Can they make us pay for our HIP survery whatsit?

[Geepers]

We put our house on the market at the beginning of the year. When we put it on teh market the estate agent told us we'd need a HIP thing done and the company would contact us.

They did, and we agreed that we would pay the fee upon completion, or after 9 months, whichever was soonest.

The man came to do the report after a month or so, said everything was okay and we'd hear from him in a couple of weeks and receive a copyof teh report through the post.

After 3-4 months of little interest we took the house off the market. I had twins prematurely and couldn't be arsed with selling and keeping the house clean.

To the best of my knowledge the estate agents never recieved a copy of the HIP report as it was never put on their website. We never got anything through the post to say our report had been completed and never heard from them again.....

....until yesterday, when we got our invoice to pay them.

So, should we just pay up and accept we have to pay, or is it worth persuing the fact that no-one has seen a completed report, it was never sent to us and never appeared on teh estate agents website?

I think you might as well pursue it, after all what have you got to lose? I'd ask the agency in writing if they ever received a copy and, if not, send a copy of that letter/email to the HIP company pointing out that you never saw one either.

It's a tricky one because you are not legally allowed to market your property without a HIP or evidence that you've ordered the HIP. Your estate agent can be fined if they market your house without this.

However the company sound terrible, you should have received a copy of the HIP. Your estate agent is also obliged to include the graph from the energy performance certificate in particulars for your house, was this done?

I would say that it's worth a call to the estate agent asking if they received a copy of the HIP and if they did why they didn't send one to you. I'd give the company a call and explain that you haven't received the hip and don't want to pay, but I'm not convinced you'd have a case against them.