| Re: I'd like to make a compensation claim against my letting agent - where do I stand?
First of all, read your tenancy agreement, it will tell you what the letting agent will hold itself responsible for. Unfortunately, the letting agent can have recourse by saying that these things take time, everythings always unpredictable, blah blah (this happened to me when my bedroom window fell out). If they do this, speak to your landlord, as if there is a case for negligence, it is quite likely that the landlord will be liable. Unfortunately for you, claiming compensation for wasting time and hurt feelings (it's called solatium, by the way) is a bugger. You have to establish that your landlord or letting agent breached their duty of care towards you. They may argue that the standard of care you recieved from them was reasonable under the circumstances. Since there is no real objective standard, "reasonable care" is enough. If you cant establish this, you dont have a claim.
What i would personally do, is demand reparation from the landlord directly, like Forbes said you could get a months free rent (i did). In this case, i think your case is quite shaky and you could end up saddled with legal bills, etc. Also, if you where thinking of going down the "no win no fee" route, they probably wont touch you as they tend to only take pretty cut and dried cases that they're certain to win. It isn't fair, but sometimes you do have to chalk things up to bad experiences. Also, I'm not sure if they do, but if letting agents have any sort of regulatory body, i'd make a formal complaint to them and also make a personal visit to the letting agent to vent my feelings and demand a quick solution. | 
