Selling my house at the moment and signed up some estate agents to do the work. Reading through the contract a little surprised to discover a clause stating that the penalty to cancel within the first 14 days is £500.

I/We have instructed you to start marketing the property immediately under Section 17, and if I/We subsequently choose to cancel the contract during our statutory 14 day cooling-off period, I/we agree to pay the sum of £500 + VAT to cover your costs.

My impression is that such an item is illegal – the contract was signed at home, not their offices. I don’t particularly care but was curious after reading it.

Selling my house at the moment

Do remember to fully brief any prospective buyers on the neighbour situation…… best of luck. 😀

I shall not be in when viewings take place… 😉

If they are starting work immediately then it’s surely only fair that they do not end up out of pocket.

Ask them to wait two weeks before they start?

I though the whole point of a cooling off period was to give both parties the chance to change their minds without incurring penalty costs?

If you want to start work on a service whilst still within the cooling off period you can be asked to agree in writing, which means you’ve effectively waived the right to cancel. That said, you should still be able to get a refund minus the cost of services used thus far if you change your mind.

If £500 is disproportionate, you can challenge that as an unfair contract term.

It’s one of those unenforceable clauses – no one is going to court to fight it. Do they have any way of taking the money – have you given them bank / credit card details?

Estate Agents …
They are neither ethical, nor honest.
And don’t expect them to be round when the going gets tough.

They really do very little for their fee … and are mystified why sellers generally hate them ….

Did you not read the contract before you signed it?