OEA reports on increased lettings disputes and the largest award. Ombudsman for Estate Agents Christopher Hamer reports a major switch towards dealing with disputes covering lettings as the profile of the property market changes.

During 2008, the period covered by his latest annual report, scheme membership rose by 17 per cent. As overall sales activity across the market dropped by as much as 60 per cent, disputes involving sales only dropped by three per cent, a figure which Mr Hamer described as surprising. “I am surprised that my workload in sales disputes has not reduced more significantly, perhaps it shows that buyers and sellers have still higher expectations of agents’ service whilst there are so few properties being sold.”

While sales activity dwindled, the rise in the residential lettings market saw a 200 per cent increase in the lettings disputes handled by the OEA and Mr Hamer predicts that during 2009 lettings will become the major area of his activities.

“Lettings agents still only join the OEA on a voluntary basis and it is therefore satisfying to see so many firms opening up access to my scheme for their customers. Those firms will be operating in accordance with the standards laid down in the OEA’s Code of Practice,” he added.

Highest ever award

The Ombudsman also revealed that in 2008 he made the highest ever award to a complainant in the 20-year history of the scheme, with the estate agent involved ordered to pay out £23,880 after conflicting advice had been given by staff and the agent had failed to act in the best interests of the client or negotiate effectively. Of the total, Chris Hamer awarded £1,000 to cover the distress, aggravation and inconvenience suffered by the complainant – the rest was an award to recompense for indentifiable financial loss. The maximum award he can make under scheme rules is £25,000.

Rise in new cases

Chris Hamer said he received 1,043 new cases in 2008, split between 743 for sales and 300 for lettings, an increase of 20 per cent over 2007 but 78 per cent compared with the same figure for 2006. In 65 per cent of cases the complaint was upheld, resulting in awards totalling more than £385,000. The majority of awards were for between £100 and £499 but 18 were for amounts above £3,000. He also says there is still much confusion between redress as offered by an ombudsman scheme and regulation. Many people mistakenly regard him as a regulator of estate agents but his purpose is to resolve disputes between agents and consumers and to award compensation to the complainant if that is called for.

Do you have anything to say regarding this article? Go ahead and add your comments or views. You must be registered with us to comment.