Terms and Conditions

This ‘Service Agreement’ provides you with information regarding the terms upon which we agree to provide and offer our services to you. Laid out in this document are all the relevant conditions that you are agreeing to, by using and purchasing any of our Products and Services. If we deem it necessary to change any terms relating to the service agreement then we will provide all information of this on our Website. It is your responsibility to check the Website and to take note of any changes made. By entering into this service agreement you agree to be bound by any necessary changes should you continue to use our Products and Services.

Words and Phrases used in these terms

Instructing Seven Keys

Full details of the Products and Services on offer, what is included and the price of each Product and/or Service is detailed on the Website.

Parties Involved

You appoint Us and we agree to provide the Agency Services set out in these terms (subject to your payment of the Fees as defined therein). When purchasing one of our products you are entering into these terms and you are acknowledging the sale of your property to be carried out by Seven Keys Ltd.

You can cancel the Agency Services provided to you subject to the terms laid out in this Service Agreement.

The Agency Services

You have chosen one of the following fee packages:

1. Basic Package: Instruction on a multi-agency basis. The price of the Basic Package is £299 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate, and is payable up front, before marketing of the property will commence.
2. Premium Package: Instruction on a multi-agency basis. The price of the Basic Package is £399 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate, and is payable up front, before marketing of the property will commence.
3. Pay Later Package: Instruction on a sole agency basis. The price of the Basic Package is £599 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate, and is payable at any time unconditional exchange of contracts for the sale of the property takes place. See also ‘Paying for our Services’ laid out in the contract.

All owners of the Property

When you Instruct Seven Keys to market your property you do so with the knowledge and consent of all the legal owners, occupiers and anyone involved who may have an interest in the advertising and sale of the property. Furthermore, you confirm that you have all authorisations from relevant authorities that enable you to take advantage of the Products and Services offered by Seven Keys Ltd. Before marketing your property it is a requirement that a Seven Keys Property Consultant provides a home visit. Your property details will then be verified before marketing of the property can commence.

Lets

All of these terms apply equally to lettings as they do to sales. There are additional terms and conditions specifically relating to Landlords and the lettings process contained in our ‘Lettings Terms and Conditions’ section of the website.

Paying for our services

We will only charge you the Advertised Rates for the Products and Services. The Advertised Rates are fixed. The Advertised Rates are inclusive of VAT, however, extra services may be exclusive of VAT, for example an EPC certificate.

At this current time, we offer two methods of payment. These are ‘Pay Now’ or ‘Pay Later’.

If you choose to Pay Now you will be required to provide us with your credit or debit card details and we will obtain approval for an amount up to the amount of the transaction. We will debit that amount from your debit or credit card prior to commencement of our services. Billing occurs at the time of, or shortly after your transaction.

If you choose to Pay Later we will provide you with the ability to do so subject to these terms and conditions.

PAYMENT TERMS- IMPORTANT

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

If you choose to Pay Later you shall instruct us to do so on a Sole Agency basis. The prevailing rate for this will be made payable in full of the Product Service Fee when the following occurs:

• When the property sells and the legal process is complete.

Sole Agency rights apply for 12 weeks from the date you instruct Seven Keys Ltd. Withdrawal can be requested by providing 28 days’ notice to us in writing and the withdrawal period can run alongside and up to the end of the sole agency period. The sole agency agreement will continue until notice is received.

To use the Pay Later option you must be a UK resident and who is not bankrupt or subject to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) and by choosing Pay Later you confirm and represent that you are not bankrupt or subject to an IVA. Pay Later is not available to companies, businesses, partnerships, charities, trusts and any other such organisations that are excluded from time to time unless agreed by Seven Keys Ltd in writing.

Sole Agency

You will be liable to pay remuneration to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged with a purchaser introduced by us during the period or our sole agency or with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period; or with a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period.

It is a further condition that no other Estate Agent is introduced during the Sole Agency period. Failure to comply with this condition may result in two sales commissions becoming payable.

Ready, Willing and Able Purchaser

A purchaser is a “ready, willing and able” purchaser if he is prepared and is able to exchange unconditional contracts for the purchase of your property.

You will be liable to pay remuneration to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if such a purchaser is introduced by us in accordance with your instructions and this must be paid even if you subsequently withdraw and unconditional contracts for sale are not exchanged, irrespective of your reasons.

For these purposes: “remuneration” includes any costs and charges agreed between us.

IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT AS TO THE MEANING OF THIS TERM, YOU SHOULD SEEK INDEPENDENT ADVICE.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

It is a condition of Pay Later that you agree to inform Seven Keys Ltd of the conveyancing services of which company or conveyancer/solicitor you are going to use. You hereby agree that you will irrevocably instruct your conveyancer/solicitor and/or company to make payment in full of the Product Service Fee to Seven Keys or any third party entitled to collect payment of the Product Service Fee notified to you on Completion in the event that you have not already made payment in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Payment Details

When you take advantage of any of our Products and Services we may take certain information from you such as the name on the card, card number, valid from date, expiry date, security code or issue number. This information will be used to take the agreed payment and will not be stored on our system.

Should you choose to Pay Later then you will be required to provide your name, address and two proofs of identification in accordance with Anti-money Laundering regulations. Payment for our Pay Later option shall be carried out in accordance with this Service Agreement.

Special Offers

Should we advertise any ‘Special Offer’, for example “£100 off all our packages”, then you will be liable to pay for our Products and Services at the Advertised rate. You will receive such offers on instruction of us marketing your property, if within the offer timeline. Should you choose not to market your property with us at the time of valuation, within the offer timeline, and then choose at a later date to proceed after the offer has ended, then you will not be subject to receiving any Special Offer.

Cancellations and refunds

To present your property at its very best we will capture a suite of top quality photographs, create elegant floor plans, write compelling descriptive copy and propagate this over leading property web sites. If you withdraw your property from the market and we are not due a fee (i.e. you dis-instruct us or decline viewings after the exclusive period has elapsed) you agree to pay a contribution towards these cost of £300 inclusive of VAT.

Cancellations and refunds

Once you have ordered our Products and Services you will be liable to pay the total value of the Product Service Fee if you have chosen to Pay Now. If you have chosen to Pay Later then you will not pay for the Products and Services until payment is due in accordance with this Service Agreement.

Should you wish to cancel or withdraw any Products and Services then you may do so at any time. However, under no circumstances will any full or part credit be made in respect to Advertised Rates. If you have taken a service in which you have instructed a Local Seven Keys Property Consultant to carry out a visit for the purpose of photography and other services, you will be liable to pay the full Product Service Fee in the event the appointment failed due to no-show, unsuitability of the property for marketing etc.

Should you wish to withdraw your Advert at any time or if you wish to withdraw from an agreed sale, you can do so by calling your Local Seven Keys Property Consultant or by calling the advertised phone numbers or e-mailing the head office team on info@sevenkeys.co.uk. You may be able to re-list your property within a certain time period after withdrawal, this will be carried out within four weeks and for a £50 discounted rate only once. You will be informed of all details at the time of seeking to withdraw or relist your Advert.

Right to Cancel

14 day “Cooling off Period”

You have the right to cancel a contract within a 14 day period from the moment you instruct Seven Keys Ltd up until the time your advert is made Live. At this point it will be deemed that we have provided you with the marketing service and you will no longer be entitled to a refund of the Product Service Fee.

For the avoidance of doubt, if your property has been listed on the Seven Keys Website during the “cooling off period” then all Fees for the Products and Services and Extras shall be payable in full, without refund.

To exercise this right to cancel you must inform us of your decision in writing before or on the last day of the 14 day cancellation period. You can email us at info@sevenkeys.co.uk or send by post to

Seven Keys Cancellations, Unit 2, Boston House, Fifth Avenue Business Park, Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, NE11 0HF.

As a consumer, if you exercise your statutory right to cancel, we will reimburse any payments received from you without undue delay but no later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to cancel this contract. We will reimburse you using the same means of payment as you used for the payment to us.

No reimbursement will be due to you for any goods and/or services already provided to you by us if you have made an express request that we begin the supply of goods and/or services before the end of the cancellation period.

Your Obligations

1. You agree that any information you give us relating to the Property and any personal information (including financial information) which you give us is accurate and complete. If any information included in the Property Information changes or you become aware of an inaccuracy after you have approved the Property Information, you must tell us immediately, for example if planning permission is granted over a neighbouring property or a service charge increases.
2. Before your Property can be marketed, you must order an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). If you do not order an EPC before asking us to market the Property, we cannot be responsible for any delay in marketing the Property until you have obtained the EPC.
3. You will not do anything which would or might have the effect of manipulating the sale price of the Property (for example by clicking multiple times on the Property details listed on our website or on an internet property portal).
4. You must tell us immediately if you are approached by a potential buyer directly and/or if a potential buyer makes an offer to you directly.
5. You must not put up your own For Sale board or any advertisement of its sale on or near the Property. In particular, you must not put up any advertisement which contains our name, logo or any of the slogans we use on our For Sale boards unless it is an Official Seven Keys board purchased from us in accordance with these Terms. If you have chosen the ‘Pay Later’ Option, we have sole agency rights for 3 calendar months, you must not put a For Sale board advertising another estate agency at the Property during the period of our sole agency.
6. Should you refuse to allow potential buyers to view your property for any reason for an extended period of time, or if you have accepted an offer on the property, then we reserve the right to withdraw the property without refund.

Our Relationship With Potential Buyers and Buyers

Although we do not always have a contractual relationship with potential buyers and buyers, we do have legal obligations to them.

1. If you ask us to continue to market your Property after you have accepted an offer, we are required to tell your buyer that you have instructed us to do so and if, you accept another offer in these circumstances, we must promptly tell your original buyer that you have done so.
2. If you have accepted an offer, we are obliged to tell any potential buyer who contacts us to arrange a viewing that this is the case.
3. If you receive an offer and decide not to accept or reject it at that time, we are obliged to keep that person informed of other offers but will not tell them the amount of those other offers.
4. Although we may tell potential buyers about the existence of other offers, we will not tell them the value of those other offers without your express permission. However, you should note that if you give us permission to tell one person the value of another offer, we become obliged to tell all potential buyers who have made offers about the other offers which have been made for the Property and must not mislead any of them.

Approval of your Advert

Should you take advantage of the Products and Services being offered to you by Seven Keys, where a Local Property Consultant creates your Advert for approval, you will be notified by Seven Keys as soon as the Advert is available for approval. We will always aim to do this as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Whatever the nature of the Products and Services you use, you are responsible to ensure that all photographs, floor plans, descriptions and information uploaded and/or used in any marketing and advertising are completely accurate, current and are in no way misleading. We will provide verification checks on these details. If any of the information you provide or approve is found to be in breach of these terms then it will be removed immediately. However, under no circumstances will any full or part credit be made in respect to Advertised Rates.

We will advertise and market your property on such property portals, websites and publications that we deem necessary to ensure as much interest on your property as possible. We may withdraw or no longer take advantage of the services of such property portals, websites and publications at our absolute discretion. We will advertise your property for the advertising period stated in these terms. The advertised prices displayed on the Website state that we will advertise your property until sold.

Market Appraisals

If you have gained contact with a member of the Seven Keys team and booked in a market appraisal for the valuation of your property, Seven Keys reserve the right to charge a fee for this service. If you are looking to place your property on the market then this is considered to be free of charge and we will discuss this with you at your property. However, if you are booking a valuation for mortgage purposes, separation services or other then an additional charge of £100+VAT is payable.

Photographs

If you have chosen a product that involves photography, floor plans and descriptions to be carried out by yourself, these photographs must be no larger than 10MB and the maximum number of photographs you can provide for each property is 25. You can only provide us with photographs that show your property for marketing purposes. It is your responsibility to ensure all photographs are received by Seven Keys, after which we will provide you with your Advert ready for approval. All photographs will be examined by Seven Keys before uploading them to any property portal.

We reserve the right to refuse to allow any image to be uploaded, made Live or presented on any marketing material 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.

If you have chosen a product that involves photography, floor plans and descriptions to be carried out by an agent of Seven Keys, these will be carried out only once at a time that is suitable to you. If you require these to be retaken at a later date, we charge an additional fee of £35 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate.

Optional Extras

You can choose to include any one or more from the list of Extras available to you. You can also change these and you are allowed to withdraw from them. However, under no circumstances will any full or part credit be made.

Energy Performance Certificate

It is a legal requirement for you to have commissioned an EPC before we can begin the marketing process of your property. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have a valid and up to date EPC before your Advert is able to go Live. If you do not have an EPC then you are able to purchase one from us and this will last for 10 years from the date of the assessment.

For Sale and To Let Board

Where you Instruct Seven Keys to market your property we will arrange for one ‘For Sale’ or ‘To Let’ board to be erected free of charge (if included as part of the Products and Services). If a ‘For Sale’ or ‘To Let’ board is not included in the Products and Services then you can purchase one from us at the Advertised Rate.

All ‘For Sale’ and ‘To Let’ boards shall belong to Seven Keys although it is your responsibility to ensure they are well looked after, safe and secure and preserved for collection once the property is sold or withdrawn from the market. Any breach of these terms will result in you being charged for the replacement of the board at the current rates in force at that time. 

Accompanied Viewings

Where you appoint Seven Keys to carry out viewings these will be until sold or withdrawn from the market. Should the property go online on a separate occasion, these will need to be repaid in full.

For the avoidance of doubt, Accompanied Viewings can be carried out within a 10m radius of the Seven Keys head office at Unit 2, Boston House, Fifth Avenue Business Park, Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, NE11 0HF. If required further afield, please ask a member of staff.

Rightmove Advertising

If you have chosen Rightmove advertising for your property then this will be charged at £600 inclusive of VAT at the prevailing rate. Rightmove advertising will be instructed on a multi-agency basis and all photos, floor plans and property descriptions will be provided to a partner agent in order to advertise on the Rightmove property portal. For the avoidance of doubt, Seven Keys Ltd works alongside Moovd Estate Agents and will provide Moovd with client ID for Anti-money laundering purposes. Moovd can be contacted at the following address:- Carter House, Pelaw Leazes Lane, Durham, DH1 1TB.

Premium/ Featured Listings

If you have chosen to include premium or featured listings in your Advert these will be applied until sold or withdrawn from the market. Should the property go online on a separate occasion, these will need to be repaid in full.

Life Cover

Where you have chosen one of our Products and Services that offer a Life Cover option you will be supplied with details on how this can be taken advantage of upon Completion of the sale of your property. All Life Cover options will be dealt with by a third party company introduced to you by Seven Keys. You are under no obligation to take advantage of such Products or Services.

Viewings

Subject to Interruption we will arrange and record all viewings through our back office. You will be notified immediately of a viewing being booked. We will provide you with the name of the person(s) who wish to view your property together with the time and date. If Seven Keys are to carry out the viewings of your property then you will still be notified of this information at the time of the booking.

If Seven Keys are carrying out the viewings of your property it is your responsibility to ensure the property is ready and prepared for the viewings, is safe and that the Seven Keys Property Consultant has access to the property at the date and time of the viewing.

Where you have instructed Seven Keys to carry out viewings of your property you shall supply Seven Keys with two sets of keys for all lockable doors, cupboards and areas that form any part of the property. We shall store these keys in a safe and secured locked cabinet.

Availability

Subject to Interruption, if you have chosen to conduct your own viewings then you can refer to your Seven Keys Property Consultant as to your availability. This will allow people who wish to view your property to choose a date and time to suit them. You will be notified when a viewing is booked. Where a viewing is booked outside of the availability then you will be asked to confirm the viewing. It is your responsibility to do this immediately.

Feedback

Seven Keys will request Feedback from every person(s) who has viewed your property or was due to view your property. We will prompt said person(s) for feedback unless they have confirmed that they do not wish to provide any feedback. All feedback will be readily available from your Property Consultant. The feedback will be relayed back to you exactly as provided by the person(s) concerned.

Offers

Subject to Interruption, we will report any offers to you as soon as they are made via your Local Property Consultant. Information requested from the potential buyer will include the nature, extent, desire to proceed and the position of the potential buyer. Such information will be provided to you exactly as we receive it and at the time the offer is made.

We will carry out reasonable checks as to ensure the offer made meets our criteria in order for a sale to proceed.

You will be given a choice whether to accept, reject, reject and negotiate or you can opt for Seven Keys to negotiate the offer on your behalf. Each time an offer is made you will be able to choose one of these options.

We will inform you immediately of anyone wishing to make an offer on your property that is any way connected with Seven Keys. In the event that you are aware of any personal interest of anyone connected with Seven Keys then you should inform us immediately. We will then carry out such enquiries as to the nature of the personal interest and inform you in writing. You will have the sole discretion as to whether or not you proceed with the person(s) involved. We will never knowingly permit an offer or agree a sale with a person connected to Seven Keys before providing you with written notice.

Agreed Sales

We will provide you with advice and assistance as far as reasonably practicable once a sale is agreed until Completion.

Personal Information

In order to carry out the most effective use of our Products and Services we will be providing certain people with personal information such as your name, address, contact details, viewing availability, position to proceed and agreed sale price. For more information please read our Terms of Use along with our Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to ensure that all information you provide is correct and up to date.

If you have opted to Pay Later then we will provide such information to third party companies that are acting on our behalf in order to collect payment from you.

Product Availability

Whilst we make all reasonable efforts to ensure that our Products and Services are made available to you at all times, we cannot guarantee, represent or warrant that your access to any of the Products or Services will be un-interrupted and error free.

We will always be sure to make all reasonable efforts to ensure that any Content submitted by you to us will be secure. We cannot guarantee that the Products and Services, Systems or Website will be free from loss, corruption, attack, viruses, worms, hacks, security intrusions or Trojan horses. You should back up your system periodically in order to ensure that all your information is available to you in the event of any loss or damage as Seven Keys reserves the right to remove or suspend all or any part of the Content, at any time in accordance with these terms.

Third Party Companies

We will introduce to you third party services such as mortgages, insurance, conveyancing and surveying, but only where we ultimately believe that the services being offered are beneficial to you and that the third party companies are capable and are required to provide an exceptional service.

We may receive a referral fee of up to a maximum amount of one hundred and fifty (£150) plus VAT per Property for introducing you to the third party companies, but only when you agree to take advantage of such Products and Services. You are under no obligation to use these third party services or products. You hereby expressly agree and accept that we may receive a payment or commission from a third party company as a result of that introduction.

In the instances where Seven Keys collect the relevant Fees you hereby authorise Seven Keys to hold all fees paid in respect of the services.

Where requested by you, we will Instruct some of the third party companies to conduct some of the services provided by Seven Keys. Whilst me make every effort to ensure that they continue to provide an exceptional service, we cannot accept liability for the conduct and service of those third party companies acting on your behalf.

Lawyers Referral Code

You hereby acknowledge that Seven Keys is fully compliant with the Solicitors’ Introduction and Referral Code published by the Law Society and the Rules and Regulations detailed by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. To the best of our knowledge, all professionals on our panel are independent firms from whom you will receive impartial and confidential advice.

The Law Society and Council for Licensed Conveyancers allows firms to make agreements with their introducing sources for referral cases. Such agreements must comply with a code known as the Solicitors Code of Conduct (2011). The Code contains strict rules which are designed to safeguard your interests as the customer. Seven Keys, and the firms on our panel, have a formal agreement under the Solicitors Code of Conduct.

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading regulations 2008

To ensure compliance with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 the seller must inform Seven Keys Ltd immediately of any incorrect or incomplete information included within their property particulars from the outset or at any point during the marketing or sale of the property.

Any amendments requested by the seller will be fully vetted by Seven Keys Ltd. If we conclude that such amendments are not valid we reserve the right to refuse them appropriately.

Seven Keys Ltd reserves the right not to publish any information provided by the seller in order to comply with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Any other publication produced by Seven Keys Ltd may be subject to change at any time. When changes are made to the website, these may not appear in publications produced before said change.

The Seller shall indemnify Seven Keys Ltd, its proprietors, directors, employees or agents against any loss or damage suffered by Seven Keys Ltd, its directors, employees or agents arising from:

• Any claim made by the Seller in respect of the Property;
• Any inaccurate, false or misleading descriptions of the same; or
• Any breach of applicable legislation or regulations including but not limited to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Anti-Money Laundering

In accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering legislation it is a requirement by law for all estate agents to conduct identification checks on their customers. For sellers this must take place at the point at which you instruct Seven Keys to act on your behalf. For buyers this must take place at the point your offer is accepted by a seller.

In order to do this, but not be intrusive, we require sight of documentary proof, together with acceptable photographic ID, such as a passport or photo driving licence.

These two forms of identification need to be received by your Local Seven Keys Property Consultant. You cannot use one form of identification for both name and address. Documents we will not accept include a provisional driving licence, mobile phone bills or credit card statements.

We are also required to keep a record of the evidence we have verified. If for any reason we are unable to confirm your identity in the course of establishing a business relationship with you, we reserve the right to withdraw the property for sale until formal proof of identity is received.

Acceptable forms of identification can be found in the table below:

ADR Entity; The Property Redress Scheme www.theprs.co.uk

Should you have a formal complaint about our residential sales service you should contact our Head Office on (0191 497 1797) or by email to; info@sevenkeys.co.uk who will provide an acknowledgement within 3 working days along with a copy of our complaints procedure and an initial response within 15 working days. In the event we are unable to resolve the issue during our complaints procedure, then you should note our Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entity is The Property Redress Scheme (The PRS). Any referral to The PRS must be carried out within 12 months from the date of our final viewpoint.

As members of The Property Redress Scheme we abide by their Code of Practice. From time to time we are obliged to release information to The PRS for compliance and monitoring purposes and we may need to release information about you and/or the sale of you property. Copies of the Code of Practice and Consumer Guide are available from The PRS at www.theprs.co.uk or from our Head Office on request.

Although our duty of care is to you, if your interests conflict with the law, we must comply with the law.