Service Agreement

Introduction

We are Purplebricks Property Limited. In these terms and conditions we refer to ourselves as Purplebricks, we or us. We provide estate agency services across the UK.

This document (referred to as our Service Agreement or this Agreement) governs the relationship between you and Purplebricks regarding the provision of our products and services.

It contains important information which you should be aware of before you take up any of our products and services. We encourage you to read it before you enter into it. A copy will be sent to you after you instruct us.

To confirm your acceptance of this Agreement you will need to read these terms and conditions and tick the “accept terms and conditions” box on our Website.

Should you want to clarify anything or should you ever need us, our contact details are as follows:

Purplebricks Property Limited (trading as Purplebricks)

Registered office: 650 The Crescent, Colchester Business Park, Colchester, CO4 9YQ

Telephone number: 0800 810 8008

Contact us page: https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/contact-us

Words and phrases used in this Agreement have certain meanings


In this Agreement, the following words and phrases have the following meanings:

‘Account’ means your account within the Online Platform. It includes the area where you instruct Purplebricks and manage the process of a sale, purchase, let and/or rent (including all marketing services).

‘Add-on’ or ‘Add-ons’ means any of the add-ons available for you to purchase as an additional service on the Website or the Online Platform.

‘Advertisement Period’ means six (6) calendar months from the date of your entry into this Agreement, as may be extended in accordance with this Agreement.

‘Advert’ means how your property is to be displayed in advertising and marketing.

‘Completion’ means the formal legal completion of the sale of your property (being the time from which you are no longer the owner of your property).

‘Content’ means all of the content, documents, information and matters on or in your Account, the Website and/or the Online Platform.

‘Fee(s)’ means the fees payable by you for your chosen Products and Services, as set out on our Website when you enter into this Agreement and / or purchase any additional Products and Services in future.

‘Online Platform’ means the fees payable by you for your chosen Products and Services, as set out and confirmed to you during the order process on our Website when you enter into this Agreement and / or purchase any additional Products and Services in future.

‘Privacy Policy’ means the Privacy Policy as amended from time to time and published on our Website.

‘Products and Services’ means the estate agency products and/or services offered from time to time by Purplebricks as set out in this Agreement and on our Website when you enter into this Agreement and / or you purchase any additional Products and Services in future.

Relevant Regulator’ means National Trading Standards, the Advertising Standards Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, The Property Ombudsman, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Ombudsman Service and HM Revenue and Customs, as well as any other public body or authority whose decisions we must comply with.

‘Terms of Use’ means the terms and conditions for using the Website and Online Platform and published from time to time on our Website. They can be found here.

‘Website’ means www.purplebricks.co.uk including all systems, software and processes hosted on it or provided through it.

If your property is in Scotland, the following words and phrases when used in this Agreement shall be deemed amended as set out below:

a. References to “Completion” shall be construed as “settlement”;

b. References to “Exchange of contracts” (and references to “exchange” or “contracts” in this context) shall be construed as “conclusion of missives”; and

c. References to “memorandum of sale” shall be construed as “formal offer”.

Our Products and Services

Purplebricks is here to help you to sell your property.

The starting point for our Products and Services is the ‘Free’ package, which includes:

  • a property valuation;

  • access to the Online Platform to manage your Advert, facilitate viewings and negotiations;

  • access to your own dedicated team, including a Local Property Partner, Account Manager, Sales Negotiator and Sales Progressor (who provides full management of a successful sale through to Completion);

  • a ‘For Sale’ board;

  • listing your property on Zoopla and on the Website for the Advertisement Period; and

  • recommendations of conveyancing services, mortgages, removals and other products and services relevant to your move.

You may purchase additional Products and Services and Add-ons offered and as detailed on our Website from time to time, which may include photography, a Rightmove listing and/or upgrades, hosted viewings and the preparation of an Energy Performance Certificate or Home Report. Such items may be purchased individually or as part of a package, all as detailed and priced on our Website from time to time.

Our packages include ‘Boost’ which includes all of the benefits of ‘Free’ plus:

  • digitally enhanced premium photos, 360 virtual tour and premium floorplan​;

  • Rightmove premium listing for the Advertisement Period ​; and

  • a saving of £150 on mortgage advice from our group company Purplebricks Mortgages, if taken.

Our packages also include ‘Full House' which includes all of the benefits of ‘Free’ and ‘Boost’ plus:

  • hosted viewings​; and

  • free mortgage advice from Purplebricks Mortgages, if taken.

There are conditions you must satisfy to be eligible to enter into this Agreement

Except where we agree otherwise, to be able to enter into this Agreement with Purplebricks:

  • you must be a natural person who is a UK resident, a partnership or trust situated in the UK, a company incorporated in the UK, a charity registered in the UK or, in the case of any other organisation, your primary location and main activity must be in the UK;

  • you must not be bankrupt, subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) (or, in the case of a partnership, none of your partners can be bankrupt or subject to an IVA), in receivership, in administration, in the process of winding up or be in the process of or have been in any similar process in England or abroad;

  • you must not be an estate agent or an intermediary company operating on behalf of the beneficial owner of the property you wish us to sell;

  • the property you wish us to sell must be residential and not commercial property; and

  • if your property is a park home, holiday home or a boat you must purchase at least one Add-on due to the extra complexity of selling such properties.

By entering into this Agreement you confirm that you and any other person on whose behalf you are entering into this Agreement, each meet all of the above criteria.

Entry into this Agreement with Purplebricks may require the consent, authority or agreement of other people, or may require you to inform other people that you intend to instruct Purplebricks or that you intend to sell or market the property. This consent, authority, agreement or notice could be required from, or to a number of people including: a co-owner of the property, someone who lives the property with you or who occupies the property, a neighbour or other person who has access or other rights over the property, a lender who has security over the property, or another estate agent with whom you have agreed to market or sell the property. It is also possible that consent may be required from the local authority or any other third party who has rights or an interest over the property.

By entering into this Agreement you confirm that:

  • you do so with the knowledge, consent and agreement of each and all of the legal owners and occupiers and any other person who has an interest in the marketing and/or sale of the property (whether that is a beneficial owner of all or part of the property, an estate agent with whom you have agreed to market or sell the property or any other relevant person); and

  • you have all relevant authorities and authorisations as are necessary or required to enable you to take advantage of the Products and Services. This may include a trust document, a court order, a deed or a power of attorney, depending on your circumstances and to the extent that you require one of these documents to authorise you to sell the property. Where you are selling as an owner-occupier, these documents are unlikely to be required.

Anti-money laundering checks

We are required by law to carry out anti-money laundering checks on all those selling a property and may need to end this Agreement if we cannot complete those checks. See “Money laundering compliance” below.

Fees

We will charge you the Fees for your chosen Products and Services. All our prices include VAT.

We will charge you using the payment method you choose (and explained to you) during the order process on our Website.

If you select “Pay on Completion” as your payment method, the terms in Schedule 1 shall apply to you. “Pay on Completion” is only available for our standard packages Boost and Full House – any Add-Ons will still need to be purchased separately.

Certain of our Products and Services include an additional fee for anti-money laundering checks, which will be explained to you during the order process.

If any Fees are not paid when due, we reserve the right to charge interest up to 3% above the Bank of England base rate on any amounts you owe us. You agree (in addition to the payment of the Fee and any applicable interest) to pay all reasonable costs we (or any third party nominated by us from time to time) incur in recovering such sums from you (including but not limited to legal, collection agent, administration fees and related expenses).

Your Advert

Should you take advantage of Products and Services where we arrange for one of our Local Property Partners to create your Advert, you will be notified by Purplebricks as soon as the Advert is available for approval. We always aim to do this as soon as reasonably practicable.

We will make reasonable efforts to obtain accurate information about your property (including but not limited to title/tenure information and compliance with building regulations). Under applicable regulations, it is an offence for us to make inaccurate or misleading statements about your property (be they written or verbal), including through the sales particulars, adverts and other marketing, photographs and floor plans. This includes anything that might give the wrong impression about a property and includes omitting facts. This means that:

  • you are responsible for providing us with accurate information about the property and must tell us immediately if there is any inaccuracy or misleading information in our sales particulars, adverts or any other information that we provide to prospective purchasers and/or their representatives about the property;

  • where we produce any description, photograph or floor plan as part of the Products and Services we provide to you, we will ask you to approve such description, photograph and/or floor plan by providing your approval for the Advert to ensure that they are accurate, current and not misleading;

  • you will be responsible for any loss, damage or costs we have to pay in the event that you provide incomplete, incorrect or misleading information;

  • you shall inform us immediately of any changes in the information that you provide in respect of the property; and

  • we reserve the right not to publish any information that you provide.

If any of the information you provide or approve is, or is found to be, inaccurate, not current or misleading, and we remove it, there will be no full or part credit of the Fee.

Purplebricks will accept no liability for any omissions or errors which arise from incorrect information supplied to us by you, including but not limited to photography and property details.

All information on our Website and provided to potential purchasers directly cannot be guaranteed by us and does not form part of any contract.

Photographs

It is your responsibility to ensure that the property is in a fit state to be photographed. Please ensure that it is tidied and suitably arranged before photographs are taken.

We own the photos that we take of your property.

In the event that you opt to upload your own photographs, the below must be followed:

  • Photographs must be owned by you or you must have permission to use them;

  • Photographs must be of the property to be sold and representative of the property's current condition;

  • Photographs must be no more than 10MB and the maximum number you can upload and/or save in total for each property is 25; and

  • To ensure the best quality images, please be sure to follow the recommended settings as you upload your photographs. The recommended settings will be available to review when you access the image upload section of the Online Platform.

The uploading of photographs which do not comply with the requirements of this Agreement, the Terms of Use and the recommended settings will be treated as a breach and may result in your Account being suspended and/or terminated, the property withdrawn from the market and a report being made to the relevant authorities (if applicable). We may rely on our rights set out in our Terms of Use and this Agreement. This could mean that you are required to compensate us for our loss.

In order to ensure the best possible service for all of our customers we will examine any photographs that are uploaded by you in advance of them becoming live on the property portals and the Website. We always aim to do this as soon as reasonably practicable.

We reserve the right to refuse to allow any image to be uploaded, made live or presented on any marketing or property portal that we consider in our absolute discretion to be inappropriate, inaccurate, misleading or likely to cause distress or embarrassment to anyone viewing the image.

Advertising Period and Duration of our Services

We will advertise your property for the Advertisement Period (including the address, asking price, photographs, and floor plans) on our Website, the property portals included in your Products and Services, and anywhere else we feel will lead to a sale of your property. In the case of Pay on Completion, we have the right to stop advertising and end this Agreement after the end of the Sole Agency Period as set out in Schedule 1.

We will always list your property for sale on our Website. Third party website portals which we use are subject to change and are not be controlled by us. We cannot therefore always guarantee continued presence on these portals, however, we try always to maintain, expand and improve our portal networks. Subject to the section of this Agreement called “Changes we can make to this Agreement”, we may decide to stop using or change the services of such property portals, websites or publications.

As we approach the end of your Advertisement Period, we will discuss your options with you to try and secure a successful sale. This may include discussing your expectations for the sale price, market conditions, buyer interest and making changes to the sale price. At the end of your Advertisement Period, your Property will be delisted and removed from our Website, property portals and other advertising mediums unless we decide, in our sole discretion, to continue to market your Property for such period as we decide.

We will typically agree to extend your Advertisement Period if:

  • it has taken a prolonged period after instructing us for your property to be advertised on our Website and the property portals, through no fault of your own,

  • if you have suffered an unfortunate life event or circumstance meaning you have quite reasonably sought a marketing break (for example, following loss of employment or a death in the family), or

  • if you have accepted an offer which sale has then fallen through, and you are still motivated to secure a successful sale.

If you are in negotiation or have accepted an offer and are progressing through to completion, we will continue to provide those services regardless of the end of your Advertisement Period. We will do so for up to a year after you have instructed us, and we may agree to extend these services if a successful sale remains, in our sole discretion, a likely possibility.

Energy Performance Certificates (‘EPCs’) and Home Reports

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is a legal requirement for you to have a valid EPC or to have ordered one before we are able to start marketing your property. If you have ordered one, it must be available within 28 days of us beginning to market.

Anyone marketing a home in Scotland needs to have a Home Report available to potential buyers before the property goes on the market.

The Online Platform will prompt you about obtaining an EPC or Home Report and will not let you publish the Advert until you have either provided an EPC or Home Report (or in the case of an EPC, ordered one from us).

We reserve the right to end this Agreement if you do not provide us with a valid EPC within 28 days of us beginning to market your property or, applicable in Scotland only, after waiting a reasonable period of time for you to provide us a valid Home Report before the property goes on the market.

‘For Sale’ board

We will arrange for a ‘For Sale’ board to be erected free of charge outside your property (if included as part of your Products and Services) unless you inform us you do not want one. Note that if you are taking advantage of our ‘Free’ package, a ‘For Sale’ board must be erected at the property unless explicitly prohibited by the relevant local authority, and we reserve the right to cease the supply of the Products and Services where you fail to comply with this condition.

The maintenance of the 'For Sale' board is your responsibility while it is in your possession. It is your responsibility to re-erect the board if it is affected by weather conditions or by a third party. We are not liable (to the extent permitted by law) for the loss, theft or any damage to the ‘For Sale’ board or any damage the ‘For Sale’ board may cause. We reserve the right to charge the reasonable cost of a replacement ‘For Sale’ board if one is required.

Where your property is sold subject to contract we will endeavour to place a ‘Sold’ plaque over the ‘For Sale’ wording on your ‘For Sale’ board. Upon Completion or termination of this Agreement, we will come to collect the ‘For Sale’ board. Please ensure the ‘For Sale’ board is available for collection – it is your responsibility to ensure a ‘For Sale’ board is safe and secure and preserved for collection. The ‘For Sale’ board will remain our property throughout, and we may use it again after it has been situated at your property. If we cannot collect a board which we reasonably consider we would be able to use again, then we reserve the right to charge you the reasonable cost of a replacement board.

Arranging viewings

Viewings can be arranged through the Online Platform.

If you have chosen to conduct your own viewings you may enter details into the Online Platform of when you are available. This will enable purchasers to choose a date and time to suit them. You will be notified when a viewing is booked. Where a viewing is requested outside of this availability, the Online Platform will ask that you confirm the viewing.

You will be notified immediately a viewing is booked. We will provide you with the name of the person(s) who wish to view together with the date and time.

It is your responsibility to respond to viewing requests promptly. If you repeatedly do not respond to viewing requests, we reserve the right to withdraw your property from our Website and the online property portals, until we have discussed and received your commitment to take part in the viewings process. We do this in the interests of the buyer community, who place high value on receiving feedback to viewing requests, and in the interests of running an efficient business.

Our hosted viewings service

If you purchase our hosted viewings service, you will still be notified of the above information, and we will conduct all of your viewings for the duration of the Advertisement Period for the price as advertised from time to time on our Website. It is still your responsibility to ensure that the property is ready and prepared for the viewing, is in a safe condition and that the colleague we arrange to conduct your viewing has access to the property at the date and time of the viewing.

Our hosted viewings service is subject to fair usage. In the event we have conducted a large number of viewings on your behalf and you have received regular feedback to suggest that the price of the property is too high, we are likely to want to conduct a marketing review call to discuss the best way forward. We reserve the right to withdraw the viewings service at any time but only where we consider that it is unreasonable to expect Purplebricks to continue to accompany viewings taking into account the number of viewings and the feedback received. There will be no full or part credit in respect of Fees in these circumstances.

Conducting your own viewings

Your personal safety and the security of your home is your responsibility when conducting your own viewings, so it’s important you know how to stay safe and conduct viewings in a way you are comfortable with. We have prepared some FAQs you may find helpful for this purpose. You should note we do not conduct background or identity checks on viewers - we only conduct identity checks (for the purpose of anti-money laundering regulation) at the point you have accepted an offer.

If there is anything you think we should know about a viewer, including to report any inappropriate behaviour, please tell your Account Manager.

A Key safe is required to use our hosted viewings service

It is a condition of the hosted viewings service that our contractor will install a key safe at your property for storage of your keys and to allow us to gain access to your property for viewings.

Key safe installations are carried out by tradespeople who carry public liability insurance. Whilst our contractor will endeavour to install the key safe at an appropriate location, we will not accept any liability (to the extent permitted by law) for any losses you may suffer, inconvenience to you or damage to your property as a result of the installation.

You have the following responsibilities for the key safe:

  • If your property is a leasehold property, it is your responsibility to check your lease to understand if you need any permissions from your landlord to install a key safe, and to obtain any such permissions before we install it;

  • It is your responsibility to check with your insurer before we install a key safe to see if it has any impact on your home insurance, and to check for any specific conditions they might have for key safes. We suggest you read through your policy documents, and if you can’t see any explicit mention of key safes, then contact your insurer; and

  • Disclosure of your key safe code by you to anyone is done at your own risk and you are, at all times, responsible for the safety of your keys, property, personal safety and the safety of others in your property. You must take appropriate precautions and follow normal safety guidelines. You will need to disclose the code to us, and we will protect that information in accordance with the security standards set out in our Privacy Policy.

Contents stored in key safes are stored at your risk including, without limitation, any use or misuse of your keys by a third party. You accept that the security of any property to which a key in a key safe relates is outside of our control. Save for any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law, you accept and agree that we will have no liability in respect of any loss, damage or injury suffered as a result of the use of the key safe, disclosure of your key safe code and access to your keys.

Health and safety; empty properties

It is important that any visits to the property are conducted safely. It is essential that you notify us of and provide us with all relevant information relating to health and safety risks and that you give us any documentation and/or measures that are in place to manage any such risks.

It is your responsibility to ensure that, where the property is unoccupied, the property is adequately secured, mains services are turned off, water and heating systems are professionally drained and suitable insurance cover is put in place. You will be responsible for all security and maintenance at the property and we accept no liability or responsibility for it during the term of this Agreement. We shall not be responsible for informing you about any matter or circumstance arising in your property.

Buyer feedback

We will request feedback from every person who has viewed or was due to view your property through the Online Platform. You can track these requests in the Online Platform.

The feedback will be immediately available in your Account as soon as it has been provided and will be exactly as provided by the person concerned.

Offers

We will report offers to you when they are made through the Online Platform. The circumstances of the potential purchaser, their desire to proceed and desired timing for effecting the purchase will be requested and, to the extent received, provided to you automatically as the offer is made.

The information will always be made available exactly how it is provided by the potential purchaser through the Online Platform.

You will get a choice whether to accept the offer, reject the offer, reject and negotiate or you can opt for Purplebricks to negotiate everything on your behalf. You will get to choose one of these options each time you receive an offer. Your Sales Negotiator will also try to contact you and the potential buyer to discuss the offer.

If an offer is made directly to you or if you choose to accept such an offer, you need to let your Sales Negotiator know. This is because we need to make sure that buyers complete all of the necessary anti-money laundering checks and provide proof of funds on all accepted offers, and we need to guide them through the process.

We will always act on your behalf and negotiate the best possible offer for your property, without any conflict of interest.

If you accept an offer, we may list the property as ‘Sold Subject to Contract’ in any of the methods we use to advertise properties until Completion.

Before issuing a memorandum of sale, we will make such anti-money laundering checks as are required to ensure the purchaser and offer meets regulatory criteria for a sale to proceed and you agree we will not be required to issue a memorandum of sale or assist with completing a purchase unless such checks are completed to our satisfaction. The checks will be conducted by our partner Lifetime Legal Limited. The checks will incur a cost which will be paid by the purchaser, directly to Lifetime Legal. This will be explained to the purchaser during the offer process on our Website. We will receive some of the payment taken by Lifetime Legal to compensate for our role in providing in these checks.

Personal interest

We will always inform you as soon as we become aware of anyone making an offer for your property that is in any way connected with Purplebricks; whether they are employed or engaged by us, a family member of an employee, director or shareholder of Purplebricks or a person providing services to us.

In the event that you are aware of any personal interest from anyone connected with Purplebricks you should notify us immediately. We will then make such enquiries as we consider necessary and provide you with a notification in writing of the nature of the personal interest. You will have the sole discretion to decide whether you wish to deal with the person or persons concerned. We will never knowingly permit any offer to be made or sale agreed with someone connected to Purplebricks unless we have provided you with written notice. This written notice will ordinarily be displayed when you review the offer.

Before your Advert is published, Purplebricks will ask you whether you are in any way connected with Purplebricks; whether you are employed or engaged by Purplebricks, a family member of an employee, director or shareholder of Purplebricks or a person providing services to us. This will be disclosed to all potential purchasers.

You have a right to change your mind, and you can choose to end your Agreement with us

Should you wish to cancel any of your Products and Services you may do so at any time. However, unless you cancel this Agreement within the ‘cooling off period’ as described below, you will not be entitled to a refund of the Fee.

You can withdraw your Advert at any time by clicking on the ‘remove advert’ icon on your property page in the Online Platform. . Details will be made available at the time of seeking to withdraw/relist your Advert. If you cancel or withdraw your Advert or any Products and Services in circumstances where Purplebricks has already commenced work, further Fees may need to be paid to reinstate any removed or suspended Advert or Products and Services.

‘Cooling off period’
You have a legal right to cancel this Agreement. This is subject to some conditions, as set out below. If you want to cancel, you must let us know no later than 14 days after the day you receive confirmation of our entry into this Agreement.

When you enter into this Agreement, you agree that Purplebricks may begin to provide you with the relevant Products and/or Services during the cooling off period and that as a result you may not be entitled to a full refund of the Fee.

If you notify us of your intention to cancel this Agreement after we have begun to provide you with the relevant Products and/or Services you will no longer be entitled to a full refund. In this case, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you less a reasonable sum for any costs incurred in supplying any Products and/or Services to you prior to our receipt of your request to cancel the Agreement. If, due to your payment method, such reasonable sum is more than the amount paid by you at the time of your cancellation, you will need to pay us the difference (up to the total amount of your Fee).

The point at which we would begin to provide you with the relevant Products and/or Services at your request (and consequently when you would no longer be entitled for a full refund) will usually begin shortly after you enter this Agreement. For example, where we have produced floorplans, taken photographs, your Local Property Partner has begun to create your Advert, or we have started advertising, you will no longer be entitled to a full refund.

Should we introduce or have negotiations with the ultimate buyer of your property before you exercise your right to cancel, our service will have been fully performed and the full Fee will be due, notwithstanding that cancellation took place.

You can exercise your right to cancel during the cooling off period by giving us a clear statement of your intention to cancel in writing. You may use wording in the model cancellation form in Schedule 2 of this Agreement, but you don’t need to use this wording. It is sufficient for you to send your cancellation before the cooling off period has ended to exercise your right to cancel within the cooling off period, and we do not need to agree to you exercising this right.

Please see below an explanation of the services we may end up providing to you during the cooling off period, and the costs associated with these which you may then be charged should you cancel during the cooling off period:

Service

  • Services between instructing us and publishing your Advert

  • Digital enhanced premium photos, 360 tour and premium floorplan: £699

  • Elevated Photography: £99

  • Drone Photography: £199

  • Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): £119

  • Scotland Home Report: £480 – £1980 (price varies depending on property age, value and location.)

  • Services after publication of your Advert

  • ‘For Sale’ board: £33

  • Other Add-ons

  • Hosted Viewings: up to £899 (£50 per viewing)

  • Rightmove Premium Listing: £125

  • Rightmove Featured Listing: £149

  • Rightmove Combo Bundle: £274

  • Scotland Home Report Refresh: £220

We have rights to end our Agreement with you

We may end this Agreement and claim any compensation due to us:

  • If you have provided us with false or misleading information concerning the property and its sale;

  • If you don't, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information, cooperation or access that we need to provide the Products and Services (for example, a valid EPC within 28 days of us beginning to market your property, a valid Home Report, information needed for the sales particulars, adverts or any other information that we need to provide to prospective purchasers and/or their representatives about the property, or you fail to give reasonable cooperation in arranging viewings);

  • If you materially breach your obligations under either this Agreement (for example, by failing to make any payment to us when it’s due and you still don’t make payment after our reminding you that payment is due) or the Terms of Use;

  • In the case of Pay on Completion, if you appoint another agent to market your property during the Sole Agency Period (in which case we reserve the right to charge you a withdrawal fee to cover some of our costs as set out in Schedule 1);

  • If you are abusive to prospective buyers or to any of our colleagues, agents or contractors, or if you harass, victimise, or otherwise unlawfully discriminate against any such persons;

  • In the circumstances described in the section titled “Money laundering compliance” below;

  • If we reasonably believe you are using your listing with us to gain interest in other properties not listed with us;

  • If you upload any corporate or other logos, image or brand identifier to the property description or include the same in any image you submit to us; or

  • If you require us to take any step which may put us in breach of our legal or professional obligations, including to act in a way which is or could be construed as unlawful discrimination against any party.

We will give you 14 days’ notice of any such cancellation, unless we are required to cancel it sooner in order to comply with our legal or professional obligations, in which case we may cancel it sooner. Any such cancellation will not affect liability previously incurred by either of us to the other.

We will need your assistance to comply with money laundering regulations

We are required by law to carry out anti-money laundering checks on all those selling and buying a property and are also bound by other legislation aiming to prevent financial crime. As a result:

  • We reserve the right to ask you for such information as we require to verify your identity (or the identity of the person/entity that you represent), which must be received before we can market your property;

  • We reserve the right to end our relationship with you if, when requested to provide such information, you fail to do so or we consider that the evidence provided is insufficient to discharge our obligations under relevant legislation; and

  • You acknowledge that we may also be required to provide information to the relevant authorities without prior notification or any liability to you if we know or have a reasonable reason to suspect that you (or the person/entity that you represent) are involved in money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing.

It’s our responsibility to ensure anti-money laundering checks are carried out properly, correctly and for ongoing monitoring. Our partner, Lifetime Legal Limited, will carry out the initial checks on our behalf. To do so, Lifetime Legal will call you within 24 hours of you completing your initial compliance questions in the Online Platform. The non-refundable cost for this check (if applicable to your specific Products and Services) will be as explained to you during the order process on our Website. The cost covers collecting the relevant data, manual checks and monitoring. You’ll need to pay this to Lifetime Legal and complete all anti-money laundering checks before we can publish or market your property. The cost will be a separate payment and is not included in the cost of any of our Products or Services. We will receive some of the payment taken by Lifetime Legal to compensate for our role in providing in these checks.

Complaints

We aim for your sale with us to be trouble free, but if you have any problems with our Products and Services, our complaints procedure, a copy of which can be viewed on our Website here, sets out how you can make a complaint.

If you are dissatisfied with how we deal with a complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to The Property Ombudsman within twelve months of receipt of our final view.

We are members of The Property Ombudsman and abide by The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice (and the Scottish version of the Code in Scotland). Please note that The Property Ombudsman will only review complaints made by consumers. You agree that we may disclose information relating to the sale of your the property to The Property Ombudsman if The Property Ombudsman asks us for it.

Use of your personal information

How we use any personal data you give us is set out in our Privacy Policy. For the effective delivery of the Products and Services we will be providing certain people with your personal information such as your name, address, contact details, viewing availability, agreed sale price and position to proceed. It is your responsibility to give us accurate and up-to-date personal information through the Online Platform.

Related services and third party companies

We may introduce you, the buyer or any prospective buyer (where we deem appropriate and / or necessary) to related services such as mortgages, insurance, letting services and conveyancing, some of which may be provided by third parties outside Purplebricks Group.

You may decide of your own free will to use such services and we will never pressure or require you to use them. We may receive commission for introducing you to third parties. We will always disclose to you the value of any such commission. We may also receive a commission for introducing buyers to third parties.

We may arrange for third parties to provide some of the Products and Services to you on our behalf. We will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that they provide a quality service.

Our Website and the availability of our Products and Services

We regularly update the content on our Website. Our Website may not always be completely up to date, and we are not obliged to update it. We cannot guarantee it will deliver a certain level of performance in connection with the sale of your property or be free of errors.

Whilst we will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the Products and Services are available at all times, your access to the Products or Services may sometimes be interrupted or contain errors.

We will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that all Content submitted by you to us is secure. We cannot guarantee that the Online Platform, Products and Services, or the Website will be free from loss, corruption, attack, viruses, ‘worms’, ‘trojan horses’ or other harmful components, or from interference, hacking or other security intrusions. Purplebricks reserves the right to remove or suspend all or any part of the Content, at any time in accordance with these terms.

You are not permitted to pass, for their use or use on your behalf, any login details we supply to you as part of the Products or Services, to any person who acts in a professional capacity, including but not limited to any estate agent or letting agent.

Please read the Terms of Use for further information.

How we will communicate

By agreeing to these terms, you choose to receive information from us by way of email unless another method is more appropriate in the circumstances. If we leave a voicemail or email you, we’ll assume you received it on the same day. If we post documents to you, we’ll assume you have received them three days after the date of posting.

If we make changes to this Agreement (see “Changes we can make to this Agreement” below) then we will email the new Agreement to you. Our current Agreement can be found on the Website: https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/terms/service-agreement

You can contact us for any reason by telephone or by email. Our customer contact telephone number and email address are found at the start of this Agreement.

We don’t compensate you for all losses caused by our Products and Services

We're responsible for losses you suffer caused by us breaking this Agreement unless the loss is:

  • Unexpected: It was not obvious that it would happen and nothing you said to us before we accepted your instruction meant we should have expected it (so, in the law, the loss was unforeseeable);

  • Caused by a delaying event outside our control: As long as we have taken the steps set out in the section “We're not responsible for delays outside our control”;

  • Avoidable: Something you could have avoided by taking reasonable action; or

  • A business loss: It relates to your use of a Product and/or Service for the purposes of your trade, business, craft or profession (such as loss of profits, loss of revenue or damage to reputation or goodwill).

Nothing in this Agreement shall limit or exclude our liability which cannot be excluded or limited by English law.

Changes we can make to this Agreement

Changes we can make immediately

Please note that we may make some changes to this Agreement without telling you first. We’ll only do this for changes that:

  • We consider to be to your advantage, or not put you at a disadvantage compared to the previous version of your Agreement, and do not increase the cost to you of the relevant Product or Service;

  • Introduce new products or services; or

  • We are required to make in order to comply with any law or regulation, or the decision of a court or Relevant Regulator.

We’ll tell you about any such changes within 30 days of the change happening.

Changes we can make after giving 60 days’ notice

We’ll give you at least 60 days’ notice before any change that might make you worse off.

We’ll explain the reason for the change and how it will affect you.

If you’re not happy with a change that makes you worse off you can end this Agreement and we will provide you with a partial refund of any Fee(s) paid by you. The amount of this refund will be determined by reference to the Products and Services provided to you, and how long we have provided them for.

Assignment

We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement so that a different organisation is responsible for supplying the Products and Services, and we will inform you accordingly of any such change in line with the provisions above.

It is important for regulatory purposes that we know who we are dealing with. As a result, you can only assign or transfer your rights or obligations under this Agreement to someone else if we agree.

Other important terms

These terms are governed by English law and you can bring claims against us in the English courts. If the property the subject of this Agreement is in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring claims against us in the courts of that country. We can claim against you in the courts of England or the country you live in.

Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. Nobody else can enforce it and neither of us will need to ask anybody else to sign-off on ending or changing it.

Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. We might not immediately chase you for not doing something (like paying) or for doing something you're not allowed to, but that doesn’t mean we can't do it later.

Even if some of this contract is invalid, the rest of it will still apply. If any part of this Agreement is (or becomes) illegal or unenforceable (for example, because of a change in any law or regulation, or because of a court decision), we will treat that part of the Agreement as if it doesn’t exist. This won’t affect the rest of the Agreement.

We’re not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of your Product and/or Services is delayed by an event outside our control, we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and do what we can to reduce the delay. As long as we do this, we won't compensate you for the delay, but if the delay is likely to be substantial you can contact our Customer Service Team to end the contract and receive a refund for any Products and Services you have paid for in advance, but not received, less reasonable costs we have already incurred.

Schedule 1

“Pay on Completion” Terms and Conditions

The below terms apply if you have chosen “Pay on Completion”. “Pay on Completion” is only available for our standard packages – any Add-Ons will still need to be purchased separately.

Eligibility

Pay on Completion is not available if your property is a park home, holiday home or a boat.

Sole Agency Period

It is a condition of Pay on Completion that you agree to appoint us as your sole agent for the marketing and sale of your property for a minimum of 16 weeks from the date of entry into this Agreement (the “Sole Agency Period”). Any period during which we cannot market the property because an Energy Performance Certificate has not been ordered (or in the case of Scotland, because a Home Report is not available for potential buyers) or in respect of which you instruct us not to market the property shall not count towards the Sole Agency Period.

Multiple Agency

After the end of the Sole Agency Period, you may appoint another estate agent to market and sell your property, and we will continue to market your property until either of us gives notice to the other to end this Agreement.

If another estate agency is advertising your property, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are allowed to advertise with Purplebricks at the same time. Please make sure you understand the fees that may be due to us and/or the other agency, as it is possible you could be charged more than once for the same transaction.

It is a condition that your use our recommended conveyancers

As part of our service for Pay on Completion, we will introduce you to and you agree to use a conveyancer from our panel of recommended conveyancing firms for the sale of your property.

Whilst you and your conveyancing firm will communicate directly, we are there to provide such reasonable assistance as we can to help you in your dealings with them. The conveyancing services will be carried out under your agreement with the conveyancing firm and the fees that you pay the conveyancing firm for the conveyancing services will be governed by, and subject to, your agreement with the conveyancing firm. Such fees are not payable under this Agreement and are not included in the price that you pay Purplebricks. Purplebricks does not provide the conveyancing services.

The cost for the conveyancing services will be confirmed to you either in a quotation provided as part of your property valuation or on the Online Platform after we have introduced you to a conveyancing firm. We can give you an indication of those fees before then, but the fees will be confirmed to you in the quote. That quote will also give you the details of the referral fee that will be paid to us by the conveyancing firm after Completion.

You can subsequently decide to use your own conveyancers, but if you do so you must immediately pay us the Fees. You must tell us of your intention to use your own conveyancers, either in the Online Platform or direct to one of our customer service colleagues.

When you will need to pay the Fees

Under Pay on Completion, the Fees will be due if contracts for the sale of your property are exchanged with either (i) a purchaser introduced by us or with whom we have had negotiations about your property, or (ii) with any other purchaser introduced to you (even if not by us) during the Sole Agency Period. In either case, the Fees are only payable to us on Completion.

However, if this Agreement has ended, and in the case of a purchaser introduced by us or with whom we have had negotiations about your property, you will not be liable to pay our Fees if contracts for the sale of your property are exchanged in circumstances where you have instructed another estate agent to sell the property, and more than six months has passed between the end of this Agreement and that agent issuing a memorandum of sale. If no other estate agent is involved, you will not be liable to pay our Fees in any circumstances if more than 24 months has passed between the end of this Agreement and exchange of contracts for the sale of the property.

Finally, as stated above, if you decide to use your own conveyancers, the Fees will become immediately due and payable.

Pre-Existing Purchasers

You will not be liable to pay us the Fee where the eventual purchaser has expressed an interest in purchasing in the three months before entry into this Agreement, and you have notified us of the name and address of that prospective purchaser before entry into this Agreement. Failure to notify us will mean the Fees are payable.

Payment

You agree to notify us as soon as any of the following occur (including details of the parties involved and the intended timing of the transaction):

  • you agree to the sale of your property with any purchaser;

  • you exchange contracts for the sale of your property;

  • upon Completion; and / or

  • you decide to use your own conveyancers.

You must provide us with the contact details of your legal representative as soon as you have instructed them, and let us know if they change before Completion.

We will invoice the Fees and any other amounts due to us under this Agreement when the memorandum of sale for your property is produced. You agree that we may send our invoice directly to your legal representative. You confirm that you shall instruct your legal representative to pay the invoice to us at Completion.

If the seller of your property is more than one person, they will each have joint and several liability for our invoice, meaning that we may seek full payment from any of them.

Withdrawal Fee

If you cancel during the cooling off period, you may be liable to pay us the costs set out in the section entitled “You have a right to change your mind, and you can choose to end your Agreement with us”, above.

If you change your mind and choose not to sell after the expiry of the cooling off period, or if we exercise our right to terminate following your appointment of another agent during the Sole Agency Period, then although we will not charge you the price of your chosen package, we do charge a nominal £300 (including VAT) to cover some of our costs. Even this however is refundable should you come back to us within 2 years from the date of entry into this Agreement. You will be able to relist your property in your Online Account. Please note a new Anti-money laundering check fee will be due if we reasonably decide that your circumstances have changed or more than 12 months have passed since the last check was completed.

Schedule 2

Cancellation Form

Send us an enquiry to cancel using the general enquiries feature on our website: https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/contact-us

I/We hereby give notice that I/we cancel my/our contract for the supply of estate agent services that was agreed on....................(insert date) in relation to my/our property at:.......................................................................................................................(enter property address)

I/We understand that I/we may be liable for the expenses / fees, as outlined within the Service Agreement we signed.

Customer name(s): [Insert name(s)]

Customer address(es): [Insert addresses]

[Insert customer signatures and date if sending a paper copy]