CoPSO Annual Conference 2024 - another successful event
The Chairman, James Sherwood-Rogers, welcomed over 65 members to the Victory Services Club to open CoPSO's 2024 Conference.
He thanked the exhibitors – UKGlobal as Headline sponsor, Partner members - Legal Protection Group and Stewart Title. He gave an update on the ongoing activities for CoPSO which includes engagement with 53 Local Authorities, 26 issues resolved. Sending over 300 emails sent engaging with members, LAs and stakeholders including DLUHC and HM Land Registry where the current number of LAs who have migrated is 97. CoPSO is also a Founder member and ongoing involvement with the DPMSG.
James concluded with what lies ahead on further digitisation and upfront information and the potential risks.
Our first speaker was Oli Hazell from Cavendish Consulting who gave an insight into the political landscape following the snap election announcement. He covered what the polls are currently pointing to in terms of victory, the personalities of the leaders, the issues they are facing and their policies.
The next speaker was Edward Donne from Howden who gave a complete guide to cyber insurance. He covered the risks, what is and what is not covered and a general understanding of cyber risk.
After the refreshment break, we had a new feature which was a panel session on insurance. The panel was made up of Tom Vigliucci from UKGlobal, Jonathan Woodcraft from LPG and Robert Kelly from Stewart Title. Lots of questions were put to the panel around run-off cover, the differences between PI and SSI – the benefits of each and what is and is not covered.
A very informative session which then led on to an update from PCCB Chief Inspector, Lorna Bown, who gave an overview of the work of the inspection team and Compliance Committee. This included current findings from audits, updating compliance notes, holding regular forums for members and attending events to promote the Search Code.
Lorna then handed over to Charlotte Mawson, Adjudication Manager at The Property Ombudsman who advised of the changes over the last 12 months which included a new website which is nearing completion and new representation templates and forms. We then took a Slido poll to gauge members’ views on the number of complaints received over the last year with a resounding 82% saying they remained about the same. Charlotte then covered the process of how best to handle a complaint. She concluded with the commendable news that there had been no claims from CoPSO members in the last 12 months, with a round of applause around the room.
After an impressive lunch, we welcomed Ian Quayle from PLUK who have an engaging presentation around due diligence in residential conveyancing. He covered the problems with the conveyancing process, the problems conveyancers face and what the future may hold.
We were delighted to welcome Maria Harris representing the Open Property Data Association whose aim is to revolutionise the property industry through data standards and collaboration. She shared some statistics on the size of the homebuying experience and the work that the 14 founder members are doing in terms of creating a common framework across government and industry for sharing and trusting our property data.
Policy and Information Manager at NTSELAT, Emma Cooke, was our next speaker who spoke about the work Trading Standards is doing with RICS and estate agents following the publications of their guide in December 2023.
Our final speaker was David Cox, General Counsel at Rightmove. He went into detail over what is covered in each of Part A, B and C, the website changes which will contain a new additional info reel to include Council Tax, parking, garden and accessibility information.
David was then joined on stage by Emma, Maria and Ian to take part in a panel discussion, hosted by James who fielded questions via Slido or live from attendees.
James then gave a summary of the day and thanked all the speakers, sponsors and attendees for their contributions.
