All references to the masculine include the feminine.
Members' Information
Welcome to the OEA
Bill McClintock
The Ombudsman scheme started in 1990 and was amended in 1998 to its present form as a voluntary redress body to resolve complaints against residential estate agents and residential letting agents. It is paid for by subscription on a per office basis by the Industry and is free to consumers. However, before a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman it must be put to the agent's internal complaints procedure. There are no further costs to Members for resolving disputes.
In many cases disputes are resolved without a formal referral but the office in Salisbury deals with over 12,000 enquiries during the year and in 2007 resolved 895 cases brought to the Ombudsman.
As a Member of the Scheme we have Codes of Practice and Consumer Guides available for use by both sales and letting agents. We carry out a monitoring process to establish how consumers view the service they receive from their agents. The Residential Code of Practice is approved by the OFT under their Consumer Codes Approval Scheme and your Membership entitles you to use a joint OEA/OFT logo in respect of residential sales.
OEA welcomes you as a Member and is pleased to give advice to you whenever it can and provides a monthly newsletter on industry related matters.
Bill McClintock,
Chairman of the Board
The Ombudsman for Estate Agents has now been granted approval under the CEARA which is scheduled to come into force on 1st October 2008. The Act will require estate agents to belong to an independent approved redress scheme which will determine disputes between estate agents and buyers or sellers of residential property in the UK. The Act will also strengthen the regulation of estate agents through measures such as:
- requiring estate agents to keep permanent records for up to six years and
- allowing trading standards officers to inspect those records and
- expand the circumstances in which OFT can take regulatory action against estate agents
If you have joined the OEA as a full member, this will include automatic registration for redress under CEARA. If you have registered for HIPs only then you will need to re register for CEAR. Please contact our membership department on 01722 333306 for further information.
- To abide by our Codes of Practice and in the case of HIPs only registration to comply with all current and relevant legislation, in particular, the duties imposed by part 5 of the Housing Act 2004 and the Home Information Pack Regulations 2006
- To maintain and operate an in-house Complaints Procedure
- To co-operate with the Ombudsman's investigation of a complaint
- To abide by the Ombudsman's decision in relation to a complaint
- To have valid Professional Indemnity Insurance. The OEA require agents to hold PI cover with a minimum of £100,000 and with an excess of no more than £1,000. If your excess is more than £1,000 then you are required to add the OEA endorsement (link to endorsement)
- Unresolved disputes with a consumer may be passed to the OEA for a free and impartial resolution, thereby freeing time for you to attend to your core business
- The Ombudsman for Estate Agents Case Review of a Complaint is a useful tool for improving office procedures and as an aid to staff training
- By displaying the OEA logo and in the case of Residential Sales the joint logo (OEA/OFT) on your premises, you demonstrate to the property buying and selling consumer your commitment to consumer protection and customer care
On joining the OEA, your company details will be displayed on our website which is available to the public, and in order to remove confusion for consumers all offices trading under the same company or brand name are required to join. Administrative and headquarters offices that do not deal directly with consumers need to register, but will not be charged.
We are now contacting our members regularly by email with our newsletters and quarterly reports, please would you ensure that we have your correct details. Click to check your details
If you need to notify us of any changes please contact membership - Tel: 01722 333306 or email us at membership@oea.co.uk
The OEA Code of Practice for Residential Sales was granted full OFT approval under the OFT Consumer Codes Approval Scheme (CCAS) in September 2005, which means that you can use the approved logo on any paperwork relating to Residential Sales.
We are aware that there is some confusion both for the estate agent and the public on the use of our logos. Below, we have set out some guidelines on how best to use them. Please would you endeavour to make sure the public are aware of the differences and that the OFT approval only applies to the OEA Code for Residential Sales.
Please note, if you have registered with the OEA for HIPs redress as required by the Housing Act 2004, and not full OEA membership, you are not entitled to use the OEA logo or the OEA/OFT joint logo.
Guidance on Logo Usage
If you are a member of the OEA for Residential Sales
You can use the CCAS approved logo as shown here.
The following are guidance documents supplied by the OFT on the correct usage of the joint logo.
Licence Guidance
This document provides guidance on the conditions under which the logo can be used. The logo can only be used in accordance with the terms of a copyright licence issued by the OFT. Please refer to the licence for the full terms and conditions on the use of the logo.
Download Approved Code Logo Copyright Licence Terms
Licence Toolkit
This toolkit shows how you can use the Approved code logo on your stationery, business cards, adverts, etc.
Download Approved Code Logo Toolkit
Licence design
These guidelines give guidance on how to place the OFT Approved code logo in relation to the code sponsor's logo.
Download Approved Code Logo Guidlines
If you are a member of the OEA for Lettings and Property Management
You can use the logo as shown here.
The Code of Practice for Lettings became effective from June 2006. This Code does not have OFT approval. Therefore, you must not display the OEA/OFT joint logo on any stationery regarding lettings.
If you are a member of the OEA for Combined Residential Sales and Lettings
Where possible, please display the correct logo on the relevant paperwork. You can use the joint logo on any paperwork related to Residential Sales and the Lettings logo on any paperwork relating to Lettings and property management.
If the same paperwork is used for both sales and lettings then you can use both logos (joint logo and lettings logo), or if you prefer the single logo as shown here.
If you require our logos, please contact membership on 01722 333306.
Most of our documents can be downloaded from the website, however, we do supply hard copies of our Consumer Guides, Codes of Practice and window stickers. Please complete the stationery form and return it to our office with your payment.
Prior notification will be sent to members regarding their membership renewal and fees. We will require a copy of your Professional Indemnity schedule to be sent in with your payment. It is a requirement of OEA membership that member agents have Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance cover with a minimum of £100,000 and with an excess of no more than £1,000. If your excess is more than £1,000 then you are required to add the OEA endorsement.
Fees for 2008
| Membership Type | Annual Fee excluding VAT | Total Payable including VAT |
| Residential Sales (incl. HIPs) One off Registration fee |
£120.00 £20.00 |
£141.00 £23.50 |
| Total | £140.00 | £164.50 |
| Lettings and Property Management One off Registration Fee |
£120.00 £20.00 |
£141.00 £23.50 |
| Total | £140.00 | £164.50 |
| Combined Sales and Lettings One-off Registration Fee |
£200.00 £20.00 |
£235.00 £23.50 |
| Total | £220.00 | £258.50 |
All fees are per office and the one off registration fee will apply to any new office opened.
Cheques should be made payable to 'the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Ltd'
Fees for 2008 for CEARA only Registration
| Membership Type | Excluding VAT | Total Payable including VAT |
| OEA EAR Scheme Registration only - Annual Fee (per office) One off Registration Fee (per office) |
£120.00 £20.00 |
£141.00 £23.50 |
| Total | £140.00 | £164.50 |
Cheques should be made payable to 'the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Company Ltd'
As an ongoing commitment to the OFT approval for our Code of Practice for Residential Sales, the OEA is required to undertake surveys to demonstrate its members compliance with the Code of Practice and to gauge their overall levels of client satisfaction.
The survey is conducted monthly by Referenceline (a company that specialises in this area) and the necessary paperwork with full instructions on how to proceed will be sent by them. The process is quite straightforward and should not take up too much of your time, but when an agent is selected they are expected to complete the monitoring by the closing date given. However, we are aware there are exceptions, so if you any queries regarding the monitoring at any time you can contact Janet Fitzpatrick on 01794 341400.
Generally the results are favourable; the main area of concern is that consumers are not aware of agents' membership to the OEA. You can view your results (if you have taken part) or to see the overall results under 'Find a Member', and if you wish you can have them emailed to you by contacting Referenceline on 0870 870 1010.
We have now submitted an application to the OFT under the CCAS for the Lettings Code of Practice. It is expected that approval will take some time