Your reservation fee locks in your sale and protects you: if your buyer walks away without a valid reason, you're compensated.
These terms form a binding agreement between you (the "Seller") and Transforming Everyday Decisions Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (No. 16649859) trading as "PurchaseSecured" ("we", "us", "our"), in relation to the reservation of your property facilitated through your estate agent. Please read them carefully before accepting. By accepting, you agree to be bound by them.
"Buyer" means the prospective purchaser who enters into the reservation for your property.
"Buyer Reservation Fee" means the fee the Buyer pays to reserve the property, which the Buyer forfeits if they withdraw without a Valid Reason.
"Seller Reservation Fee" means the fee you pay under clause 3, being £500 (or such other amount shown to you before you accept).
"Seller Compensation" means the sum payable to you under clause 4 if the Buyer withdraws without a Valid Reason, as shown to you before you accept these terms.
"Reservation Period" means the period agreed for the parties to proceed to exchange of contracts.
"Valid Reason" has the meaning given in clause 6.
2.1 A reservation only provides security if both parties commit to it. The Buyer commits by paying the Buyer Reservation Fee, which they lose if they withdraw without a Valid Reason. You commit by paying the Seller Reservation Fee and, in return, you are protected: you receive Seller Compensation if the Buyer withdraws without a Valid Reason.
2.2 By accepting these terms you agree, for the Reservation Period, to take the property off the market, to deal exclusively with the Buyer in respect of the property, and to proceed towards exchange of contracts in good faith and with reasonable diligence.
3.1 You pay a Seller Reservation Fee of £500. This is payable when you accept these terms, unless your estate agent has agreed a different payment time with you in writing.
3.2 Optional higher protection. You may choose to pay a higher Seller Reservation Fee to receive a higher level of Seller Compensation. The available levels, and the exact Seller Compensation each provides, are shown to you before you accept. The maximum available is determined by the amount the Buyer pays (see clause 4.3).
3.3 The Seller Reservation Fee is the consideration for the reservation service and the compensation protection provided to you under these terms throughout the Reservation Period.
4.1 If, during the Reservation Period, the Buyer withdraws from the purchase without a Valid Reason, you are entitled to the Seller Compensation shown to you when you accepted these terms.
4.2 Genuine pre-estimate of loss. The Seller Compensation is a genuine pre-estimate of the loss and inconvenience you are likely to suffer if a committed Buyer withdraws — including the time lost, the period the property was withheld from the market, the loss of other potential buyers, and the cost and delay of re-marketing and re-starting a sale. It is not a penalty. You and we agree that this is a reasonable pre-estimate of that loss, having regard to the difficulty of calculating it precisely.
4.3 Source and cap. Seller Compensation is funded from the Buyer Reservation Fee that the Buyer forfeits on withdrawing without a Valid Reason. It will not exceed the amount actually forfeited by the Buyer and available for that purpose after our fee and the estate agent's minimum share. This is why the maximum protection available to you depends on the amount the Buyer pays.
4.4 Administration, not insurance. We administer the reservation and the payment of Seller Compensation from sums recovered from the Buyer. We are not an insurer and do not underwrite or guarantee payment of Seller Compensation beyond the sums actually recovered from the Buyer and available under clause 4.3. Where, despite reasonable efforts, sums cannot be recovered from the Buyer (for example due to a payment dispute or the Buyer's insolvency), our obligation is limited to the sums actually recovered.
4.5 Seller Compensation is payable to you within a reasonable period after the withdrawal is confirmed under clause 6 and the relevant sums are recovered from the Buyer. We will pay it to the bank account you have provided; the account name must match your name.
5.1 If you withdraw from the sale without a Valid Reason during the Reservation Period, you are not entitled to any Seller Compensation, and your Seller Reservation Fee is not refunded. The Buyer may be entitled to the return of their Buyer Reservation Fee and, where the reservation agreement so provides, to compensation from you for their reasonable wasted costs, on the same genuine pre-estimate basis set out in clause 4.2.
6.1 A party has a Valid Reason to withdraw where the withdrawal results from a matter genuinely outside their reasonable control, including:
6.2 A change of mind, a decision to buy or sell elsewhere, an attempt to renegotiate the price without a valid basis, or a withdrawal to avoid the commitment, is not a Valid Reason.
6.3 Verification. Whether a withdrawal was for a Valid Reason is determined by us acting reasonably and in good faith, on the evidence available. We may require reasonable evidence before confirming a withdrawal and before any Seller Compensation is paid. We will act fairly to both parties.
7.1 If the sale completes, the reservation has achieved its purpose: both parties honoured their commitment and the sale proceeded. The Seller Reservation Fee is retained as the consideration for the reservation service and the compensation protection you held throughout the Reservation Period. No Seller Compensation is payable because none is due.
8.1 We facilitate and administer the reservation. We are not a party to the sale of the property, we are not your agent or the Buyer's agent, and we do not provide legal advice. You are responsible for taking your own legal advice on your sale. Your conveyancer or solicitor acts for you on the transaction.
8.2 Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer where they apply.
9.1 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
9.2 Subject to clause 9.1, our total liability to you in connection with these terms and the reservation shall not exceed the greater of (a) the Seller Reservation Fee you paid, and (b) the Seller Compensation properly due and recovered under clause 4. We are not liable for the conduct of the Buyer, the estate agent, or any conveyancer, nor for the sale failing to complete for reasons outside our control.
10.1 We process your personal data to administer the reservation and any compensation, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection law. We share relevant details with your estate agent and, where necessary, the parties' conveyancers to progress the transaction.
11.1 Variation. We may update these terms from time to time; the version that applies to your reservation is the version you accepted. Where we are required to make changes for legal or regulatory reasons, we will do so fairly and, where it affects an active reservation, we will notify you.
11.2 Entire agreement. These terms, together with the reservation details shown to you and the reservation agreement between the parties, are the entire agreement between you and us in respect of the reservation.
11.3 Severability. If any provision is found to be unenforceable, it shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable or, if that is not possible, severed, and the remaining provisions continue in force.
11.4 Third parties. A person who is not a party to these terms has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce them.
11.5 Governing law. These terms and any dispute arising from them (including non-contractual disputes) are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
By accepting these terms you confirm that you understand the Seller Reservation Fee you are paying, the Seller Compensation you will receive if the Buyer withdraws without a Valid Reason, that compensation is funded from and capped by the Buyer's forfeited fee, and that your fee is retained if the sale completes. The version of these terms, the date and time of acceptance, and your details are recorded as evidence of your acceptance.