Why NHBC may not cover costs of correcting major faults - even if you think it does

Doc_N

Incredibly, and despite what most people believe (as I used to before I read the actual terms of the NHBC warranty), it seems that NHBC don't have any legal liability to correct building faults at all between years 3 and 10. Their only liability is to put right any damage caused by the fault. As it says in the Warranty: "We will take responsibility for having the work done to put right the physical damage to your home, if the cost to us is above the minimum claim value."

Now putting right the physical damage caused by a building fault is entirely different from (and a great deal cheaper in most cases) than putting right the fault itself - particularly as it's only major faults that are covered anyway after the second year.

I've had personal experience of claiming and I was stunned to find how limited the cover actually is for major building faults - they'll put right the damage caused by the fault but not necessarily the fault itself. And it's the fault that's likely to be the expensive part.

Anybody else had this argument with them?



Extract from warranty document below:



Section 3 - Insurance after the builder warranty period

When this section applies

This section applies if there is physical damage to your home because the builder failed to build the following parts of your home to comply with the NHBC requirements:

Foundations, walls, external cladding, curtain walling, external render and external vertical tile hanging, roofs, ceilings, balconies, load-bearing parts of the floors, flues, chimneys and access steps, to the main structure.

Staircases, floor decking and screeds, to the inside of the main structure, if they fail to support normal loads.

Retaining walls, if they are necessary for the structural stability of the main structure.

Double- or triple-glazing panes to outside windows and outside doors, to the main structure, if newly installed at the completion date.

Below-ground drainage for which you are responsible.

When you can claim

You can only claim under this section during the 8 years after the builder warranty period.

Contact us and tell us if you think there is physical damage to your home.

What we will do

We will take responsibility for having the work done to put right the physical damage to your home, if the cost to us is above the minimum claim value.

Alternatively, if we choose to, we will pay you what it would cost us to have the work done if it is above the minimum claim value.

We will also pay for the reasonable cost to us of removal and storage of your possessions and alternative accommodation, if that is necessary while this work is being done.

MissKitty

I recently had dealings with NHBC over my property, it is only just 6years old and some cladding panels attached to the back of the house came off in some windy weather.

Home insurance came to inspect, said it was poor workmanship, so I got NHBC involved. At first they wouldn't come out, they said the repair work would cost less to fix than the minimum amount on the policy. I challenged them and asked how they could know the cost of repair when they hadn't even visited my property. They then agreed to come and inspect.

The NHBC inspection report stated the panels had been fitted incorrectly by the developer (job sub contracted out) but as the panels were there to make the house look nice (decorative) and not part of the structure they refused to repair.

I did my research and challenged the developer and with a bit of pushing I managed to get them to repair it. Once you go past year 2 it can be hard to get the developer to take action. It all made me question what cover I actually have in years 2 to 10 with NHBC if things go wrong.

eddddy

Doc_N wrote: »

...
- they'll put right the damage caused by the fault but not necessarily the fault itself. And it's the fault that's likely to be the expensive part.
...

Hi Doc N

So in your case, are you saying that NHBC are agreeing that there was a fault in the construction, and they are agreeing that the fault may cause further damage in the future - but they still wont correct the fault?

If so, that's worrying. What type of fault is it?

Doc_N

eddddy wrote: »

Hi Doc N

So in your case, are you saying that NHBC are agreeing that there was a fault in the construction, and they are agreeing that the fault may cause further damage in the future - but they still wont correct the fault?

If so, that's worrying. What type of fault is it?

It is worrying, as you say. In my particular case NHBC accepted (after a great deal of argument) that the roof was faulty, and that as a result it was leaking. The cost of putting the roof right was very substantial, but the cost of repairing damage caused by the leaks was small by comparison - at least in the short term.

We were coming to the end of the 10 year warranty period, and the NHBC line was that they would deal with the damage caused by the leaks - but not the roof itself, which was causing the leaks. After year 10, of course, there would be no liability even for the damage caused by the leaks, so not repairing the roof would have saved NHBC a great deal of money.

Only the threat of publicity persuaded NHBC to make a payment towards the cost of putting the roof right, and even then they refused to pay the full cost. I accepted the lower amount simply because the wording of the warranty meant that I would not win if I took the case to court.

I had naively assumed that NHBC bore responsibility for putting right any faults listed in their years 2 -10 cover. I think most people assume the same. Unfortunately, it is simply not the case.