By Mike Edwards
It is now 6 months since the first announcement of a new kitemark initiative for the lettings industry. Although I have previously commented on this initiative and expressed our wholehearted support for it much water has flowed under several bridges since the new kitemark initiative known as SAFEagent was launched for agent registration in May. It is free for agents in established client money protection (CMP) schemes to register, but just what is CMP? To the layperson in effect it is bonding, along the lines of ABTA where if your travel firm goes bust and they are ABTA bonded then ABTA steps in to bring you home.
CMP operates in the same way to protect Landlord and Tenant money held by agents with CMP cover. However the policy premium for CMP cover is eye wateringly expensive, and impossible for an individual agent or even a corporate chain to take out in their own name. So CMP cover is obtained by being a member of one of only 5 such group schemes in existence, these being administered by ARLA, NAEA, NALS, RICS and The Law Society. Because it is compulsory for CMP to be held by a member of SAFEagent so it follows that only members of the 5 organisations with the cover can become members. SAFEagent does not provide CMP itself and indeed to do so would be an expensive and unnecessary duplication as its members already have CMP in place.
SAFEagent was formed by a Steering Group of lettings agents and is administered by The National Approved Letting Scheme which in itself was created by the Government. It was the desire to deliver a simple message that led to the formation of SAFEagent – that by joining its members would have the means to differentiate those agents who operate with CMP and those who do not. SAFE agent has some impressive friends and supporters. Apart from NALS which endorsed the scheme immediately and then offered to run the administration for it – an offer readily accepted by the Steering Group – the Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer also welcomed the initiative many months ago, as has the Residential Landlords Association who commended its “clear and recognisable brand”.
The Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has bolstered the initiative with Ron Gainsford its chief executive endorsing the introduction and promotion of a single mark to identify letting agents who are in Client Money Protection insurance schemes. This is the objective of SAFEagent – that by having just one kitemark will increase recall levels of the scheme and enable consumers to make sensible and safe choices of letting agents based on a raised awareness of the importance of that agent being part of a Client Money Protection insurance scheme. This in turn of course will help trading standards services in the fight to reduce the number of rogue and ‘uninsured’ letting agents who disappear with consumer money – a move that all honest agents would support.
However, of the industry organisations, only NALS has come forward to welcome the kitemark. NALS, NAEA and RICS have yet to give their support despite SAFEagent growing impressively as will be seen in the nest article on this subject.
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