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Saturday 19 May 2012 |

Private Roads
Private Roads

What we do

Private Roads Services Ltd ("PRS") provides services to residents' associations and companies responsible for private roads and estates in England and Wales.

We offer our own insurance scheme, a book on the law, extensive online resources for members, and a "starter pack" for residents seeking to form an association or company.

FAQs on contacts

Q4.1 What is the point of PRS's "One contact only" rule?

  • We need to run PRS efficiently, and like all businesses nowadays we have many rules and requirements to comply with - not least because we are regulated, in our capacity as insurance brokers, by the Financial Services Authority.  So we need to have a single agreed contact for each of our members and insurance clients, and to deal exclusively with that one person.

Q4.2 I'm the agreed contact;  but I'm about to fly to Hong Kong on a business trip.  John Smith is dealing with the insurance for the road.  Why won't you talk to him?

  • We entirely understand that it would be useful to you if PRS could step in and act as a sort of go-between for members of your association/company, helping you  to communicate with each other, and to reach decisions.  But this is not a role which we can take on - PRS has hundreds of members and insurance clients, and (among many other problems) there would be formidable difficulties in keeping track of all the personal information involved, as required by the Data Protection Act. We therefore have to stick to "one contact only", and decline politely but firmly to deal with anyone apart from the agreed contact.

Q4.3 I don't know who our agreed contact is!

  • Please ask your fellow committee members/directors.

Q4.4 I have a question about the law, or about insurance.

  • Please speak to your agreed contact about it.  If they decide to raise it with us, on behalf of your association/company, we will of course do all we can to assist.

Q4.5 I've taken over as the secretary of our association/company. Will you please update your records to show me as the contact?

  • We very rarely decline a request for a change of contact, but it's important to have a proper handover of responsibility.  So please read our Terms and Conditions, to make sure you are content with them;  then liaise with the agreed contact and together with them complete the form for requesting a change of contact. This is a short and simple procedure and should not take more than a few minutes if all is in order.

Q4.6 Our contact has moved away - we don't know where they are.

  • If your contact has decided not to renew your membership/insurance, nor to ask for a change of contact, you are bound by their decision, as are we; and if you are not satisfied with that decision then you must trace them, and raise your concerns with them.  We understand that this occasionally happens, and we're sorry it's not a problem we can help with.

Q4.7 Our contact has moved away and can't be traced.  Can we not re-apply for membership/insurance?

  • You're very welcome to do so. But it's only right to say that we will have some concerns.  Why has your contact moved away without asking for a change - weren't they in touch with other committee members/directors?  Didn't they read our Terms and Conditions?  Didn't you read them?  Do you really have a functioning association or company within which residents communicate with each other and take decisions collectively? If you decide to re-apply, please let us have a letter or note explaining why things went wrong, and what steps you have taken to prevent future problems. We will need some reassurance on these matters before we restart PRS membership or insurance.

Last Updated: 26 September 2011