Widowed home-seller denied a HIP refund

News Category: Industry News

A 71-year-old widow selling her property has been told that the £299 she paid upfront for a HIP will not be refunded – even though the HIP was incomplete and never delivered.

The woman, whose family say she can ill afford to lose the money and is only selling her home because she can no longer afford the upkeep, had paid the fee to SimplyHIP.

Last week, the firm announced that it would recompense £200 to any seller who had paid for a HIP since May 1, provided they used SimplyHIP’s sister company, Simply Conveyancing.

However, the widow commissioned her HIP shortly before the deadline. She was contacted on April 29 to say that the HIP could not be completed because it lacked a PIQ.

By May 20 – the day HIPs were abolished – the HIP had still not been completed. Her family asked for a refund but last week were told by national sales manager Jamie Brindley that the company was “not in a position to refund any money at this time”. The reply made no mention of a discount on conveyancing.

The reply said: “The government’s immediate suspension of HIPs came like a bolt out of the blue for everyone in our industry as the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, had previously pledged a 100-day consultation before taking any action to suspend HIPs, so when after only one week in power he reneged, it has quite literally thrown the entire industry into chaos, affecting tens of thousands of employees and consumers alike.
 
“We like many others are in the process of taking professional advice and reviewing everything. We are not in a position to refund any money at this time.”

The widow’s son said he was appalled that his mother had had to pay for something that had never been issued.


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