Lenders urged to embrace the search code
16 February 2012
CoPSO and the PCCB launch campaign to get Search Code made a mandatory requirement by all UK’s lenders
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) and the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) have launched a campaign, aimed directly at the lending community, requesting that all lenders recognise the Search Code.
The campaign aims to encourage lenders to make it a mandatory requirement that any conveyancer they instruct, must only commission and accept private sector search reports from Search Code compliant subscribers.
Currently over 30%of lenders already have this as a mandatory requirement in either their part 2 of the CML Lenders Handbook or their Specific Requirements of the BSA Mortgage Instructions.
The two industry bodies CoPSO and PCCB have written to all mortgage lenders, recognising those that already require that personal searches conducted on behalf of their buyer are to be provided only by Search Code subscribers, while urging those that currently don’t to follow suit. By making it a requirement for all conveyancers instructed to only commission and accept searches from Code subscribers, lenders can be confident that the information provided to their customers is thorough and reliable, that it will be provided in a timely manner and that it has come from a trusted source.
The letters, which have been sent to lenders this week, clearly set out the benefits of only using searches from compliant Search Code subscribers. The letters overtly ask lenders to make the Search Code a mandatory feature of their Part 2 of the CML Lenders handbook or Specific Requirements of the BSA Mortgage Instructions.
James Sherwood-Rogers, Chairman of CoPSO, said: “The Search Code acts as the mark of quality for private sector search providers and is highly regarded across the industry. We have launched this campaign because we want all lenders to ensure that the search reports that they and their customers rely upon are of the highest quality and conducted with the utmost integrity. Lenders and conveyancers have a social responsibility to protect their customers from relying on inaccurate or incomplete information when buying their new home.
“By making it a mandatory requirement that all personal searches must be carried out only by Search Code subscribers, lenders can be confident that they are protecting their customer and their conveyancer, while protecting themselves as a mortgage provider.”
The Search Code acts as a mark of assurance and quality for all those, who rely on the information provided in property searches. The Code ensures that all private sector searches are carried out in a consistent and professional manner and are delivered on time and only by fully regulated providers. The Code offers protection by helping to reduce the circulation of fraudulent search reports and by ensuring that the necessary insurances are in place, should an issue arise at a later date.
The Code sets out minimum standards which organisations compiling and selling search reports have to meet. All subscribers to the Code are listed on a register of subscribing firms, maintained by the PCCB and all display the trusted Search Code logo prominently on all search reports they produce.
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Notes to Editors
About The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO)
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) is the major trade association for the property search industry. Members provide a broad range of property search reports including local, environmental, mining, chancel repair, drainage and water data and undertake over 2 million searches each year. The membership includes water companies, environmental search providers and organisations offering local searches. Today, CoPSO members produce 80% (by volume) of all searches produced in the market.
About the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB)
Formed in 2006, the Property Codes Compliance Board (PCCB) is an independent compliance body. Its primary role is to maintain a register of firms that choose to subscribe to the Search Code of Practice and to independently monitor their compliance with the Code.
Subscription to the Code is not mandatory but the vast majority of search products in the market are produced by Code subscribers. PCCB is a not for profit organisation with a public interest majority on its Board and is funded entirely from the subscription fees paid by registered firms.
The Search Code
The Search Code provides protection for homebuyers, sellers, estate agents, conveyancers and mortgage lenders who rely on the information included in property search reports undertaken by subscribers. The Code sets out minimum standards which organisations compiling and selling search reports have to meet.
Organisations providing property search reports can subscribe to the Search Code as either a retailer or a compiler. The Property Codes Compliance Board maintains a register of all subscribing firms.
You can check whether a search firm subscribes to the Code by searching the Register or by looking for the Search Code logo on their products.
Contact up an interview contact Claire Laycock - tel: 07788 865066, email: claire.laycock@hendrypr.co.uk