All agents failed to pay awards made and were referred to the scheme’s independent Compliance Committee, which ruled that they should be excluded from The Property Ombudsman scheme. However, it’s important to reference that overall, 98% of Ombudsman awards are complied with and these cases present a small minority that failed to do so.
The majority of the excluded agents are now in liquidation and include:
· Whirlybird Property, a sales and lettings agent in Maidenhead, Berkshire. This agent failed to pay an outstanding award of £4,042 in relation to a complaint from a landlord over the transfer of rent despite proof it had been paid by the tenant. Trading Standards has confirmed that Whirlybird Property is no longer trading and is going into liquidation.
· Deerstone Property, a sales agent in Guildford, Surrey. In a complaint against Deerstone, TPO found it had not provided a service consistent with best practice when marketing properties for sale and an award of £2,000 was made. Although this agent appears to no longer be trading, there is a connection to Deerstone Group Ltd which is still trading and who appears to have no redress.
· PrinvestUK Ltd, a sales agent in Knaphill, Surrey. TPO received 58 complaints against this agent, 45 of which were supported with awards totalling £215,330. PrinvestUK Ltd is currently being liquidated and The Insolvency Service is carrying out an investigation.
· Chaplin Bond Business Sales Specialists, a commercial sales agent in Bolton, Manchester. Sellers complained that the agent had not marketed the property properly and ceased trading without telling them. TPO made an award of £1,500. There is no evidence to suggest Chaplin Bond Business Sales Specialists are still trading and its website is inactive.
· Experience Invest, a sales, lettings and commercial agent in Victoria, London. A complaint against them came from a landlord over non-payment of assured rent. The case was supported with an award of £2,000. Experience Invest has placed a note on its website stating they have closed the company and ceased trading.
· The Buy2Let Shop, a residential buying agent in Bromley, Kent. An award of £4,600 remains outstanding following a complaint relating to the purchase of an off-plan property. The Buy2Let Shop, which is no longer trading and in administration, has a connection to E Property Sales Ltd, sharing the same Director. E Property Sales Ltd, also a residential buying agent in Bromley, Kent, has been excluded for non-payment of a £5,900 award in a supported case where the buyer was seeking reimbursement of fees paid after the sellers withdrew. Despite liquidation on Companies House, E Property Sales Ltd appears to have an active website.
As part of TPO’s process, notification of these expulsions has been shared with all relevant bodies, including both Local and National Trading Standards for further investigation.
Rebecca Marsh, Property Ombudsman, (pictured) had this to say: “Consumers and other agents need to know that when an agent has been judged to have acted unfairly and does not put that right, there will be action against them. TPO’s Compliance Committee deals with the rare cases where agents have not complied with the Ombudsman decision. This happens in under 2% of cases, with the Committee successfully resolving many of these compliance issues in the consumer’s favour.
"In these cases, there were several failings on the part of the agents where the complainants should have received a compensatory award. However, all seven agents are no longer trading meaning the businesses are no longer in existence. We appreciate that this is extremely frustrating for the consumers as it is for us, but would highlight this represents a tiny proportion of agents, the significant majority of which fulfil their obligation to pay an award made by TPO. Furthermore, where new agencies are set up by the same directors, membership of TPO will be declined until such times as outstanding consumer awards are paid.”
