New build flats (only 4 years old), owners charged with £425,000 repairs, no insurance

eddddy

mertywerty said:

We also do feel £425k is excessively expensive, as the original report stated that they did not expect the entire repairs to be more than the excess on the warranty (£104k), and therefore there was no point claiming on the warranty.

... and just to clarify, 'excessively expensive' in this context means something like:

• A different contractor would do the same job more cheaply
• The job could be carried out more cheaply (e.g. Scaffolding on 3 sides instead of 4)
• Cheaper materials could be used (e.g. PVC drainage pipes instead of stainless steel)

The fact that it's 'a lot of money' or 'more expensive than the estimate' isn't really a legitimate basis for challenging the cost.

carefullycautious

Do let us know how you get on with this. I am speechless that you seem to have no redress for buying a flat in a building that was constructed so badly. How could anyone insure against this happening ?

AdrianC

mertywerty said:

We also do feel £425k is excessively expensive, as the original report stated that they did not expect the entire repairs to be more than the excess on the warranty (£104k), and therefore there was no point claiming on the warranty.

I'm not sure how a professional person who did the survey could get the estimated costs out by a factor of 4 times!

Is your "feeling" based on anything more than that a comparison with that initial estimate?

Perhaps the initial estimate was the one that was wrong, and further investigation has revealed more work required?

This is the best value of the three quotes. What were the other quotes? If they were lower, why was this deemed best value?

And if there's £104k of excess on a claim, which would cover the rest of the expenditure, why isn't that route being taken?

NameUnavailable

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

Crashy_Time

NameUnavailable said:

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

Many of these buildings probably struggle to get through a couple of years without defects, some people find defects just after moving in.

AdrianC

NameUnavailable said:

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

They do. It doesn't cover everything...

I've just had a thought. CRL rang a faint bell. Wasn't that the warranty provider whose underwriter went under a few years ago, leaving warranties un-backed and useless?

Yes - it was...
https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/crl-seeks-to-draw-line-under-underwriter-failure

Where did that end up? OP - was Alpha your underwriter?

user1977

NameUnavailable said:

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

Not actually mandatory - almost ubiquitous though. But that doesn't mean they cover everything, or that claims under them are plain sailing.

eddddy

AdrianC said:

NameUnavailable said:

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

They do. It doesn't cover everything...

I've just had a thought. CRL rang a faint bell. Wasn't that the warranty provider whose underwriter went under a few years ago, leaving warranties un-backed and useless?

Yes - it was...
https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/crl-seeks-to-draw-line-under-underwriter-failure

Where did that end up? OP - was Alpha your underwriter?

CRL used 2 underwriters - Alpha and CGICE.

The OP refers to "CRL/CGICE" in their first post - so it seems CGICE is their underwriter.

The OP also mentions that the management company has discussed the issues with the warranty insurers - so it wouldn't be Alpha.


(Going off topic - property owners with Alpha underwritten policies had to pay out big sums of money to buy policies from other insurers, when Alpha went bust.  The OP would probably remember the pain of having to pay out a few grand, if it happened to them - or making the decision not to get insurance.) 

Crashy_Time

This sort of "surprise bill" stuff is going on all over the country, the guy in this article isn`t paying as much as the OP but still it is the last sort of expense he needs at this time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58747051

NameUnavailable

user1977 said:

NameUnavailable said:

I thought new buildings come with a mandatory 10 year warranty against defects?

Not actually mandatory - almost ubiquitous though. But that doesn't mean they cover everything, or that claims under them are plain sailing.

It was kind of a rhetorical question as I have heard/read before that NHBC warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on!

I looked at a new build place last year and there was some unfinished parts of the building and shockingly bad construction - I pointed a few things out to the sales rep who assured me that it would all be done properly before 'sign off' and not to worry as I would have a 10 year g'tee as well!!!