Who can I Sue!

Hintza

Have you ever smoked?

I might have COPD all I do know is that we are trying to getting planning permission to rebuild our damp (very mouldy house) but I also smoked. I sometimes joke I'm allergic to the missus it could even be that.

All I do know is that I had to give up smoking 2 months ago when I had the fag in one hand and the inhaler in the other, I knew it was time to get a grip. I have probably knocked 10 years off my life but !!!!!! happens.

advent1122

I didn't even know you could get vents in windows.
When it gets stuffy or condensation forms I usually open the window. My bathroom window is permanently open.

mountainofdebt

To be honest OP I think you're better off asking a solicitor this question but added with the addage, if anyone, rather than us......a bunch of well meaning amateurs.

I don't see how you can sue the window manufacturers as they made a product (regardless of whether it conformed to any standards or not) which may not have not been suitable for the way it was used.

On what basis are the windows being replaced now - and whose insurers are Zurich?

WASHER

Billnorthumberland wrote: »

We bought a new bungalow 3 years ago from a developer who employed a local builder, the builder went bust last year with £100k of county court judgements against him. At that time I developed breathing difficulties and now have COPD, this was due to mould that was caused by insufficient ventilation from the vents in the windows. The windows have been surveyed and Zurich are now going to have them all changed. The developer doesn't have third party liability insurance so can I sue the window manufacturer as he manufactured faulty goods, even though he sold them to a builder who has gone bust. When we purchased our new home the conveyancing solicitor didn't check to see if the was a local authority completion/habitation certificate, which we later found out that ours is the only home on the development without one; can we sue this solictor under his third party liability or professional indeminty insurance.

My health has suffered through no fault of my own and I need to seek compensation from someone.

All advice gratefully received.

Bill

I don't think you will be able to sue anyone.

Trickle vents etc are a fairly recent building regulation addition, how an earth do you think people managed before they came in, people opened the windows.

I also doubt very much in 3 years, you have so much damage to your health as a result of the windows/lack of ventilation, maybe other factors haven't helped.

Personally, I would forget about taking this matter further and enjoy your life.

WASHER

mountainofdebt wrote: »

Zurich?

Don't Zurich offer the 10 warranty on new builds as well as the NHBC? (I believe they are pulling out of the home warranty in the very near future, I read that somewhere on the BBC website).

neilmcl

It's also likely that at the time the bungalow was built the building regulations were less strict with regards to window ventilation, I believe they came into affect from Oct 2006, so neither the builder nor window manufacturer will be liable.

Photo_Stylus

Can you prove the builder did or did not specify the window specifications?

sarahg1969

OP, why don't you make an appointment with a local solicitor, who can advise you if it's worth pursuing a case, and who you would pursue it against? No one on here can really help.

Do be warned, however, that you will need to stump up the cost of a medical report in the first instance, especially in a case where it's not at all cut and dried.

Freddie_Snowbits

COPD main cause is cigarette smokling. Did the windows smoke Bill?

What are the causes of COPD?

The main cause of COPD is cigarette smoking. But exposure to dusts in the workplace can also cause COPD, even in people who don't smoke.
Do you know that thousands of British coalminers recently received compensation for COPD?
But COPD is not just a problem for coalminers, breathing in too much fume and/or dusts in the workplace could put you at risk of developing COPD.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/copd/aboutus.htm