FAQ
You can find our landlord and contract holder fees using the below links, if there are any fees that you are unsure of, please call or email us to clarify this.
Complaints
We at Thomas Estate Agents are committed to dealing effectively with any complaints you have about our service. If we have made a mistake we will apologise and try to put things right.
We review complaints regularly. Wherever possible, we will use this information to improve the way we do things. We also welcome comments and compliments about the service we have provided.
How to contact Thomas Estate Agents?
We want it to be simple and convenient for you to raise a complaint, make a comment or pay us a compliment.
To contact us:
• Call: 01443 434091
• Email: enquiries@thomasestateagents.co.uk
• Write to: 1A Dunraven Street, Tonypandy, CF40 1QE
What can you expect from us when you make a complaint?
If we receive a complaint from you, we will do all that we can to help you and we will try to find a solution to any problems you have brought to our attention. We will ensure that:
• Your complaint is acknowledged within 3 working days of the date that it is received
• We will aim to resolve the complaint within 15 working days - if your complaint is more complex we may need more time.
• We will let you know within the 15 working day period if we think it may take longer to investigate your complaint and tell you how long we expect it to take, providing regular updates.
We will respect your right to confidentiality and privacy and we will treat you fairly and in accordance with our commitment to equality.
If you are asking us for a service for the first time e.g. repairs, you should give us a chance to put things right. If you are not happy with our response and you let us know, we will then treat it as a complaint.
The person who is investigating your concerns will firstly aim to establish the facts. In some instances we may ask to meet you to discuss your concerns.
Outcome
Following our investigation, we will let you know what we have found and we will use your preferred form of communication, such as letter or e-mail, when we contact you. We will explain how and why we came to our conclusions.
If we find that we have done something wrong, we will tell you this, explain what happened and apologise. If we find there is a fault in our systems or the way we do things, we will tell you what it is and how we plan to change things to stop it happening again.
Putting things right
If there is a simple solution to your problem, we may ask you to accept this solution. For example, where you asked for a service and we see straight away that you should have had it; we will offer to provide the service rather than continue to investigate
Staff training
We will make sure that our staff are trained to handle complaints effectively and receive appropriate training in the use of the Complaints Policy.
The Redress Scheme
We are a member of the Property Redress Scheme.You can contact the Redress Scheme at any time. However, they are unable to deal with a complaint until our complaints process has been completed and we have had a chance to put things right.
To contact the Property Redress Scheme:
• Call: 03333219418
• Email: 
info@theprs.co.uk
• Write to: Property Redress Scheme, Premiere House, 1st Floor, Elstree, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1JH
Complaint Management Process
The process for resolving matters which have not been addressed to your satisfaction within agreed timescales or expectations is set out below:
Stage 1 - Making your complaint
Please set out the details of your complaint in writing (either by letter or email) by contacting Abby Thomas at:
Email: enquiries@thomasestateagents.co.uk
Address: 1A Dunraven Street, Tonypandy, CF40 1QE
Telephone number: 01443 434091
Include as much detail as possible, including dates, names of any members of staff you have dealt with, and where you are able to enclosing/attaching any supporting evidence.
Stage 2 - Our acknowledgement
Your compliant will be acknowledged and you will receive a response within 3 working days of us receiving your complaint.
Stage 3 - Our investigation
Your complaint will be investigated and Abby Thomas will provide a formal written response addressing your specific complaints and proposing resolutions where appropriate
Timescale: Within 15 working days of receiving your complaint
Stage 4 - Final Viewpoint
If you remain dissatisfied, you should contact us again and we will conduct a separate review to be undertaken by Abby Thomas. This will outline our final viewpoint on the matter.
Timescale: Within 15 working days of receiving your request for a further review
Stage 5 – Redress
If our final viewpoint letter does not resolve matters (or more than 8 weeks has elapsed since the complaint was first made), you can request an independent review from the Property Redress Scheme, of which we are a member, without charge.
Timescale: You must refer your complaint to the within 12 months of receiving our final viewpoint letter.
Thomas Estate Agents’ Complaints Procedure, November 2024
Our fees vary depending on the value of your property, we offer 0% commission, fixed fee services for residential and commercial sales. Our fee options will be quoted during a valuation or in the terms and conditions that you sign. Our fees start from £563.34+VAT.
After your move out inspection is carried out, we process a request for the deposit to be returned to you and allow 10 calendar days for our decision. However, this do not mean that we will return the deposit within this timeframe. Your landlord may ask to keep some, or all, of your original tenancy deposit to cover things like arrears, cleaning or damage. You can either agree, negotiate or disagree with this amount. You have 3 months to request a resolution with the deposit protection company that your deposit was protected with.
Introduction
This Privacy Policy forms part of Thomas Lettings Limited trading as Thomas Estate Agents obligation to be open and fair with all individuals whose personal data we process and to provide details around how we process such personal data and what we do with it.
Thomas Estate Agents are committed to safeguarding the privacy of personal data and complying with the European General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and any future changes in data protection legislation with which Thomas Estate Agents will be required to comply.
When renting, selling or purchasing with Thomas Estate Agents we process your personal data such as name, address, contact details, email address and passport amongst other things. Processing of this data implies collecting, storing, using or disclosing your personal data.
If you consent to be notified of, or receive other products or services from Thomas Estate Agents or use any of our websites, You may be provided with further privacy notices which may be contained in a separate policy or within any terms and conditions. These additional privacy notices shall supplement this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy relates to the processing of personal data by Thomas Estate Agents
None of the lists or examples provided in this Privacy Policy is intended to be exhaustive or fully representative of every individual.
This Privacy Policy covers our client’s personal data in respect of the following:
- Our Details
- Ways we use your Personal Data
- Personal Data types
- Collecting Personal Data
- Fraud Protection Agencies (FPAs)
- Disclosing Personal Data
- Retaining Personal Data
- Securing Personal Data
- Sharing Personal Data
- Data Subject Rights
- Opt-in
- Opt-out
Ways we use your Personal Data
We’ll process your personal data:
a) as necessary to perform and fulfil our contracts with You:
- to take steps at your request prior to entering into it;
- to exercise rights set out in agreements or contracts;
- to deliver our products and services;
- to update our records;
- to make and manage customer payments;
- to manage fees and charges due on customer transactions;
- to collect and recover money that is owed to us.
b) as necessary to comply with legal obligation, e.g.:
- when you exercise your rights under data protection law and make requests;
- for compliance and to obey laws and regulations that apply to us;
- to verify your identity, make credit, fraud prevention and anti-money laundering checks;
- to manage risk for us and our customers;
- to detect, investigate, report and seek to prevent financial crime;
- to run our business in an efficient and proper way;
- to manage how we work with other companies that provide products and services to us and our customers.
c) as necessary for our own legitimate interests, or those or other persons and organisations, e.g.:
- for good governance, accounting, managing and auditing our business operations;
- to respond to complaints and seek to resolve them;
- to run our business in an efficient and proper way;
- to develop and manage our brands, products and services;
- to manage how we work with other companies that provide products and services to us and our customers;
- to monitor emails, calls, other communications and activities with reference to your contract;
- to provide advice or guidance about related products and services.
d) based on your consent, e.g.:
- to manage our relationship with you;
- to continue to meet our customers’ needs and to grow our business;
- to develop and carry out marketing activities;
- to provide advice or guidance about related products and services.
You are free at any time to change your mind and withdraw your consent. The consequence might be that we can’t do certain things for You.
The type of personal information we collect
We currently collect and process the following information:
· Name and contact details
· Identification (e.g., birth certificate, passport, I.D card)
· Location Data e.g. Previous home address
· Their bank details to get credit references
· Details of their previous landlord, for reference purposes
· Legal information e.g. right to rent and data protection obligations and gas safety laws.
· Obtaining required references or credit checks – to ensure you have tenants who pay the rent and take proper care of your property without causing a nuisance to neighbours
· Reading references provided to you by a letting/managing agent – for the same reason mentioned above
· Disclosing information to a debt collector or insurance company where a tenant has left leaving rent arrears – to enforce a breach of the agreement
· Providing a contract holder(s) forwarding address where debts are owed to third parties, such as their former utility company or your local council - to prevent fraud and so that they can enforce the debt
· Providing a contract holder(s) contact details to service/maintenance providers who need access to your property – in order to effect repairs to the property (which may also be a legal obligation) or to comply with your contractual obligations to a superior landlord
· Notifying joint contract holders of any rent arrears owed by another contract holder- to recover unpaid rent
· Informing a guarantor where a contract holder(s) has failed to pay rent - to recover unpaid rent and enforce a breach of the agreement
· Online identifier e.g. IP addresses and cookie identifiers
How we get the personal information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:
· You want to rent a property we have available, this would include a reference and credit check on any individuals interested in renting before any contracts are agreed.
· You want to act as a guarantor for a prospective contract holder(s) of ours.
· You want to be added to the mailing list so that we can find properties suited to your needs.
· You want to sell your property
· You want to buy a property
We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources:
· If we receive your information from a recommendation, reference or previous landlord.
· If we receive information from someone on your behalf as you were unable to contact us, this would need to be authorised by yourself before we confirm or release any personal information.
· If we are contacted by a neighbour, local authority or a concerned party regarding a complaint or query.
· From your guarantor if applicable.
We use the information that you have given us in order to:
(a) Verify your identity
(b) Enter a rental contract
(c) Arrange access to the property for building repairs, inspections etc.
(d) Discuss terms of your occupational contract with a landlord or to give references.
(e) Process a sale or purchase of a property or parcel of land
We may share this information with
(A) Landlords and/or their representatives (including solicitors, surveyors or mortgage advisors)
(B) Council workers e.g. council tax, housing benefits
(C) Welsh Water
(D) Guarantors
(E) Local authorities e.g. police, environmental health
(F) Maintenance team to arrange access e.g. plumber, electrician
(G) Utility companies
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
(a) Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting the office on 01443 434091.
(b) We have a contractual obligation.
(c) We have a legal obligation.
(d) We have a vital interest.
(e) We need it to perform a public task.
(f) We have a legitimate interest.
Collecting Personal Data
We may collect and store the following kinds of personal data:
1. Information that You provided to us when applying through our website, during visits to branch offices, in emails or over the phone.
2. Information contained in or relating to any communication that You send to us through our website, email, in writing, or over the phone.
3. Information that You provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our marketing communications.
4. Information that You provide to us when using any services we provide, or that is generated during the use of those services.
5. Information that You provide as part of electronically signing agreements with us.
6. Information that You provide in performing anti-money laundering, financial and credit checks as well as for fraud and crime prevention and detection purposes.
7. Information related to the security and access of our systems and applications.
8. Information to help us comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including reporting to and being audited by regulators and external auditors.
9. Information to help us comply with court orders and to exercise and defend our legal rights.
10. Any other personal information that may be sent to us and which we use for legitimate business purposes.
How we store your personal and confidential information
Any personal information held by Thomas Estate Agents is kept on a secure network or in locked cabinets. This data is only accessible by members of staff and can be shared in line with our privacy policy. Thomas Estate Agents is registered with the ICO and data Is held in compliance with their regulations.
We keep Personal Data whilst you are a contract holder of ours, if you leave a contract for any reason, we will keep personal data for 6 Years. We will then dispose of your personal information securely for both electronic and hard copies.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
If you wish to make a request: Please contact us at enquiries@thomasestateagents.co.uk, 01443 434091 or to send requests via letter to 1A Dunraven Street, Tonypandy, CF40 1QE.
DATA PROTECTION
You acknowledge that Thomas Estate Agents will process Information about you for legal, personnel, administrative and management purposes. In particular you acknowledge that we may need to process "Special Category" Personal Data (as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation) relating to you, including, as follows:
Information about your health or any conditions you may have
Where you choose to give us information about your racial or ethnic origin, your religion (or any similar beliefs) or sexual orientation, Thomas Estate Agents may use it to monitor its compliance with equal opportunities legislation;
Information about criminal offences (or alleged criminal offences)
Thomas Estate Agents may share your information with third parties who provide services e.g contractors, regulatory authorities, Landlords and/or if required by law. However, any information shared will be on a need-to-know basis.
You have the right to request how we use your personal data and you can remove your consent at any time by contacting the office on 01443 434091.
Consents (“Opt-in”)
Your personal data is provided for the purpose of selling or purchasing a property, letting or being a contract holder(s) of a property, conveyancing, financial services or surveying services as agreed under the terms of an Agreement we have agreed between You and Us.
However, Thomas Estate Agents would like to support you throughout the entire process of selling your property by offering you additional relevant and related services, which you can elect to, or decline from, receiving.
Withdrawal of Consent (“Opt-out”)
You have the right, at any time, to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes and any additional services that you have consented to receive.
You can opt-out of receiving any of these services and communications simply responding unsubscribe on any emails you receive, or contacting the branch.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at enquiries@thomasestateagents.co.uk or 01443 434091.
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
EXTRAS
CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
You must not disclose any Personal and/or Confidential Information relating to any person or business which covers information in any form (hard copy, verbal or electronic formats. This information may relate to the business, clients, customers and/or finances.
Any personal information held by Thomas Estate Agents is kept on a secure network or in locked cabinets. This data is only accessible by members of staff and can be shared in line with our privacy policy. Thomas Estate Agents is registered with the ICO and data Is held in compliance with their regulations.
DATA PROTECTION
You acknowledge that Thomas Estate Agents will process Information about you for legal, personnel, administrative and management purposes. In particular you acknowledge that we may need to process "Special Category" Personal Data (as defined in the General Data Protection Regulation) relating to you, including, as follows:
· information about your health or any conditions you may have
· where you choose to give us information about your racial or ethnic origin, your religion (or any similar beliefs) or sexual orientation, Thomas Estate Agents may use it to monitor its compliance with equal opportunities legislation;
· information about criminal offences (or alleged criminal offences)
*Thomas Estate Agents may share your information with third parties who provide services e.g contractors, regulatory authorities, Landlords and/or if required by law. However, any information shared will be on a need-to-know basis. You have the right to request how we use your personal data and you can remove your consent at any time by contacting the office on 01443 434091.*
