General

1.  Save as expressly varied by Local Authority Search Network Ltd (hereinafter called the Company) these terms and conditions shall be deemed to be incorporated into all contracts made by the Company in respect of goods supplied and services provided by the Company and to override any terms and conditions which are inconsistent with them.

1.1. If the Company change these terms and conditions, the revised version will be posted on the Company website. The Company will also try to publicise the fact, but it is the Customer's responsibility to ensure that the Customer has the latest version of the terms and conditions.

 

Instructions

2. Orders and instructions are only accepted on the basis that those instructing us do so as principals and are liable directly to us for payment of our account.

2.1. Unless otherwise agreed, all instructions must be in writing and include full postal address, location plan and the appropriate fee, Should no location plan be provided, the company will still fulfill the requested service but will not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions in the results.

2.2. Where additional information is required and forms an essential part of a search request, it is the obligation of the Customer to inform the Company at the outset. E.g. Optional Enquiries

2.3. In the event of the Customer requesting ‘copy documents’, a fee will be charged based on the cost/time elements of obtaining said documents and any local authority disbursement. The Company undertakes to inform the Customer of such fees at the time of the request.

2.4 Instructions received after 4.00pm will be treated as being received on the next working day.

2.5 In providing search reports and services the Company will comply with the Search Code.

 

Liability

3.1 Subject to clause 3.2, our liability for loss or damage (direct, indirect or consequential)   arising out of any single claim, event, or series of related claims or events (including claims based on negligence) shall not exceed £2,000,000.

3.2 Clause 3.1 shall not operate to exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by the Company’s negligence nor (where the Purchaser deals as a consumer within the meaning of section 12 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977) to exclude the liability for breach of obligations arising from sections 2-5 and 13-15 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (as amended).

3.3 The Company has professional indemnity insurance of £2,000,000.  You acknowledge this and agree that this amount constitutes adequate insurance and you fully accept the limitation of our liability in accordance with clause 3.1. The Company assumes that the value of the property does not exceed this amount and that it is the responsibility of the Customer to advise the Company at the time of Instruction where the value of the property exceeds this amount.

3.4. The Company are not liable if the Customer's complaint results from the Customer using the Report for a purpose for which the Customer is not authorised to use it.

 

Cancellation

4. In order to provide a report as soon as possible, our process for compiling it is automatically commenced, and the consequential costs incurred, immediately it is ordered. Therefore cancellations will only be made at the discretion of the company management. In the event that you exercise any right to cancel a Contract  we reserve the right to charge you for any costs incurred by us on your behalf prior to the date of cancellation of the Contract. This does not affect your statutory rights.

 

Third Party Contractors

5. If you instruct us in relation to work which will be carried out in Great Britain or abroad we may, as your agent, directly or through an intermediary, request another contractor to carry out some or all of this work for you. We take all reasonable care to choose Third Party Contractors with good reputations when instructing them. We accept no responsibility however for the services Third Party Contractors provide to you or for any errors or omissions in their work product. If a mistake is made by Third Party Contractors that causes you loss, we will, on being properly secured by you as to costs, co-operate with you in bringing proceedings against the contractor concerned. We shall pay the charges of Third Party Contractors on your behalf and recharge them to you with our own agency fees.

 

Searches and Reports

6. The Company will use all reasonable skill and care in acquiring information to be provided to the customer however source data may be derived from Local Authority records and other legitimate sources in the public domain and as such we accept no responsibility for inaccurate source data, however where appropriate the company may arrange insurance which provides cover for errors and omissions in local authority data and records.

6.1. When obtaining source data, the Company may be subject to the disclaimer statements and limitation provisions of the data holder.  In such circumstances we will endeavour to make you aware of such disclaimers or limitation provisions; however it may not always be practical to do so.  In any event you agree that such disclaimers and limitations will be deemed incorporated into these terms and conditions and to apply to, and be deemed repeated in, any contract between us.

6.2. Some of the sources that the Company use may mean that subjective judgements need to be taken. The Company will exercise its best judgment, but others might make a different judgment.

6.4. Reports will contain as much information that is available to the Company at the time, however the Customer accepts that sufficient information is not always available to reflect the actual uses to which a property or land has been put.

6.5. The Customer must not rely exclusively on the Report in terms of valuing the property or land to which the report relates, determining its actual status or condition, or concluding as to its suitability for any use.

6.6. The Customer accepts that the Customer should carefully inspect the property or land to which the Report relates and take advice or obtain information from other sources before the Customer makes any important decision about the property or land to which the report relates.

6.7. The Customer must notify the Company of any defect or inaccuracy in the report, in writing, within seven days of the error being discovered. In the event that such notice is not given, the Customer shall be deemed to have been satisfied with the performance of the Company.

6.8 In providing search reports and services the Company will comply with the Search Code and the IPSA Code.

 

Third Party Reliance

7. Our services, including Search Reports and Information Services, are provided solely for the use of our customer or that customer's own client on whose behalf the work has been commissioned and shall not be used or relied upon by any third party without our written consent (and to this extent no term of this agreement will be enforceable by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999).

 

Payment

8. The customer shall be liable to discharge all sums due under invoices raised by the Company in respect of services rendered within 7 days of such invoice. We reserve the right to charge for costs and expenses incurred in recovering late payments, including interest at the rate of 4% per annum above the base rate of Barclays Bank PLC up to and including the date on which final payment is received.

8.1. All products remain the property of the Company until all agreed terms have been fulfilled.

8.2. The Company reserves the right to withhold any results until payment has been received in full.

8.3. Refunds will only be given at the discretion of the company management.

 

Website

9. The Company’s web server may collect the domain names and e-mail address of visitors to the Company’s website (“the Site”).  This information is aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent on the Site, pages viewed, etc.  The Company uses this information to measure the use of the Site and to improve the content of the Site.

9.1. The Company’s Site contains “links” to other sites, and every effort is made to link only to sites that share the Company’s high standards, however, the Company is not responsible for the standard of any site linked to the Site.

9.2. The Site uses cookies for collecting user information and the data collected in this way may be processed in the same way as other data submitted to the Company (as outlined above) and for the same purposes.

9.3. The Site is provided on an “as available” basis.  The Company gives no warranty (express or implied) for the services provided and it is acknowledged that the Company shall not be liable for losses of income due to disruption of the Site caused as a result of server or provider disruption.

9.4. The Company may disclose and transfer your information to a third party who acquires all or a substantial portion of our business, whether such acquisition is by way of merger, consolidation or purchase of all or a substantial portion of our assets.

 

Intellectual Property

10. All of the copyright, trade marks, trade names, patents and other intellectual property rights subsisting in, created during, or used in connection with any service, search or software provided to you by the Company shall be and remain the sole property of the Company.

10.1. In the event that new inventions, designs or processes evolve in the performance of or as a result of our services, you acknowledge the same shall be the property of the Company unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Company.

 

Enforceability

11. If at any time any one or more of the terms of this Agreement are held to be unenforceable, illegal or otherwise invalid in any respect such unenforceability, illegality or invalidity shall not affect the remaining terms of this Agreement which shall remain in full force and effect.

11.1. Any failure by the Company to enforce a breach of the terms of this Agreement by you will not be deemed to be a waiver of any subsequent breach of the terms of this Agreement that you make.

11.2. These Conditions will be governed exclusively by English law and in the event of a dispute both parties will submit exclusively to the jurisdiction of the English courts

 

Glossary

12. References to "the Customer" are to the individual, firm or company from whom the Company receive instructions.

12.1. "Intellectual Property" means all forms of intellectual property or protective rights recognised in law.

12.2. "the Report" includes any information that the Company supply to the Customer including all reports, services, datasets, software or information contained in them.

 

Independent Dispute Resolution

13. If you make a complaint and we are unable to resolve it to your satisfaction you may refer the complaint to The Property Ombudsman scheme (website www.tpos.co.uk, email: admin@tpos.co.uk). We will co-operate fully with the Ombudsman during an investigation and comply with his final decision.

 

Local Authority Search Network Complaints Procedure

 

Information for customers

 

Local Authority Search Network Ltd is registered with the Property Codes Compliance Board as a subscriber to the Search Code. A key commitment under the code is that firms will handle any complaints both speedily and fairly.

 

If you want to make a complaint, we will:

•          Acknowledge it within 5 working days of receipt

•          Normally deal with it fully and provide a final response, in writing, within 20 working days of receipt

•          Keep you informed by letter, telephone or email as you prefer, if we need more time

•          Provide a final response, in writing, at the latest within 40 working days of receipt.

•          Liaise, at your request, with anyone acting formally on your behalf.

 

If you are not satisfied with our final response, or if we exceed the above timescales,

 you may refer the complaint to The Property Ombudsman scheme (TPOs): Tel: 01722 333306, website www.tpos.co.uk, E-mail: admin@tpos.co.uk

We will co-operate fully with the Ombudsman during an investigation and comply with his decision.

Complaints should be sent to:

Customer Services

Local Authority Search Network Ltd

Direct House

87 Church Street

Westhoughton

Bolton

BL5 3RZ

01942 818100

maillasn@aol.com