I am so angry as I have just asked a local estate agent if i find a buyer privately, ie they do not introduce the buyer i did not have to pay their comission so long as my contract was "sole Agents" they tried to tell me that i would have to until i told them i had checked with the office of fair trading who state that if you find your buyer yourself you do not have to pay ! they then backed down and said yes that is right, but bet you dont get a good price!!! how dare they, i did this as a matter of research for some one i know, so please EVERYONE know your rights when dealing with your estate agent.

Thanks for posting.

There is normally a charge though to cover their costs etc. It will be in the contract.
Did you have to pay this?

Also bear in mind that you will now have to handle the transaction. Estate agents (good ones anyway) engage in a lot of behind the scenes work such as contacing all parties to the contract,chasing up exchange dates etc. You will now be responsible for all of this work as you no longer have a contract with the estate agent.