When you reserve on the Compensation Deterrent basis, you and the other party agree a mutual sum that whoever walks away without a valid reason owes to the other. Here's exactly what that is, what PurchaseSecured does, and — just as importantly — what it doesn't.
Your Reservation Agreement sets a single Compensation Sum — 1% of the purchase price, a minimum of £2,000 and a maximum of £25,000. It is mutual and identical both ways: the buyer owes it if the buyer withdraws without a valid reason, and the seller owes it if the seller does. It protects each side equally. Nothing is paid upfront — the sum only becomes payable if someone breaks the agreement.
PurchaseSecured is not a party to the Compensation Sum. We don't guarantee it and we don't pay it. What we provide is the framework that makes it real and recoverable:
The sum is pre-agreed, mutual and written into your Reservation Agreement — so if someone walks, what's owed is already defined, not argued about from scratch.
If there's a disagreement about whether a breach actually happened, it's decided by an independent expert — an experienced solicitor or retired judge — not by us and not by either side alone.
If you're the party who is owed the sum, we connect you to recommended solicitors who can pursue it for you — so you're not left to work out how to bring a claim on your own.
Where a claim is assessed as strong, we can help you connect with third-party litigation funders who may support it. The funder makes its own decision: as with any litigation, whether funding is offered depends on the merits of the individual claim, is assessed case by case, and is never guaranteed. PurchaseSecured helps you reach funders and present your claim — it does not provide the funding itself or decide the terms.
The honest part, plainly. Because the sum has to be recovered from the party who owes it, any payment you receive is what is actually recovered — it is not a guaranteed payout and it is not paid to you upfront. What you have is a defined sum you're owed and a clear, supported route to pursue it. That's a genuinely strong position — but it's a route to recovery, not a promise of it.
What PurchaseSecured does:
What PurchaseSecured does not do:
The same framework applies to you. If you withdraw without a valid reason, you owe the Compensation Sum to the other party, and it can be pursued against you through the courts — with interest and reasonable costs added on top of the sum itself. That's the point of the deterrent: it makes walking away without a genuine reason a real, defined cost, on both sides equally.
Valid reasons to withdraw with no sum owed — such as a mortgage being declined, a down-valuation, a serious title defect, a chain collapse, or mutual consent — are set out in full in your Reservation Agreement, and are confirmed through your conveyancer.