A death by 1000 cuts

HannahMarie1987

ReadingTim said:

You can't claim for consequential loss as you don't have a contract with that Agent for them to breach, and even if you you did, it's excluded from most contracts anyway.  

Thanks @ReadingTim - more wondering if this is something the TPO would consider rather than making a claim under any contractual dispute. 

DE_612183

HannahMarie1987 said:

ReadingTim said:

You can't claim for consequential loss as you don't have a contract with that Agent for them to breach, and even if you you did, it's excluded from most contracts anyway.  

Thanks @ReadingTim - more wondering if this is something the TPO would consider rather than making a claim under any contractual dispute. 

Have you complained to the agent yet and asked them for compensation?

TPO won't consider anything until you have a final response from the agent.

eddddy

HannahMarie1987 said:


Thanks Eddie, I appreciate the time you took to respond. I think from my side, its not the decision to purchase - it had taken so long and I continually had the impression the property would complete sooner than finding another property and going through the process. The problem is the decision to make an offer, which is included under the TPO's COP. 

There is no doubt this was impacted, I would not had put an offer on the property had I known the above. Question then is, what financial impact / loss have I felt from putting this offer in, when I wouldnt have done so had I known the above. 

I do think there is an opportunity cost of increased house prices that I would have received from another property that wasnt realised (particularly as the increase in house prices was given to the vendor to use as a negotiation chip to offset the additional legal costs I incurred). And of course all the additional legal fees that resulted from these omissions.  I welcome your views on this. 

So let's agree that the estate agent has done wrong, and broken consumer protection laws.

I think TPO would look at it this way...

You found out the property was the leasehold only, and not share of freehold. At that point you had a choice... 

• You could have decided that the property wasn't worth what you had offered, and walked away
• But instead you decided that the property was still worth what you had offered, so you proceeded.
• So by definition, there was no financial loss

You found out about the cellar and resulting extra legal costs. At that point you had a choice... 

• You could have decided that the property wasn't worth the extra legal costs, and walked away
• But instead you decided that the property was still worth it, so you proceeded.
• So by definition, there was no financial loss

The seller used house price increases as a 'bargaining chip' to refuse a price reduction. At that point you had a choice... 

• You could have decided that the property wasn't worth what you had offered, and walked away
• But instead you decided that the property was still worth what you had offered, so you proceeded.
• So by definition, there was no financial loss

I think all your complaints would fall into the above categories.

But you can still try a complaint to TPO.