Never-ending EWS1 requirements by Nationwide's valuer

dganlo

Hello,

I would be very grateful if someone can help me with this:

After having several rounds (spanning 2 months) of requirements (regarding the EWS1 clearance) from the lender, i.e. Nationwide, I had managed to get the following required documents from the EWS1 provider:

• EWS1 certificate (a 4 page standard certificate indicating the full address along with postcode and signing authority's details)
• Cover letter (A letter on a headed paper indicating the signing company and architect's details)
  
• Professional Indemnity Certificate
  

The lender's valuer has now reviewed all the documents and have come back with the following response:

‘Whilst the attached indicates that the firm have ‘general’ PI cover it does not confirm that this cover extents to (what is a very specialist field) the appraisal/signing off of EWS 1 ( Option A and B ) by the company. The issue that we have come across for some other firms is that their PI policy may not therefore provide appropriate insurance cover in the event of an issue.

To be clear, we have asked for, and had this confirmed by other firms this information and is a necessary requirement in NBS accepting a Fire Assessment/EWS 1. In practice the PI cover note/documentation has/needs to have a statement from the insurer stating they (the insurers) are aware of, and that the cover they provide covers EWS 1 assessment and sign off. A supplementary letter from the insurers has also for some been forthcoming to confirm this. Until we receive one/both we cannot progress this case.’

Can you please help me with what my next steps should be? 

The problem is that it has been 2 months since I applied for the loan and Nationwide has been asking for these documents one after another rather than telling me all the requirements in one go. Is this normal? This has also made the EWS1 provider frustrated with the endless requests on the requirements coming every week and not as a list and I feel bad to go to the EWS1 provider again. 

Any help will he highly appreciated.

Thanks and Best Regards.

dganlo

Anyone for the help? Please!

[Deleted User]

Not unusual to have it come in drips. Especially if they are not getting documents they expect.  Youd kind of assume an ews1 surveyor would know that their PI has to specifically show cover for this.

Copy and paste the response to whoever you are communicating with.  Get EA involved if communication isnt great

They wont budge until you have the exact thing they want 

MWT

Unfortunately it is a reasonable request.

PI policies usually require full disclosure of the type of work being done and the experience the professionals covered by the policy have in that type of work,and the EWS1 is sufficiently new to need to be declared to the insurer and to be specifically stated as covered.

davidmcn

dganlo said:

Can you please help me with what my next steps should be?

Ask for the confirmation they're wanting from the surveyor's insurers? Or have you already tried that?

K_S

@dganlo What JMA said. The EWS1 provider may get frustrated, but Nationwide isn't going to move until they get the confirmation they need.

I hope I turn out to be wrong but if their PI doesn't specifically cover EWS1 assessment and sign-off, it's likely to be a long haul. It looks like Nationwide have been trying to get this from the EWS1 assessor but have been unsuccesful so far.

dganlo

Thank you @Deleted_User , @MWT , @davidmcn and @K_S. I really appreciate your reply. 

dganlo

Hello All,

I have had further progress on my case, and I managed to give NATIONWIDE - ALL the required documents namely:

1. EWS1 certificate
2. Letter of Providence
3. Professional Indemnity Certificate (Insured by Cavendish Munro) of the EWS1 signing firm.
4. Letter from EWS1 signing firm that their PI insurance specifically covers EWS1 work.
5. Most Importantly, Letter from PI insurance company (Cavendish Munro) stating that they specifically cover EWS1 work carried out for this property by the EWS1 signing firm.


But even after giving them all this paperwork (which took 4 months), they have now REJECTED my application stating the following:

"Our property risk department have reviewed are still not happy to proceed"

NATIONWIDE has by far been the WORST BANK I have seen when it comes to providing specifics of the problem and I wouldn't recommend it to any of the first time home buyers. 

But all I want to ask is if I can complain to the regulators regarding such an unprofessional treatment to the customers. 

I would really appreciate if someone could point me to the right direction of Regulators or Nationwide CEO etc.

Many thanks.

lonibra

That is a shame. I think they are within their rights to do that but this should have been handled way better or declined much earlier as it doesn't look like anything you gave them would satisfy their needs.

Just make a formal complaint and escalate it to the FOS in 8 weeks. In the meantime, try writing to a couple of the consumer champions articles at newspapers like the Guardian, This is money, etc.

csgohan4

Risk appetite constantly changes and some of the blame is on getting on the paperwork in a timely manner as well which is out of NW control. 

You may get a token gesture from NW after complaining, but given cladding is involved, many others are in your position

[Deleted User]

Usually they will say that they cant make a decision until all relevant information has been received.   So they will likely say that the delay's that occurred were down to the incorrect information being supplied.   Unless they initially said they will accept it with the documents and then changed their mind then this just sounds like a fairly standard ews1 case unfortunately.