The Ombudsan Scheme

As stated on the oea website:

The Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) Scheme was established on 1 January 1998. The Scheme is open to all those firms of estate agents with a principal, director or partner who is a member of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) or Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS); to all corporate estate agents, defined as those who are subsidiaries of a bank, building society or insurance company, or are themselves quoted on the Stock Exchange and to other estate agents who are sponsored and seconded by existing member agents. From June 2006, the OEA extended its services to Lettings and Property Management agents.

By dealing with a Member of the OEA, the public may be confident about the agent's approach in its dealings with actual and potential buyers and sellers of residential property or lettings in the UK.

With effect from 1 October 2008, all estate agents are required to register with an Estate Agents Redress Scheme that has been approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and which investigates complaints against estate agents. The OEA is one of the schemes approved by the OFT.

Many estate agents have in addition agreed to follow the OEA Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents, approved by the OFT under its Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. Estate agents signing up to this Code of Practice are required to provide additional consumer protection that goes beyond that required by the law. They can be recognised by the joint OEA/OFT approved code logos which they display. Registered agents, who do not voluntarily accept the Code of Practice obligations of the OEA Scheme, are not entitled to show the OFT approved code logo.

Lettings and property management agents who join the OEA also subscribe to the Code of Practice for Letting Agents.