I Am Feeling Really Sick At The Moment.

iolanthe07

GuidoT wrote: »

You should notify the surveying firm that did the survey in writing, so that they can notify their insurers.

I presume they were chartered so it is mandatory for them to carry professional indemnity insurers.

If your home insurers avoid, then you have this option open to you.

The success of this approach will largely depend on what level of survey the OP had when the house was purchased.

loveandlight

Right. I have checked my insurance cover and it says it excludes damage caused by or consisting of corrosion, gradual deterioration, rust, latent defect, wear and tear so does this mean that if the wall ties have corroded and caused the bulging of the gable end wall then I won't be able to get the insurance company to pay out to fix it?

In which case I will have to write to the surveyor at the time and claim the money off him instead?

pixiepie99

Wall ties are used to deal with bulging gable walls - your house won't have them at the moment. You need to ring your insurance company ASAP to check you're covered but there's nothing in that list that suggests you won't be.

Milliewilly

iolanthe07 wrote: »

The success of this approach will largely depend on what level of survey the OP had when the house was purchased.

TOTALLY wrong.

This mirrors my case almost exactly - I had only had a valuation survey. Serious structural faults should be picked up. I took my Surveyor to court and won. OP Message me for advice. I speak from experience.

stokesley

Milliewilly is correct - see this case: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12850979/Smith-v-Eric-S-Bush

Having said that, I imagine it was a nightmare...

Milliewilly

Thanks it cost me a £500/ hour Barrister to find out about the Harris case as a precedent. The wonders of the internet....

stokesley

Wondrous indeed.

The judgement did include some provisos: one was that it was a fairly modest house, and the same ruling may not apply to a more substantial property, or a commercial property. It also took into account the fact that the plaintiff could not afford a full survey, plus that the financial implications on him/her would be considerably greater for him/her than it would for the surveyor's public indemnity insurer.

No charge!

GuidoT

loveandlight wrote: »

Right. I have checked my insurance cover and it says it excludes damage caused by or consisting of corrosion, gradual deterioration, rust, latent defect, wear and tear so does this mean that if the wall ties have corroded and caused the bulging of the gable end wall then I won't be able to get the insurance company to pay out to fix it?

In which case I will have to write to the surveyor at the time and claim the money off him instead?

Not instead yet.

If you current insurers do not avoid then obviously carry on with them.

To go after your surveyor will probably prove to be more difficult, as you will need to go some way to prove negligence, loss etc. Just notify them for now.

If you insurers do not avoid and consider the surveyors are negligent it is up to them to claim to claim against the surveyors PII using subrogation rights.

loveandlight

Thanks for your offer of support Milliewilly. Yes it does seem like I am going through what you went through. I just don't see how the surveyor could have missed these problems. I am having a taste now of what it must have been like for you. It has really affected me a lot and I just feel so isolated. I will send you a pm in the next day or two once I feel a bit better in myself. I really appreciate all the other replies as well. Thank you.

ILW

Was it a full survey?