Uxbridge County Court 2009
Agent 1 had shown the property to the ultimate purchaser not once but twice but failed to follow up and extract an offer. The Purchaser viewed the same property but a month later with Agent 2. The previously well settled concept of "introduction" to the property as being the trigger event for payment of commission no longer applies.
The test is that applied by the Court of Appeal in Foxtons v Pelkey Bicknell http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/419.html. Which agent was the effective introducer of the purchaser to the transaction, not just the property? In assessing what is "effective" the court considers what role the agent played in the negotiations on price and terms etc. Agent 2 succeeded because he had negotiated on price and shepherded the smooth passage of the transaction. Our client received a full costs award. The claimant appealed. The appeal was disallowed.
