House Cracking - NHBC Claim

debbieaiken

HELP!! our house is approx 7 yrs old, has cracks int and ext, floor tiles, wall tiles, ceiling, coving, floors slope, conservatory slopes, rainwater flows wrong way along guttering, doors dont latch/shut/lock and windows have moved (some broken where we have had to slam shut!!)TO NAME A FEW!! advised nhbc in april 2003, had claim accepted june 2006 - IS THIS AN ACCEPTABLE TIMESCALE? they hardly ever answer phone calls or letters, we are constantly having to chase them. NHBC have told us house will be put right by piling and "jacking up", contractor has told us it cant be put 100% right, they can just pile/under pin to stop problem getting worse. NHBC will move us out and rehome us (a task in itself with 3 small children!!) they will decorate after, but all fixtures and carpets removed will be stored and re-installed - they said we should be grateful for this!! . Conservatory will be "worked around" or removed and not replaced - this has only moved since the house has moved!! To top it all our house insurance is due for renewal and we have to tell them as they have clauses in it that states the house is in good repair - i rang another insurance company and they have told me they will not cover us at all until the work is done - he ran claim through as if work HAD been done and it was still declined - this was a major company!!! ANY HELP OR ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS WE ARE AT OUR WITS END WITH THIS!! THANKYOU X

Mr_Grumpy_7

I know it sounds rather extreme but I think the house should be rebuilt. Lets face it, having it underpinned is not going to fix the damage, it will just stop things getting worse. The value of the house will be much less due to the subsidance, it will be more expensive to insure and also difficult to sell. If the house is going to be rebuilt then you should certainly be compensated. As for the NHBC, they are nothing more than an insurance company, and we all know the lengths and insurance company will go to to avoid paying out.
All I can say is good luck.
Who was the builder?

debbieaiken

thanks for your reply. We are of the same opinion, but its going to be hard to get that i think, if not impossible. The Builder was Swallow Homes (previously Allison Homes who are now part of The Kier Group). None of their representatives have been interested as the liability now passes to the NHBC. Think we are going to have to go legal on this one? Have been to CAB and thats what they recommend too.

silvercar

if the house is underpinned properly it will be more stable than any house around. make sure they guarantee their work. Whatever they do should stop further movement, they then repair cracks and uneveness that have occured and you should be left with a decent home.

I don't see why they should not replace your conservatory; it may be that they can get to the house foundations without moving it. If they do remove it someone should replace it. If not the NHBC contractors (as it presumably isn't under their guarantee then your home insurers.

Your house insurance is a problem that you will have to live with. It is industry standard for your existing insurer to continue to offer you cover, whereas new insurers won't want to know.

draeme

Hi There,
Best thing to do is to get your own report from a structural engineer. The engineers report should try and establish the cause of the problem and the correct resolution. The NHBC will attempt to carry out the very minimum of work required to see them through the 10 year warranty period. They should, however, fix it properly.

I would recommend the following actions:-
a) obtain structural engineers report (specific structural inspection) detailing:-
- cause of problem – list of defects
- physical damage caused by the defects
- NHBC standards breached
- recommend work to resolve
It would be useful if your engineer could also confirm the following:-
- the section of NHBC buildmark warranty which covers the defects/damage
- that none of the general exclusions detailed in the warranty apply.

b) get a quote for the work recommended by your engineer
c) submit your engineers report and the quote against your NHBC claim.
d) If NHBC do not extend the amount of work to meet your engineers recommendations invoke their complaints procedure.
e) Continue to escalate via the complaints procedure. The complaints procedure is :-
- write to claims manager at NHBC – recommended
- write to general manager at NHBC – recommended
- write to Financial ombudsman – bypass this step as this will be very time consuming and not very fruitful!
- arbitration OR legal action (if you opt for arbitration you cannot raise legal proceedings)

If the response from the claims manager is not good (expect it to be rubbish) then you should escalate to the general manager. At the same time you should get you solicitor to submit a notice of intent to take legal action.
Personally I have been in dispute with the NHBC for 3 years and they have consistently refused to do anything until the complaint and notice of legal action was sent to the General Manager at NHBC.

Note: you should not go legal without exhausting the NHBC complaints procedure. The court will then see that you have taken all reasonable steps to allow the NHBC to comply.

One other thing you could submit to the general manager is a mortgage valuation:-
Try to re-mortgage your property. When the mortgage company’s appointed surveyor looks round you are obliged to make him aware of the problems. He will most probably provide a valuation which is substantially below the market value of your property. Your mortgage applicaton may even be rejected.
This reduction in market value and the quote for the works outstanding will be the basis of your financial loss to be recovered in court.

If you carry out the above then either:-
a) NHBC will comply or
b) you will be in strong position to recover you loss in court

You should also note that you have to raise legal proceedings within 5 years of being "aware" of a problem. After this you are time barred.
If this drags out and approaches 5 years then your solicitor can issue a writ which can be frozen in order to protect your legal position.