Nhbc v house insurance

ANGELAMCD

Hi all,

wondering if anyone can advise us. We own a house still covered by NHBC (about 5 years left) and have recently discovered a leak in the roof which is damaging our soon to be nursery ceiling/wall. We have had a roofer out who says it is likely a builders fault having seen the same thing in a neighbours house. However this will be sorted hopefully tomorrow when he will investigate and put it right. I have been in touch with our insurance company who say if it is builders fault then obviously NHBC should pay out for it and we wouldn't need to make a claim through them. Roofer is happy to write report on whatever the problem is and whether it is builders fault or general storm damage. Straight forward and fair enough so far!
Our problem is if it is builders fault and the cost of the repair is under the NHBCs minimum claim amount of £1300 ish (can't remember exact figure) then they won't pay out! I then wonder whether our insurance company will pay out seeing as it should be NHBCs responsibility?!
If it is storm damage then it isn't going to be a problem - hopefully! But if it is the builders fault then why should we have to foot the bill just because the damage costs less then their minimum to repair (which is likely to be slightly less according to roofer). And whats the point of having NHBC and insurance if neither will take responsibility frankly?! :mad:
Does anybody know if the insurance company would refuse to pay out in this scenario, or if there is another way of getting redress for this?

Many thanks for reading and any advice given,

Angela

muckybutt

Same as all insurances there will be an excess, in NHBC the excess sounds like it's 1300 quid.

If that's the case then either you foot the bill or your insurers will but you will be penalised for making a claim.

Furts

Carefully check the clauses attached to your NHBC Policy. These vary according to when the policy was issued. I would not be surprised if you have to pay to refer your claim to NHBC - typically this was £500 a few years ago. Further, the policy will only cover certain categories of structural damage.

The bottom line is the NHBC Policy is almost worthless. It is issued to give confidence in buying a new home. It is deliberately worded so that a succesful claim is a rarity.

Hope this helps.

bob_a_builder

Remember NHBC is a club for builders to protect builders not buyers !

jcb208

As long as the builder is still in business the NHBC will chase them to sort any problems out .I would of thought a leaking roof would be covered

yangptangkipperbang

bob_a_builder wrote: »

Remember NHBC is a club for builders to protect builders not buyers !

NHBC guarantee = chocolate tea pot !

marlot

Like all things, you don't have the claim on the warranty. If the builder is still in business and it was faulty workmanship you could claim from the builder - using small claims if necessary.

But ... after this time, the burden of proof is on you.

ANGELAMCD

Hi thankyou for all the responses. Just thought I would put on an update for if anyone in same boat (or just wondering!). I put a claim into my insurance company and basically they said I needed to go to NHBC as it was clearly the fault of the original builder of the house (this was confirmed when the work was carried out by our roofer). I advised I had tried this but they have a minimum claim of £1,350 and the work cost £560. They were actually quite helpful and apologetic and advised I contact the small claims court. This is also what NHBC said I should do - apparently it is not their job to take up cases like this for redress, they just provide the cash (but only if its over the minimum amount of course!)
I remembered I have legal cover with our insurance broker so called them and they advised me to call the builder in the first instance and advise them I will take to small claims court if required. If no joy he advised I call them back and they will assist me with this claim.
I will update when I have got a bit further on this. Fingers crossed!

ANGELAMCD

Sorry for the delay on the update but I had a baby and have had no time since! Anyway we got nowhere with this despite taking legal advice and lots of discussion and written correspondence back and forth.
The gist of the outcome was that Lovell's said that I should have called them direct so they were given the chance to check out the issue and put it right which they couldn't do as it was fixed urgently. I pointed out they didn't want to know when I called about other problems outside of the 2 year builders warranty so I didn't bother. Also that NHBC gave me wrong advice but they still stand by their decision.
So anyone in a similar position, make sure you call the builder as well as NHBC even if its over the 2 years usually given so they won't be able to wriggle out of any responsibility (well...at least in that way anyway!)

Cheers

Furts

ANGELAMCD wrote: »

Sorry for the delay on the update but I had a baby and have had no time since! Anyway we got nowhere with this despite taking legal advice and lots of discussion and written correspondence back and forth.
The gist of the outcome was that Lovell's said that I should have called them direct so they were given the chance to check out the issue and put it right which they couldn't do as it was fixed urgently. I pointed out they didn't want to know when I called about other problems outside of the 2 year builders warranty so I didn't bother. Also that NHBC gave me wrong advice but they still stand by their decision.
So anyone in a similar position, make sure you call the builder as well as NHBC even if its over the 2 years usually given so they won't be able to wriggle out of any responsibility (well...at least in that way anyway!)

Cheers

Thank you for being consumer friendly and supplying everybody with an update.

NHBC are a secretive, smoke and mirrors organisation. It is difficult for anybody to pursue a claim against NHBC because they are forever moving the goalposts and procedures. This has been their method of operating for generations. It serves them well because it minimises their payout. This procedure has frustrated consumers for generations and continues to do so, as you have found out.

You may say I am being cynical but the response you received from NHBC was intended to be vague, misleading, or innaccurate in order to protect NHBC's interests and in order to protect the builder.

To counter such situations the consumer must have knowledge. This is the scenario that the NHBC are hell bent to prevent. Indeed within NHBC there is an internal document identifying all the deliberate flaws with their policies and how these flaws can be used to trip up consumers and stifle legitimate claims. This statement is not an off hand exaggeration because I know the title and I know the author!

In your case it would appear that you had a legitimate concern based on the concept of a Latent Defect. I doubt that this mechanism was fully explained to you. If I am correct with this intuition then the NHBC has successfully undertaken its role which is to protect the builder.

Remember that NHBC's role is not to help you as you have found out to your expense. You have paid out for repairs leaving both the builder and NHBC feeling smug and scoring yet another victory against the consumer.

Sb_0137

Hi, I am having a similar issue with my house builder having past the 2 year warranty period. They say to contact NHBC but the damage value is lower than the NHBC minimum claim value. Did you have to go to the small claims court? Many thanks.