Following the prosecution of a number of unscrupulous letting agents who mysteriously ceased trading holding many thousands of pounds in client monies, it is now a legal requirement that letting agents subscribe to a Client Money Protection Scheme. For the protection of our clients, we subscribed to such a scheme long before it was a legal requirement.
According to the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) it is estimated that residential letting agents hold around £14 billion in client monies, mostly rent, so it is only right that these should be fully protected in the same way that tenants’ deposit monies have been protected since 2007.
It is therefore essential to ensure that your letting/managing agent belongs to one of the government-approved Client Money Protection schemes. The only ones currently approved are provided by Client Money Protect, Money Shield, NALS, Propertymark, RICS and UKALA. Moneys must be held in a client money account with a bank or building society authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Agents must also hold professional indemnity insurance and have appropriate client money handling procedures in place, with their chosen protection scheme’s certificate displayed at their offices and on their website, or face a £5,000 fine (or £30,000 if they fail to join an approved scheme altogether).
We take our role as our valued clients’ investment managers very seriously. All rents are fully protected so you can sleep easy knowing your investment is not only in safe hands but double protected via one of the Client Money Protection Schemes, in our case, Propertymark.