Client Money Protection will soon be available to
all letting agents for the first time, whether they are members of
a recognised trade body or organisation or not.
Previously, official CMP was only available to members of such
bodies, for example ARLA, RICS or the NALS. But with the launch of
a new service called CM Protect, this trade body membership is no
longer a pre-requisite.
However, one potential criticism of the scheme is that while it
may bypass the need to join one of these pre-existing groups for
sceptical agents, membership of CM Protect itself will be
mandatory. The benefit of CMP will only be available to agents
whilst they remain a member of the new organisation.
For agents who do choose to join the new scheme instead of one
of the more august bodies, the CMP facility will allow them to
reassure their tenants that their money is safe in the event of the
agency itself going bust.
New Client Money Protection scheme "does not wish to
compete" with trade bodies
Eddie Hooker, chief executive of CM Protect, said, "there are
many reasons why a letting agent does not feel it should be a
member of an industry trade body, such as educational obligations,
but they should not be prevented from accessing this valuable
protection which demonstrates an upholding of responsibility to
clients and provides the reassurance of a well-run professional
agency."
The director of operations for CM Protect, Ian Langley, said,
"we do not wish to compete with the industry trade bodies as we
recognise the importance and value of these in raising standards
and would always encourage larger agents in particular to uphold
this.
"However, we feel that there is a void in the market and we want
to encourage those smaller agents, who are currently not protected
by CMP, to act responsibly without having to take on the commitment
of a trade body."
