Can / Should I complain about EA

Tiglet2

You can't get any recourse because EAs are not trained to advise you about indemnity policies or in fact any legal information whatsoever. EAs sell properties. They work on behalf of a seller to sell. They do not work for the buyer. Whether or not the seller divulges information, the EA will not know. EA base their knowledge of the property on information provided by the seller. Even if the EA knew certain information about the property, it is unlikely he would divulge it to you because he just wants the sale. They could sell a park home which floods every Winter if a buyer was stupid enough to believe the EA and not the solicitor. Think of it like a market trader - they will tell you anything in order to make the sale - it is up to you to find out if everything is above board and fit for purpose. While you might be able to take unsuitable goods back to the shop, in property buying, you employ a solicitor to do the due diligence instead.

This why buyers instruct a solicitor to find out the actual legal facts. Your solicitor has done their job and found a problem. Therefore, they have done what you are paying them to do and it is now entirely up to you how you move forward, i.e. continue with the purchase or withdraw and look for an alternative property.

davidmcn

Penguin2017 wrote: »

The seller did tell me that he knew and may corroborate

Not clear what you mean by corroboration here - I thought you only had the seller's say-so that the EA knew? Corroboration is a second piece of evidence to back it up.

Carrot007

Penguin2017 wrote: »

Can I understand why I cannot get a recourse? The agent knew of the rejection letter, yet he suggested indemnity, and rushed me to finish the process in a month. Its because of this I lost all the money to do the mortgage, searches, solicitors. The seller did tell me that he knew and may corroborate

The seller will corroborate that they misled you???? Makes no sense, because it was for them to tell you this not the EA.

Penguin2017

Well the seller said they didnt know of the clause where the indemnity would be void if the council rejected the conversion. However, the assumption is that the EA knew of these clauses.

Lysimache

Did your own solicitor advise you to:
a) buy indemnity insurance?
b) check whether any such insurance would be valid before you purchased it?
If not, did you consult your own solicitor before you purchased the insurance?
If not, who was the person (instead of your solicitor) you were paying who advised to take out such insurance?

The estate agent advising you to do anything has no more weight than a bloke in the street advising you to do anything. I do appreciate how annoying and angry this must make you feel though!

steampowered

Even if the EA knew, they did not have any obligation to tell you.

The EA represents the seller - not the buyer.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Penguin2017 wrote: »

Well the seller said they didnt know of the clause where the indemnity would be void if the council rejected the conversion. However, the assumption is that the EA knew of these clauses.

What wold make you assume that the EA knew anything about indemnity insurance, let alone the particular clauses of yours?