House builder/insurance run around

Steven0605

Hi all,

We seem to have stumbled into a rather unique dillemma and I guess we are just looking for some advice on whether we should put in the expense and hire a law firm to take this forward.

We bought a house in June 2015. The house was built in December 2012, so it was about 2.5 years old at the time. We immediately took out insurance with Direct Line as they were the best value at the time. A year later we switched to Zurich as they were offering a comparable policy for a better price and have been with them since.

About 9 months after we moved, just as the first winter in our new home was coming to an end, we noticed that there was large black water marks on the front of the house. After a quick inspection by a local tradesman he determined that the roof tiles were incorrectly lined up and that they would need replacing/redoing and the black water marks would need a pressure washer to clean off.

At this point we contacted the builder, Redrow in this case, to inform them of the problem and to see if they would be prepared to fix it. They informed us that they provide cover for the first two years after construction and that we should contact NHBC. NHBC informed us that they consider this to be cosmetic and that they are not willing to cover it, but that we should pursue legal action against Redrow to get it fixed.

At this point we contacted Zurich to make use of the legal cover we pay for, but were informed that we should contact Direct Line as they were the insurer at the time we purchase the property. We then proceeded to contact Direct Line and have been informed that they will not cover the legal action as it is not something they cover as part of the policy.

I guess my question is, is it worth us getting a lawyer to pursue the case against Redrow and cover the expense ourselves, or do we just give up and find a builder that is willing to do the work for us, paying for it out of our own pocket?

I feel like in both cases we end up paying out money for a fix that is not our fault and is in fact because the house was built incorrectly to begin with. Not to mention the amount of money wasted on useless legal cover.

Any advice is appreciated.

thearchitect

I would suggest that your first objective is to determine whether there is a problem with the laying of the (presumably interlocking concrete) roofing tiles, which is not something I've seen before myself, or if it is just a cosmetic issue with run-off. Seek the advice of a local building surveyor or architect.



If they say it is a substantive defect then it I would expect NHBC to cover it, albeit that they have a large tome of rules which need to be worked through before a final conclusion can be drawn.


Incidentally, NHBC does not magically absolve the builder of blame or liability where there is a latent defect.