Landlords and tenants have been left £16,000 out of pocket after the latest expulsions by The Property Ombudsman, it has been revealed.

Analysis by compliance platform The Letting Partnership of the six agencies expelled by TPO earlier this month found that the complainants were left without any practical route to recover their money.

No protection

Additional checks found that in two cases, the agency had no client money protection cover in place at the point of expulsion, while in a third, cover had lapsed.

Brimar Property Services, which was expelled over £950 of missing client money, had no CMP cover at the time of its expulsion.

Skampi, where a total award of more than £5,000 was made covering rent owed, management fee refunds and compensation, was also found to have no active CMP cover, and £3,250 remains outstanding.

Hunter Ashley, which was expelled after more than £12,000 of client money could not be accounted for, had previously been registered with a provider, although its cover had lapsed.

The expulsions are a clear example of the gaps that can exist within the current system.

Chris Mason, COO of The Letting Partnership, says: “The expulsions are a clear example of the gaps that can exist within the current system.

“Whilst the industry has multiple compliance schemes in place, there is no single, independent process that gives everyone the same verified picture of whether an agent is compliant.

“At present, an agent can be compliant with one scheme, fall behind with another, or allow their cover to lapse without there being any consistent mechanism to identify and flag the problem,” he says.

“The solution is a single, independently verified annual audit that is recognised across the industry.”

The Letting Partnership says its HealthCheck provides an independent audit process, and is recognised by Propertymark, Money Shield and Client Money Protect.

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