Do I have grounds to proceed to the ombudsman regarding my survey/surveyor?

Missy79

Hi All,
Am having a tough time attempting to buy a house! I noticed some potentially concerning cracks in a property so commissioned a level 3 survey. All fine and dandy, survey happens, takes the max time they give to get the report but one shows up.

Age of the property off by 20 years (report lists as 1980s , it's actually 1960s), doesn't have the overall opinion filled in, doesn't have any further investigations filled in. Plenty of photo's, including the cracks, no opinion given as to cause, speculate possibly historical. Fast-forward to the end, section J risks, J1 standard copy/pasted text only, J2 some copy/pasted text and the wording "We saw no evidence of movement in this property". Visit over the weekend to look at cracks, find another one he missed and cracking between the original house and extension on both sides, also missed.

So, I email the surveyor to ask for a chat. No response so I email the company. Next day the guy in charge emails and says call him between 7 and 9pm, I email my concerns as he didn't actually do the survey. Get through eventually and have a lengthy conversation. He hasn't seen the e-mail so I explain the issues of it seeming a bit contradictory and sections missing. He decides from looking at the photos that it clearly has structural issues due to the slope behind, plants (hmmm, roses quite a way away but ok), lack of retaining walls blah blah. Offers £50 goodwill gesture and to amend the report and send it to me within the hour. I say hmmm, not sure I'm comfortable with half a report that had major errors by someone who did see it and half a report made up from photo's by someone who hasn't visited that changes it from "property probably ok" to "major movement", he offers to speak to the surveyor then amend and send the next day. The amended report then appears within half an hour. 1 sentence has been added to the opinion box, recommendations to get further investigations by structural engineer etc. Major movement has now been added to the risks section. But, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point, additional text has also been added that now states the house suffers from rising damp due to faulty DPC! (comments throughout say low damp readings)

Clearly I can't trust anything in the report and will have to start over but do I have grounds to try and get a full refund? Is it worth pursuing it via the ombudsman?

ETA: He's genuinely just deleted the wording added "in error" about damp after I pointed it out and requested a refund, and he's sent through version 3 now!

[Deleted User]

Can you go through your posts and check them for typo's? They are a bit difficult to understand which is remarkable given you are complaining about your surveyor (that does seem clear).

blue_max_3

Sounds like you may be better writing it yourself! I'm pretty cynical about reports myself, but this seems a shambles. I'd send him a message saying you have lost all faith in the report and the company and request a full refund before considering your options. Hopefully they will accept this falls well below acceptable standards.

AdrianC

Let's step back a bit.

You think this property's got structural issues.

OK, so walk away and buy a different one. Use a different surveyor next time.

eddddy

How did you find the surveyor? Is the surveyor a member of the RICS and/or is the company RICS accredited?

It sounds like the report you have is pretty useless. So I guess you need to decide whether to instruct another surveyor.

As for getting your fee back, I guess a starting point is to follow the company's complaints procedure.  You mention an ombudsman, is the company a member of an ombudsman scheme? Even if they are members, you'd almost certainly have to follow their internal complaints procedure first.

AnotherJoe

Demand a refund on the survey.
walk away from the house. 

macman

The Property Ombudsman will not entertain any claims until you have been through the surveyor's own official complaints procedure, then either waited 8 weeks without resolution, or received a deadlock letter. 
From what I can tell, no complaint has yet been raised by the OP.

Missy79

Thanks for the replies, apologies if the situation seems a bit confusing (but I can't see any typo's), it has generally been a shambles.

TLDR version: Level 3 building survey, the surveyor didn't complete all sections of their own form, made factual errors and the bits they did complete were brief and contradictory. Most importantly they included the wording "we saw no evidence of structural movement at this property". Queried the gaps with the company owner as unable to get hold of the surveyor. Company owner decides it does have serious structural movement from the photographs so amends survey saying so. In doing so also adds wording to the effect that the property has rising damp, it does not. Amends the survey again when I point this out and sends me a third version.

I have requested a full refund, he has refused. I have asked that they treat this as a complaint as per their procedures and will follow up based on those procedures. They are RICS regulated, I checked and the actual surveyor is registered. I found them online as I couldn't get any personal recommendations, but they seemed to have mostly positive reviews in multiple locations.

My query was: is it reasonable to expect a full refund in these circumstances? If they refuse is it worth the hassle of taking this further, does anybody have any success stories if they have done so?

greatcrested

Yes I'd demand a full refund as part of your complaint. If you get it, fine. If not, then escalate.

Meanwhile that property is not for you.