Out-of-hours calls for estate and letting agents

People with day jobs. Buyers and sellers usually have time to call in the evening, at lunch or on a Saturday afternoon, which is exactly when the office is closed or the negotiators are out on viewings.

The sellers matter most, because a valuation enquiry is the start of an instruction. A seller who rings three agents on a Sunday evening and only gets an answer from one has often made up their mind by Monday. Our guide to what missed calls cost an estate agent puts a figure on that.

That they've reached your agency, what happens next and when. Most callers are happy to wait until the morning if they know someone will ring them back.

• Sellers and landlords: their details, the property address, their timescale and a valuation booked or a call back arranged. No figure on the phone.
• Buyers: which property, their position, a viewing slot or a call back, and their offer recorded if they're making one.
• Applicant tenants: which property, when they want to move and a viewing slot or a call back.
• Existing tenants: what's wrong, whether it's an emergency under your rules, and your instruction given exactly as written.
• Anyone mid-sale: a message for their negotiator, with the reason for the call.

Valuation callers often ask what their home is worth. Whoever answers shouldn't guess. The TPO Code says any asking or selling price you advise must reflect the property and current market conditions and be supported by comparable evidence (TPO Code, 4b), so the honest answer is that a valuer will look at the property and the local evidence first. Our guide to valuation and viewing calls has the full list of what to take down.

Because the TPO Code says you must tell sellers about every offer as soon as is reasonably possible, unless the seller has told you in writing not to pass on that kind of offer, and confirm each offer in writing to the seller and the buyer within 2 working days (TPO Code, 9a). You must also keep a record of every offer, with the date and time (TPO Code, 9c).

An offer made to your answering cover on a Saturday evening is still an offer. Whoever takes it should record the buyer's name, the property, the amount, any conditions and the time, and pass it to the negotiator straight away rather than adding it to Monday's list.

The references above are to the TPO Code for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which is mandatory for agencies that belong to The Property Ombudsman (TPO). If you belong to a different redress scheme, check its code.

With rules you've written before the phone rings: what counts as an emergency, who is told and what the tenant hears. Nobody answering your phone should be deciding that on the spot.

Plenty of agencies start by putting every out-of-hours emergency through to one manager's personal mobile. It works until that person is on holiday, asleep or fed up, and then a real emergency gets the same weary answer as a dripping tap. One on-call number, passed round a rota, with every routine call answered and logged for the morning, is easier to live with.

Anyone who reports a smell of gas should be given the gas emergency number for where they are: 0800 111 999 in Great Britain (National Gas) or 0800 002 001 in Northern Ireland (nidirect).

GOV.UK's guidance on repairs in private rented homes says tenants should contact their landlord straight away about faults that could damage their health, and that landlords are always responsible for repairs to heating and hot water, gas appliances, pipes, flues and ventilation, electrical wiring, sanitary fittings and the structure and exterior. The rules are different in Scotland and Northern Ireland. If you manage those properties for landlords, your out-of-hours cover is where those calls arrive.

Our guide to letting-agent maintenance calls covers sorting urgent from routine repairs, what to take down and how to pass jobs to contractors.

Usually with two things together: one route for tenant emergencies and something that answers everyone else. There are four options to choose from.

Voicemail is the weakest option for an agency, because the callers you most want are the least likely to leave a message. A seller choosing between agents will simply ring the next one. Our estate agent answering service guide compares the options in more depth, and our general guide to out-of-hours call answering covers the same choice for any business.

Yes, into slots you've chosen, once your diary is set up for it. A buyer who books a Saturday viewing at 9pm on Thursday isn't still ringing round on Friday morning.

• Open only the slots you're happy to have booked without checking, such as set viewing blocks on a Saturday.
• Give each negotiator or valuer their own calendar, so bookings land with the right person.
• Keep a current list of which properties are under offer. Before arranging a viewing, you must tell the buyer if an offer has already been accepted subject to contract (TPO Code, 8c).
• For valuations, take the address, the timescale and the seller's reason for moving, and book or call back the next morning.

With call forwarding. You keep your agency number and divert calls after closing time, or whenever nobody answers, to whatever covers them.

• Most business phone systems can divert on a schedule, such as 5.30pm to 9am and from Saturday afternoon to Monday.
• A no-answer divert sends calls on after a few rings, which also covers the hours when the whole office is out on viewings.
• If you run sales and lettings on separate numbers, or more than one branch, set each up separately so callers hear the right name.

Our guide to forwarding business calls walks through the settings. Then test it: ring your own number one evening as a seller, a buyer making an offer and a tenant with no hot water, and listen to each call.