Terms of Business

1. Definitions

1.1 “Agreement” means the Authority to Act and these Terms of Business.

1.2 “Apparatus” includes all plant belonging to or under the control or direction of the Electricity Company including without limitation power lines, pylons and transmission and/or meter equipment.

1.3 “Authority to Act” means the authority in writing from the Client or his agent instructing PCC to pursue the Client’s claim for a formal agreement.

1.4 “Client/You” means the person issuing the Authority to Act or on whose behalf it is issued.

1.5 “Payment” means that sum paid or payable by the Electricity Company granting the Electricity Company permission to retain, use, renew, repair, inspect or remove Apparatus over or near the Property following the conclusion of any agreement between the Client and the Electricity Company (whether verbal or written or whether finally concluded by PCC or any other party, including the Client).

1.6 “Electricity Company” means the owner of or the person with the right to use/control the use of the Apparatus.

1.7 “The PCC Fee” means the sum payable to PCC under the Agreement.

1.8 “PCC” means Property Compensation Consultants Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 6105656.

1.9 “Property” means the property or properties where the Apparatus is located together with any other property of the Client (whether referred to in the Authority to Act or not) which forms the subject matter of any claim at the request of the Client.

1.10 “Services” means those services provided by PCC in assisting the Client in the formulation of a claim and dealing with negotiations with the Electricity Company with a view to obtaining the payment, but excluding all or any costs incurred by PCC in connection with the pursuit of any claim or prospective claim to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) or such other Tribunal or Court that has jurisdiction in the event a payment cannot be agreed between the Electricity Company and the Client.

1.11 “Surveyor’s Fee” shall mean that sum that is paid or would be payable by the Electricity Company either as a matter of law or convention in addition to the settlement of any claim. (This is often referred to a scale fee called Ryde’s Scale).

2. Our Obligations to You

2.1 We agree to undertake the Services with reasonable care and skill and on the terms of this Agreement which shall apply to the exclusion of any other terms and conditions (save for any terms which by law cannot be lawfully excluded or varied) unless we agree this in writing with you.

2.2 Subject to your satisfying your obligations below, we will use our reasonable endeavours to secure a formal agreement within a reasonable period, but PCC gives no promise as to timescales for completion of such process which will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. For example, we cannot control timescales which are set entirely by the electricity company. They may delay or defer settlement of any arrangement to take into account their own budgetary considerations and may also from time to time revise their claim submission procedures.

3. Your Obligation to Us

3.1 You agree to pay the PCC Fee as soon as you have received the Compensation or any instalment of the Compensation, (but you do not have to pay us more than the amount of any instalment you actually receive). PCC shall be entitled to retain the Surveyor’s Fee in addition to the PCC Fee and in the event payment of the Surveyor’s Fee is made direct by the Electricity Company to you, you agree to account to PCC for such fee.

3.2 You agree that no variation to the Agreement shall be binding unless agreed in writing with you by an authorised representative of PCC.

3.3 You agree that all information you have relevant to the claim for Compensation will be provided to PCC within a reasonable period from our request and that the information you give us is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and tell us as soon as possible if any such information is no longer correct.

3.4 You promise that you/the person(s) named in the Authority to Act are the beneficial owner(s) of the Property and in the event that the Property is owned with someone else you have their permission to enter into this Agreement on their behalf.

3.5 You will tell us if you decide to sell your Property.

3.6 If an agent signs this Agreement on your behalf he confirms that he is duly authorised to bind you to the terms of the Agreement and to indemnify PCC against all losses, costs, damages and liabilities arising in the event he or she has no such actual authority.

4. Termination

4.1 PCC may terminate this appointment on 30 days’ written notice to you at any time in the event that you unreasonably refuse or neglect to provide any information and/or documentation reasonably required for PCC to progress or conclude settlement of the claim providing that PCC shall, prior to such termination notice, give you written notice to rectify any such default within 28 days and providing you do so we will not terminate our agreement with you.

4.2 You may terminate this Agreement by 30 days’ written notice to us in circumstances where we have substantially failed to comply with our obligations to you under this Agreement provided you also give us written notice to rectify any such fault within 28 days and we have failed to do so.

4.3 Unless you terminate this Agreement under Clause 4.2, it only ends when all monies due to us have been paid.

4.4 In the event that you terminate this Agreement in circumstances where you are not entitled to we can claim damages against you for breach of contract. These will include a claim for the Fee and the Surveyor’s Fee.

5. Limitations of our legal liability to you

5.1 Our liability to you for any breach of this Agreement or negligence shall be limited to the amount of the Compensation and we are not responsible for losses caused by your fault or events which we could not have foreseen or prevented even if we had taken all reasonable care.

PCC do not however seek to exclude or limit our liability for:

• 5.1.1 Death or personal injury caused by PCC’s negligence;
• 5.1.2 Fraudulent representation;
• 5.1.3 Any breach of the terms implied by law by a reason of you being a consumer.

5.2 In the event of there being events outside PCC’s control (such as riots, terrorist attacks, natural disasters or failure of public or private telecommunications networks) then we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and our obligations under this Agreement will be suspended and the time for performance of our obligations will be extended for the duration of those events.

6. Assignment

We reserve the right to transfer our rights under the provisions of this Agreement without your agreement but will give as much notice as practicable if we do so. You agree not to transfer your rights under this Agreement without PCC’s prior written consent, but we will agree to this where this is reasonable, for example if you are selling your property and wish to transfer the benefit of any claim for compensation.

7. Governing Law

The Agreement is subject to English law (save insofar as it may be overridden by any laws applicable under the relevant conflict of laws rules which apply in the country in which the Apparatus is situated) and you and PCC both agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts to resolve all or any disputes arising between us. You and PCC both agree however to seek to use all reasonable efforts to resolve any dispute by agreement if possible before instituting any legal proceedings.

8. Complaints

We aim at all times to provide you with an efficient and professional service throughout our engagement. If at any time however you feel that our services have fallen below the standards you are entitled to expect please contact our Complaints Manager, Suzanne Hawthorne, who can be contacted at our Rookery View premises at any time. She will then investigate your complaint thoroughly and provide you with a written response to your complaint within 21 days from receipt of your complaint.

9. Client Monies

Should PCC Ltd be required to hold monies on behalf of clients, these monies are held in our Clients Account, Account No: 45932506, Sort Code 01-05-41 (NatWest Bank, Macclesfield Branch). This account is a ring-fenced, non-interest bearing account.