Harpal Singh, Managing Director of Conveyancing Alliance warns of hike in HIPs prices because of changes within the personal search industry, from 6th April. Firstly local authorities will be changing the way they charge personal search providers. Secondly, the provision of transitional insurance cover is expected to be removed. This will mean that the search enquiries will need to be answered instead of being insured. “The likely hike in search prices and inevitable cost variation across local authorities will almost certainly mean more expensive HIPs, and perhaps the end of fixed cost HIPs. Until all of the local authorities publish their charging structures we are all in the dark.”