Procedure
The PICA-Service is designed to provide tied tenants and lessees, whose landlord Pub Companies (1-499 pubs) are bound by the Codes of Practice covering England and Wales both Tenanted and Leased and the Code of Practice covering Scotland, with a dispute resolution service to hear complaints and, where appropriate make Awards, to deal with alleged breaches of the IFC or the landlord Company’s own Code of Practice.
To view a list of signatory companies please click here.
Participation in the PICA-Service is possible if a tied tenant's or lessee's Pub Company/Brewery (1-499 Pubs) is bound by the Codes of Practice covering England and Wales both tenants and leased and the Code of Practice covering Schotland and is a contributing member of the PICA-Service. It is a condition of the use of the PICA-Service that disputes must firstly go through the Pub Company's internal grievance procedure and will not be able to proceed to the PICA-Service without having first undertaken this.
Once the Pub Company has conducted its internal investigation, the tenant/lessee will be able to register the dispute with the PICA-Service via an application form.
The tenant will then be required to submit a submission of the facts of the dispute to PICA-Service. This submission is limited in length so please ensure that prior to commencing with the PICA-Service that the procedure paper is read.
Once the PICA-Service has received the completed submission this will be forwarded to the Pub Company, who will be granted a maximum of 21 days to respond to the dispute against them.
Upon receipt of the Pub Company's submission there will be a second opportunity for the tenant/lessee to counter-claim the Pub Company's response. Please note that within the PICA-Service procedure paper there are limitations on introducing new information at this stage. To ensure that you fully comply with this condition please see the procedure paper which will highlight such conditions.
After the paper submissions have been received they will be forwarded to the PICA-Service Panel. The PICA-Service Panel will then convene and a hearing will take place.
The PICA-Service Panel hearing will provide the opportunity to both tenants/lessees and Pub Companies to personally represent their case. The procedure paper details limitations to professional representation by legally qualified persons on either party's behalf.
After hearing from both parties, the PICA-Service Panel will break to deliberate on the case. The PICA-Service Panel will then conclude on the case.
The PICA-Service Panel reserves the right for all monetary awards to remain confidential. Information regarding cases upheld will be made available to the public. It is advisable that all persons seeking to resolve a dispute with PICA-Service familiarise themselves with the PICA-Service prospectus which details the terms and conditions of the service.
Parties to an application are encouraged to peruse the procedure paper to thoroughly understand the procedure.
For full details of the Procedure click here