Estate agent negligence claims with legal firm Healys LLP
If your estate agent has provided you with a service that, by all reasonable standards, can be deemed competent, then you will be unable to make a claim for estate agent negligence, no matter how much money you might have lost as a result of your property-related transaction. However, in the event that you have not been provided with a competent service, a professional negligence lawyer might agree to represent you in an attempt to claim compensation.
The duties of an estate agent
Most estate agents are obliged to abide by specific codes of conduct and any breach of such a code might, in conjunction with proof of financial loss, constitute grounds for a successful claim for compensation.
Time limits
In most cases your claim for estate agent negligence must be made from six years from the date of the negligent act, six years from the date you became aware of the negligence, or six years from the date at which the fact of loss became apparent.
When is it possible to claim?
It might be possible to make a claim for the negligence of your estate agent if it has committed clear negligence such as providing you with an inaccurate valuation and advising you to sell a property at well below its market value. Other examples of negligence include a failure to provide a competently drafted particulars of sale or a failure to advise of important and relevant changes in the property market.
Furthermore, letting agents can be found negligent if they have provided inadequate service or advice.
However, for all types of claim, it is not enough to only prove negligence – it must also be proven that financial loss has been sustained as a direct result.
Estate agent negligence claims in Brighton and London
In order to make a successful estate agent negligence claim it is necessary to prove that your estate agent owed you a duty of care, that the duty of care was breached, and that you have sustained financial loss as a direct result.
Misleading information, mis-selling, and inaccurate valuations are some of the major reasons for such claims and if you have lost money as a result of these, or any other causes, we could help you secure compensation for your losses.
Talk to the professional negligence lawyers in our Brighton or London offices for more information. Email, call, or request a call from us.
I have been with the same letting agent for some 18years. I have two properties let out through them and have done so for all of this time. We agreed a
fee rate of 8% for the management of both properties. I have had rent protection organised by my letting company for some of these years. On completing my tax return I noticed that the agent had charged me £250 for such protection on each of my properties this year. In the past I have found out that my agent had charged me more than the actual cost of the repair work (they did refund me on being challenged though) Thus my suspicion was aroused as to whether the protection charge was correct. I contacted the company responsible for issuing the protection and they told me that the cost for each property was £198 ?? I raised this discrepancy with my letting agent and they blamed it on an administrative error caused by a newcomer to the office. They agreed to pay back the difference (£104) and sent this to our account. I was not happy and as a result of my dissatisfaction they forwarded another £100 into our account without my agreeing to such a transfer. I have not spoken to the agent since as I wanted time to investigate the matter further. Again I phoned the rent protection company and found out that in the year 2020/2021 the cost for protection was £134 on each property yet the agent had invoiced me £240 for each of my houses! A difference of £212. Is this normal practice in the letting agency world? I have not got back to the agent yet but thought it best to seek out further guidance on this matter.
Thank you for your enquiry Richard. In order to ensure it reaches the correct legal advisor, please email details of your enquiry, along with your contact number, to enquiries@healys.old-website.shout-loud.co.uk
Kind regards