Complaints procedure

Estate agents in England and Wales who act for sellers of properties that require Home Information Packs are required to join an approved redress scheme. At present, there are three approved schemes in place:

- the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) scheme

- The Surveyors Ombudsman Service run by The Ombudsman Service Ltd (TOSL) for RICS members.

- The Property Adjudication for Consumers Scheme (PACS) run by IDRS, the independent dispute resolution service provider.

For more information on each scheme, see the headings below.

Complaining to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents
Contact details
How to complain
What happens next?
Decisions and outcomes

Complaining to the Surveyors Ombudsman Service
Contact details
How to complain
What happens next?
Decisions and outcomes

Complaining to the Property Adjudication for Consumers Scheme
Contact details
How to complain
What happens next?
Decisions and outcomes

Complaining to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents

Consumers can complain to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents if all the following criteria are met:

The complaint is being made by individuals who are actual or potential buyers or sellers of residential property in England and Wales (i.e. commercial and agricultural property and letting/property management are excluded).
The complaint must relate to an act or omission affecting the complainant in the course of an agent's activities in relation to a Home Information Pack, including the giving of advice as to whether a Home Information Pack is required.
The act complained of must have occurred at a time when the rules set out in the Home Information Packs Redress Scheme were in force in relation to that act or omission.
The consumer has exhausted the internal complaints procedure of the service provider or more than eight weeks have passed since the complainant first complained in writing to the firm concerned.
The complaint to OEA is made not more than 6 months after the date on which the final offer of settlement or final observations were made by the firm.
The complaint was first made in writing to the firm concerned not more than 12 months after the subject of the complaint occurred.
The Ombudsman has not considered the complaint previously (unless new evidence is available).
No other body is or should be considering the complaint as a whole (e.g. a court).
The claim does not or does not appear to exceed £25,000.

Contact details

Web: www.oea.co.uk
Email: admin@oea.co.uk
Tel: 01722 333 306
Fax: 01722 332 296

By post:
Ombudsman for Estate Agents
Beckett House
4 Bridge Street
Salisbury
Wilts SP1 2LX

How to complain

A Complaints Form and Guidelines should be obtained online or from the Ombudsman's Office. The Ombudsman can advise on how to complain:

The complainant submits a case to the Ombudsman's Office
The Complaints Form includes a 'Waiver of Confidentiality' section. This allows the Ombudsman's office to gather information about the buying/selling transaction, and to use it in their investigation of the complaint. The information is not used more widely without the complainant's permission, unless required by law.

What happens next?

The Ombudsman determines whether he can decide the complaint
The signed Complaints Form is sent to the Member Agency - which has three weeks to send the file(s) to the Ombudsman's Office for examination, accompanied by a covering letter explaining how they have dealt with the dispute and presenting their side of the case
When the files are received, the Case is investigated by a Case Officer and then reviewed by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can decide the procedure to be adopted by him in considering complaints. This could include conciliation, mediation or a full case review
The Ombudsman must act impartially and fairly in all circumstances.

Decisions and outcomes

The Ombudsman expects to reach his conclusion on most cases within two to three months of the signature of the Complaints Form
If the Ombudsman finds in favour of the complainant, the case review is sent first to the Member Agency for their comment. Where the Ombudsman does not support the complaints made, the case review is sent first to the complainant for his/her comment

The Ombudsman can direct:

That the Member takes, or desists from taking, such steps as he may specify. And/or
That the named Member pays the complainant an award (not exceeding £25,000) by way of compensation for the loss, expense or inconvenience caused by the act or omission of the subject matter of the complaint

If an award of compensation is made, the complainant can:

Accept the award within 28 days in full and final settlement. The firm must then pay the award within 28 days of the Ombudsman having notified them that the award has been accepted
Reject the award and take the matter to court
Fail to accept the award within 28 days, in which case the award lapses

Member firms are required to comply with the decisions of the Ombudsman. Failure to do so can result in the firm being dismissed from membership.

Complaining to the Surveyors Ombudsman Service

The Surveyors Ombudsman Service can deal with complaints about firms which have joined the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and have become 'member firms' of the Ombudsman Service. A Chartered Surveyor can be commissioned by a consumer to prepare a Home Information Pack prior to a property being offered for sale.

You can use the Service if you:

Are complaining about a firm which has provided or is contacted to provide a service to you which is a member of the Surveyors Ombudsman Service;
Are representing a customer who meets the above condition and have the customer's permission, in writing, to make the complaint;
Have relied upon the services of a member firm.

When is the right time to complain?

Before you complain to the Surveyors Ombudsman Service you must have complained to the firm and given them a fair chance to sort out the problem.

You must have told the firm about the problem within 12 months of first knowing about it.

If after three months of making your complaint you're still not happy with the way the firm is dealing with it, you can pass it to the Surveyors Ombudsman Service. The deadline for bringing it to the attention of the Ombudsman is nine months from the date you first told the firm about the problem.

You might get a letter from the firm that says they will no longer be dealing with the complaint and this is their final position. You have six months from the date of the letter to pass the complaint to the Ombudsman.

Contact details

Surveyors Ombudsman Service
PO Box 1021
Warrington
WA4 9FE

Phone: 0845 050 8181 or 01925 530270
Fax: 0845 051 1213 or 01925 530271
Textphone: 0845 051 1513 or 01925 430886

Email: enquiries@surveyors-ombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.surveyors-ombudsman.org.uk

How to complain

If you have access to the internet an on-line complaint is available at www.surveyors-ombudsman.org.uk. This form will help you to decide if the complaint is one that the Service can handle.

If you prefer to speak to the Ombudsman's office, when you contact the Service you will be asked what's happened and a decision will be made if the Ombudsman has the power to deal with the complaint. If he can, the details of the complaint will be summarised and you will be sent a filled-in complaint form for you to check, sign and return, with copies of all of the documents you have which support your complaint. By signing the complaint form, you agree to the firm sharing with the Ombudsman any information it has which will help the Service to consider your complaint.

What happens next?

Sometimes, the Ombudsman will try to find an informal solution that will bring the matter to a close. If this doesn't work, the Service will look at all the information on your case and decide whether your complaint is one that the Ombudsman can help with. A formal, independent decision on the case will be made and consideration will be given as to whether the firm must take any action to put things right for you. Whatever the outcome, the Service will write to you to let you know the decision.

Decisions and outcomes

The Ombudsman aims to issue a Provisional Conclusion within six weeks from receiving the signed complaint form.

The Provisional Conclusion is issued to both parties at the same time. This is an opportunity for both to present more information about the complaint but only if the Ombudsman has made a significant error in fact which would have a material effect on the decision, or important new evidence is available. The Ombudsman will consider any responses when making his Final Decision. You will be sent a copy of the Ombudsman's Final Decision.

If the Ombudsman decides to make an award, and you accept it, then the firm that you are complaining about has agreed that it will keep to the decision and take the action that the Ombudsman has asked for in the Final Decision. The Ombudsman may ask the firm to provide any or all of the following:

A service or some practical action that will benefit you
An apology or explanation
A financial award

It is not the Ombudsman's role to punish firm's when deciding what solution to provide. If a financial award is needed this will be an amount that the Ombudsman considers necessary to settle your dispute. This can be as much as £25,000.

So that the same problem is less likely to happen again, the Ombudsman may also recommend the firm to make changes to its policies or procedures.

You don't have to accept the Ombudsman's Decision. If you do accept it, the firm will put the remedy in place within 28 days of being notified that you have accepted.

If you reject the Ombudsman's Decision you lose the right to the solution offered but you will be free to follow other routes to try to sort out the complaint in a way that suits you better.

Complaining to PACS

Consumers can complain to PACS if:

The complaint being made against a PACS Member is by an individual who is an actual or potential buyer or seller of residential property in England and Wales.
In most circumstances, the complaint relates to an act or omission affecting the consumer in the course of PACS Member's activities in relation to a Home Information Pack, including the giving of advice as to whether a Home Information Pack is required. With the PACS Member's agreement, other complaints may be referred to PACS which are not about Home Information Packs.
The complaint arose after the date the PACS Member became a member of PACS. With the PACS Member's agreement, complaints made before the date of membership can be referred to PACS.
The consumer has exhausted the PACS Member's internal complaints procedure or more than eight weeks have passed since the consumer first complained in writing to the PACS Member.
The complaint is sent to PACS not more than 12 months after the date on which the complaint was first made in writing to the PACS Member.
The claim is not for an amount of more than £25,000, including any consequential damages and VAT, for any one consumer. Any element for inconvenience will be limited up to £1,000 per claim and will be included within the limit of £25,000 including VAT.

Contact details

Web: www.yourpacs.co.uk
Email: aaguiar@idrs.ltd.uk
Tel: 020 7520 3819
Fax: 020 7520 3829

By post:
PACS
24 Angel Gate
City Road
London EC1V 2PT

How to complain

The application form is available from PACS or the PACS Member.
Applications can also be made online via the PACS website at www.yourpacs.co.uk.

What happens next?

When a valid claim is received, PACS will send it to the PACS Member who then has 14 working days from the date of receipt of the claim to provide PACS with either written confirmation that the claim has settled or their response to the claim.
If there is no written confirmation of settlement, or the company does not file its response in the time allowed, the adjudicator will determine the complaint by considering only the information supplied by the consumer.
If the PACS Member sends a response, PACS will send it to the consumer and give seven working days to submit comments.
PACS then appoints the adjudicator and sends his / her name to the parties, along with a copy of the consumer's comments.
The adjudicator may contact the parties by phone, fax, letter or email to ask for further documents or information they need to make their decision.

Decisions and outcomes

PACS will issue a decision usually within six weeks of the application being made.
The document containing the decision will include full reasons for why that decision was made.
In the decision it will set out what the PACS Member must do. If the adjudicator agrees with the complaint, he or she can require the company to:
- Apologise or give the consumer an explanation
- Provide a product or service or take some practical action that is to the benefit of the consumer
- Pay the consumer an amount up to £25,000, including any consequential damages and VAT. Any element for inconvenience will be limited up to £1,000 per claim and will be included within the limit of £25,000 including VAT.
The adjudicator may also recommend that the PACS Member change its policies or procedures as a result of their investigation.
Once the decision is issued, the consumer has four weeks to contact PACS to say whether or not they wish to accept the decision. If the consumer accepts the decision within this timescale, the PACS Member will abide by the decision taking any necessary action within four weeks of the consumer notifying PACS of their acceptance of the decision.
If the consumer does not accept the decision, the parties may take further action, like going to court.
The decision is only binding on the PACS Member when accepted by the consumer. The decision cannot be appealed. It can only be accepted or rejected, and only by the consumer.
PACS Members have to comply with the decision if it is accepted on time. Failure to do so can result in the PACS Member being dismissed from membership.

Newsletter