Dodgy homebuyer survey by Alliance & Leicester

chrisevo

Hi Everyone,

5 years ago we bought a house and used Alliance and Leicester for our Mortgage. Part of the deal was that they would use a RICS ( Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) Surveyor to perform the full survey of the house. the survey came back noticing a few cracks in plaster but nothing serious.

Fast forward 5 years and the double glazing bay windows to the side and front of the house have misted up and a lot of moisture is inside making them look terrible especially when the sun shines through. So we decide to get a quote for some new windows, the window company send around their surveyor who takes one look at the front of the house and says there is a big problem with the front bay windows, the current ones were ill fitted and not strong enough to support the brick work between the top and bottom floor windows. The top window has been pushing the brick work it is sitting on AWAY from the house but about 30mm. the reason why we never noticed is the previous owners had filled in the gap and painted it the same colour as the brickwork.

We contacted RICS who have said the surveyors are not or have ever been associated with them, which leads us to believe A&L have used a dodgy surveyor company claiming to be RICS approved.

SO....As house insurance will not cover us as this was present pre policy, what kind of chance do we have going after A&L?

We are now panicking and have put off the new window work as we need a proper survey done to find if there is in fact anything wrong with the property.

missjy

Have you contacted A&L?
I assumed all banks used surveyors that were RICS accredited - if they don't then that's awful.

ess0two

Would a RICS surveyor have noticed the repair work? what sort of survey did you have?

chrisevo

yeah we have contacted them, but have only had a letter saying thay have acknowledged our contact.

We have all the original paperwork stating they were RICS surveyors.


RICS have said if we can prove they used the RICS logo when they shouldn't have then they will also investigate.

chrisevo

ess0two wrote: »

Would a RICS surveyor have noticed the repair work? what sort of survey did you have?

we had a Homebuyer Survey and Valuation, and i would hope so as the surveyor who came to check the windows spotted it a mile off.

pararct

You of course need to establish that the movement isn't progressive!! If it is then you will need to address it probably by dropping an RSJ above the window for support. A competent builder (see if you can get a recommendation from family or friends) should be able to tell you if it is likely to be a problem. Even if it is, it shouldn't be too big a job!!

The problem with your windows misting up means the sealed glass panels have failed....
It is only usually necessary to change the panels not the whole window frames!! Get a few more window quotes in, see if they notice the fault and if they do ask them if they can just change the panels!! If they cannot then it would probably be easier to get a builder to rectify the work and refit this window frame/panels.

JQ.

Rather than using the name of the firm try contacting the RICS again, but with the name of actual surveyor who completed your report.

jimjames

The Homebuyer report isn't a full structural survey so it is possible that even if the surveyor was a RICS member that you may not be covered. As you say the previous owners had covered it up to blend in then it unlikely that it would have been visible to a surveyor.

Misting of double glazing 5 years plus afterwards isn't something that would be covered anyway but may be covered by a double glazing guarantee if it is under 10 years old.