The chances of buyers and sellers winning financial compensation if they can substantiate a complaint against an estate agent have risen significantly with the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) decision to back the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA).

The NAEA claims it has made a “landmark decision” in forcing all members who are Principals, Partners and Directors of agency firms to join the Ombudsman scheme.

Until now, the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), one of the two leading professional bodies for residential agents, has put complaints through its code of conduct with a disciplinary process enabling it to fine or expel offending members.

But it has never had a compensation system to make payments to members of the public who prove they suffered financial loss, stress or inconvenience when agents fail to play it by the book. Although the Ombudsman scheme only covers about 40 per cent of all agency offices, the NAEA move could bring this up to about 60 per cent.

Says Peter Bolton King, NAEA chief executive: “The Government made it clear it wants all agents from each and every section of the industry to belong to a single redress scheme.

“The NAEA is taking this ground-breaking move one step further. All NAEA lettings members who are principals, partners and directors must also be members of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) and from June 1, 2006, the OEA will accept residential lettings complaints as well as the current residential sales ones.

“To date, there has been no redress whatsoever for complaints against letting agents.”

The change means that members of the public who want access to the Ombudsman scheme, if anything goes wrong, should check at the outset that an agency firm is within the Ombudsman system - either as a direct member, or via the new NAEA link-up.

However, although they may subsequently have a complaint against an NAEA member, they will only be able to go to the Ombudsman if the agency is headed by Principals, Partners and Directors who are NAEA members bound to observe the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Says Trevor Kent, a leading NAEA member who runs an independent agency in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire: “As a principal, I have signed up to the Ombudsman scheme and pay the extra premium to bear the cost of this service.

“But if my competitors do not have principals and partners within NAEA, consumers do not have the same protection from access to the Ombudsman – even though they may employ NAEA members.

“Members of the public should be aware of this when they choose an agent.”

The other leading body of agents, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), handles complaints through an established code of conduct, with the right to independent arbitration at the end of the process.

INFORMATION: Ombudsman for Estate Agents (01722 333 306 and www,oea.co.uk); National Association of Estate Agents (01926 496 800 and www.naea.co.uk).