Misrepresentation on Property Form

secretsquirrel1078

Hi all,
I have just moved into a house that I have recently purchased where a number of works have been carried out on the property.

One of the extensions on the property did not have planning permission and so an indemnity policy was purchased by the vendors. On the property form the vendors stated that no electrical work or modifications were carried out after 2005 as they indicated the extension was done in 1999.

I had a electrician come in today who has indicated that the electrics in the extension are not up to code and someone has butchered the electrical box and has found evidence that electrical work was carried out after 2005 as there is a mixture of old and new wires.

So my question is the seller says no electrical work was done after 2005 so wouldn't have had to obtained a part p electrical certificate.
If the seller did not specify electrical work was done and it clearly has are they liable for some of the costs to put this right.

thanks

davidmcn

Did the seller carry out the electrical work in question?

secretsquirrel1078

Yes this was done by the seller. I have not done any work on the property yet. I had an electrical inspection done this morning NICEIC and there were a number of issues raised. The electrician said there was clear evidence that some of this was definitely done after 2005

hazyjo

Have they had a new kitchen or anything like that put in which might have needed some electrical work which they'd not realised needed mentioning?

secretsquirrel1078

The extension did contain a kitchen. But the electrician said they wired the lights to the plug sockets. There was a. Mixture of old and new wiring. A cooker and shower was new wiring to the electrical box

eddddy

If you want, you could ask your solicitor to send a letter to the seller's solicitor saying something like:

"The seller stated on the Seller's Property Information Form that no electrical installation work had been carried out since 2005. On that basis, I did not arrange any electrical inspection or survey prior to purchasing the property.

However, I now have an NICEIC inspection report which confirms that electrical installation work has been carried out since 2005; and that the quality of the work is poor; and the work does not meet the relevant standards; and it may not have been carried out by a qualified, competent person.

I look forward to receiving the seller's explanation for this, or alternatively, the seller's agreement to pay £x to cover the cost of rectifying the electrical installation."

Your solicitor might charge you for sending the letter, or might agree to do it as part of the conveyancing instruction.

Or you could just let it go.

phill99

Well it's up to you t prove it. Good luck with that.

Alter_ego

The time for your inspection to be carried out was before exchange. It's tooo late now.
Does you indemnity policy cover it?

secretsquirrel1078

Thanks for all your replies much appreciated.

The indemnity covers if I get an enforcement notice. It doesn't cover dodgy work.

You are right the exchange has gone and it should have been up to me to get a. Report before exchange.

But the seller did state on the form that no electrical work was carried out after 2005.

I will contact the solicitors and see what they say.

Many thanks

davidmcn

Alter_ego wrote: »

Does you indemnity policy cover it?

Almost certainly not, it will cover the unlikely scenario of any work being required by the statutory authorities due to lack of consents, not the OP choosing to upgrade their electrics.

The OP may also wish to consider how impartial the electrician is likely to be in recommending that you instruct him to carry out more work than you intended.

fezster

Edddy above is correct. Had the seller been truthful about the electrical work carried out, you MAY have carried out an independent survey of the work. By lying on the SPIF, they have opened themselves up to litigation.

With regards to proving it, this would seem to be very easily done in your case, as the wiring changed colours. I think the seller would have a hard time arguing otherwise.

You should speak to a solicitor in the first instance and then have a think about whether the time, cost and aggravation are worth it - i.e. what do you hope to achieve as an outcome.