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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
by Guy Platt-Higgins, Director at Skellens Estate Agents
This month, we take a look at whether Estate
Agents are acting in your best interests…
Many Estate Agents receive financial incentives
(“kickbacks”) for passing clients onto their mortgage
advisors or solicitors.
At Skellens we do not receive any such financial
incentives from any third parties and we make a
point of being totally impartial when it comes to
helping clients decide which mortgage company to
use or which solicitors to instruct.
If we recommend a mortgage adviser or a firm
of solicitors to any one of our clients, we do so
because we know that they will provide a high level
of service – not because the recommended firm
rewards us with a “financial incentive”.
60 wirrallife.com
Conflict of interest?
If an Estate Agent refers you to their 'in-house'
mortgage advisors or solicitors they are doing so
because they derive a financial benefit from doing
so. However, such a referral is not necessarily in the
interests of a client.
Stacey Quayle, Director at Skellens says “In our
view, this is tantamount to a conflict of interest and
we steer clear of such activity. There is currently
nothing unlawful about Estate Agents receiving
referral fees but in our view, our clients best interests
are paramount and are served by us being wholly
impartial. Our role is to help clients sell their houses
– not to generate fees for ourselves on the back of
referrals to our preferred providers”.
To contact Skellens Estate Agents, call:
0151 639 5333.