Dishonest Estate Agents

[willprentice]

Is there any protection for a buyer If a selling agent has knowingly given false (verbal) information in order increase the possibility of selling a property causing the prospective buyer to make an offer based on the validity of this information; and that the buyer has then paid for initial searches and survey which in turn have brought to light the fact that the information to be false, in turn causing the sale to fall through?

[treaclefight]

your loss is purely econominc rather than physical so it will be difficult to make a claim against the esate agent, but depending on the exact circumstances of your case you may be able to make a claim in tort for a negligently made statement under the principles of the case of Hedley Byrne v Heller / Caparo, often you can get a free initial consultation with a solicitor and i think it may be worth taking this to one if you can do it without have too much more of your money wasted. i'm sure someone else out there will have a quicker, more predicatable solution.

[rinkytink]

You could try checking the home page for the Ombusman for Estate Agents scheme.
http://www.oea.co.uk/
I think that it is only applicable for Agents that are signed up but may serve as a strting point for information.