirm this acceptance to both parties.
4.5 If there is no written confirmation of settlement, or the company does not file its response in the time allowed, the adjudicator will determine the dispute by considering only the information provided by the consumer.
4.6 When the administrator receives the company’s response it will send a copy to the consumer, who will have seven working days to provide any further comments on that response. The consumer’s comments must be restricted to points arising from the company’s response and must not introduce any new matters or evidence. The adjudicator will take no account of any new evidence introduced in such comments.
4.7 If the consumer makes any comments on the company’s response, the administrator will send a copy of those comments to the company, and at the same time appoint an independent adjudicator and provide the parties with the adjudicator’s name.
4.8 At this stage, the company cannot make any further comments without written permission from the adjudicator. If the company wants to provide further comments, it must immediately phone the administrator to ask for permission, and immediately follow up this request in writing. The adjudicator may reject the company’s request to comment.
4.9 The adjudicator may contact the parties by phone, fax, letter or e-mail to ask for further documents or information they need to make their decision. If the parties do not provide the extra information within the time set by the adjudicator, he or she may settle the dispute by considering only the information already provided. The administrator will copy to the other party any additional documentation supplied in response to such a request.
4.10 The adjudicator will make a decision on the matter, usually within six weeks of the application being made.
4.11 The administrator will provide the parties with a copy of the decision, including the reasons for it. Where the company is a firm registered with the PCCB a copy of the decision will be sent to the PCCB for their information.
4.12 When the consumer receives the adjudicator’s decision, he or she must contact the administrator within six weeks of the date of the issue of the decision to confirm whether or not they accept the decision.
4.13 The adjudicator’s decision is only binding on the company when accepted by the consumer as above. The decision cannot be appealed. It can only be accepted or rejected and only by the consumer.
4.14 If the consumer or the company wants their original documents back, they must ask the administrator for them within six weeks of the date of the adjudicator’s decision. If no request is received within six weeks, the administrator will destroy all documents.
4.15 If the adjudicator decides that the company should pay an amount to the consumer, then the payment should be made within four weeks of the consumer notifying acceptance of the decision. When required by the adjudicator to make payment, the company must make the payment directly to the consumer and must tell the administrator that they have made the payment.
5. Adjudicator’s Powers
5.1 The adjudicator will remain fair and unbiased throughout the adjudication and will decide the case in line with the relevant law, any relevant contracts between the parties and any relevant codes of practice. He or she will act quickly and efficiently, settling the dispute in a fair and reasonable way, respecting the principles of natural justice.
5.2 The adjudicator may refuse to consider documents or other evidence not provided within timescales set down by these rules, or given by him or her when they asked for additional information, if a delay may prevent the decision from being made within six weeks.
5.3 Only the adjudicator can decide whether he or she can determine any dispute.
5.4 For some disputes the adjudicator may need to get advice from an independent expert. The company will pay any reasonable fees involved. In such cases the adjudicator will consult with the parties before appointing an expert, giving reasons for the request.
5.5 The adjudicator can do the following: -
- Change time limits for the parties to provide their comments, and set time limits within which the parties must provide extra information that he or she requests.
- Allow the parties to provide further evidence, or change any previous comments or details of the claim (but not the amount claimed on the application form).
- Make any necessary enquiries but the adjudicator must tell the parties about those enquiries and allow them to comment on the findings.
- Receive and take account of any spoken or written evidence the adjudicator thinks is relevant.
- Carry on with the procedure if either party does not keep to these rules or any instruction given, or if either party does not take part in any conference call, meeting or inspection arranged by the adjudicator.
- End the adjudication procedure if it appears that the dispute cannot be settled under IPCAS or if the parties settle their dispute before a decision is made. (If the parties settle the matter themselves, they must immediately notify the administrator of the settlement, in writing.)
5.6 If the parties do not provide anything needed under these rules, and then do not supply it within 7 working days of receipt of a reminder from the administrator, then the following will apply:
- If a consumer does not return the application or supporting documents, the administrator will assume that the consumer does not want to go ahead with the claim.
- If the company does not respond to the consumer’s claim, the adjudicator may base his or her decision only on the information provided by the consumer.
- If either party does not provide any information the adjudicator has asked for, the adjudication will continue as the adjudicator considers appropriate.
5.7 If the adjudicator agrees with the claim, he or she can tell the company to do any or all of the following:
- Give the consumer an apology or explanation.
- Take some practical action that will benefit the consumer.
- Pay the consumer up to £5,000.
5.8 If the adjudicator does not agree with the claim, he or she can dismiss the claim.
6. Costs
6.1 The company must pay the costs of the administrator and the adjudicator, together the case fees. Case fees are shown in schedule 1 to these rules. Payment will be due either following settlement of the dispute prior to the appointment of the adjudicator or after notification of the appointment of the adjudicator. The company must also pay the fees for any expert help.
6.2 The parties will pay their own costs of preparing their cases and attending any conference or meeting. They cannot take any legal action to recover these costs.
7. Confidentiality
7.1 No party involved in any dispute referred to IPCAS, or the administrator, or the adjudicator shall disclose details of the proceedings to any stranger to the proceedings unless it is necessary to do so in order to enforce the Decision or as may be required by law.
7.2 Notwithstanding 7.1, the administrator may collate and process data pertaining to the use of IPCAS, compile, analyse and publish statistics therefrom and monitor and review the operation of IPCAS, provided always that (save with the express consent of the parties) no personal data or privileged or confidential information shall be published.
8. Administrator’s Immunity
8.1 Neither the administrator, nor any person designated by it or the parties to appoint an adjudicator, shall be liable for anything done or omitted in the discharge or purported discharge of that function unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith. The parties shall likewise indemnify the administrator, or the designated appointing person, against any possible legal action brought by any third party, arising from the discharge of the aforesaid functions, unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith.
8.2 Neither the administrator, nor the person designated by the parties to appoint an adjudicator, shall be liable, by reason of having appointed the adjudicator, for anything done or omitted by the adjudicator (or his employees or agents) in the discharge or purported discharge of his or her functions as adjudicator. The parties shall likewise indemnify the administrator, or the designated appointing person, against any possible legal action bought by any third party, arising from the discharge of the aforesaid functions, unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith.
9. Adjudicator’s Immunity
9.1 Neither the adjudicator nor any of his or her employees or agents shall be liable for anything done or omitted in the discharge or the purported discharge of his or her function as adjudicator, unless the act or omission is shown to have been in bad faith. The parties shall, likewise, indemnify the adjudicator against any possible legal action brought by any third party, for any act or omission as a consequence.
10. Other rules
10.1 If necessary, the administrator will appoint a substitute adjudicator and give the parties his or her name.
10.2 Decisions made under IPCAS can be accepted or rejected by the consumer. They are not open for review and the administrator will not enter in to discussions on a decision made under IPCAS.
10.3 If any party has a complaint about IPCAS, or the adjudicator, or a member of the administrator’s staff then the complaint should be made by following the administrator’s complaints procedure. Copies of the procedure are available from the administrator upon request.
10. 4 IPCAS rules may be updated from time to time. Disputes will be determined according to the rules in force at the time the consumer applies to use IPCAS.
Schedule 1
- Any Company, party to this Agreement, agrees to pay the administrator’s case fees, for any case in which it is involved, as follows:
- Adjudicator: £200 plus VAT per case
- Administrator: £150 plus VAT per case
(together the “Case Fee”)
- Early settlement fee, due if settlement is agreed between the Company and the customer after case acceptance but before appointment of the adjudicator: £150 plus VAT per case (the “Early Settlement Fee”)
- For the avoidance of doubt, the Case Fee shall only become payable if an adjudicator is appointed to determine the case in accordance with the Rules.
- The Early Settlement Fee will be due for payment when the Company involved in any case notifies the administrator that it has settled the case after the administrator has received a valid application form but has not yet appointed an adjudicator in accordance with the Rules and after such settlement is confirmed to the administrator by the customer.
- The Case Fee will be due for payment when the Company involved in a case submits its Response to Claim to the administrator, under the Rules.
- Case Fees will not be refundable in any circumstance.
- Any Company, party to this Agreement, which agrees to the referral of a customer dispute to the Service, will pay the reasonable professional fees of any independent technical expert appointed by an adjudicator in accordance with the provisions of the Rules.
26 April 2007
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