Seller Lied On Property Information Form

tigertrio

Hello,

I have purchased a house and the previous owner made a claim for an escape of water, yet failed to mention this on the property information form.

Some of the carpets / skirting is damaged. It seems like they didnt fix the issues after the claim.

We did not realise when we looked around the property and we did not do a survey.

Do we have any recourse as they lied on the property information form?

housebuyer143

tigertrio said:

Hello,

I have purchased a house and the previous owner made a claim for an escape of water, yet failed to mention this on the property information form.

Some of the carpets / skirting is damaged. It seems like they didnt fix the issues after the claim.

We did not realise when we looked around the property and we did not do a survey.

Do we have any recourse as they lied on the property information form?

How do you know they lied? Could it have happened after exchange? 
How bad is it? I imagine your recourse is to sue them... It's probably cheaper to replace the carpets and skirtings? 

Tiglet2

tigertrio said:

Hello,

I have purchased a house and the previous owner made a claim for an escape of water, yet failed to mention this on the property information form.

Some of the carpets / skirting is damaged. It seems like they didnt fix the issues after the claim.

We did not realise when we looked around the property and we did not do a survey.

Do we have any recourse as they lied on the property information form?

It was probably wrong not to mention this on the PIF, but as conveyancing solicitors are not litigation solicitors, you would need to engage the services of a litigation solicitor to fight the sellers for compensation.  Alternatively, the small claims court.

However, you did not have a survey, so perhaps you should accept some responsibility for something a survey may have revealed. 

So, you need to decide whether any recourse you feel you are entitled to is worth paying for a litigation solicitor or small claims court for.  How much would it be to replace the carpet and/or skirting board?

eddddy

tigertrio said:

I have purchased a house and the previous owner made a claim for an escape of water, yet failed to mention this on the property information form.

Some of the carpets / skirting is damaged. It seems like they didnt fix the issues after the claim.

Presumably, you're saying that the seller answered "no" to "Has the seller made any buildings insurance claims?".

How have you found out that they made a buildings insurance claim?

It seems a bit strange, because:

• If the skirting was damaged, it would normally have been fixed as part of the buildings insurance claim.

• And most people have buildings and contents insurance on the same policy - so they'd include the carpet in the claim as well. (Unless they had no contents cover, or there was a large second excess for contents.)

jonnydeppiwish!

Are you are you sure it was the previous owner that had a leak, rather than one before that?
You didn’t have a survey? Caveat Emptor may come in to it as well.
But let’s 

Noneforit999

How do you know they made a claim for it?

If it was a small amount of damage, it may have been cheaper to fix it themselves considering the excess and increase in premiums. I certainly wouldn't claim on my house insurance for a new carpet and few bits of skirting. 

What makes you think they didn't fix it either?

If they did lie on the form and you can prove this, i.e. you have paperwork showing their was a claim made prior to exchange then yes, you may be able to claim against them but how much damage are we talking here?

Its probably a lesson learned here for you that a survey can be important. In reality you have to shoulder some of the blame here as buying a house is often caveat emptor so you as a buyer have a responsibility to do your due diligence prior to exchange. 

For me it would depend on the extent of the damage. If its a new carpet in one room and a bit of skirting, just get it done and move on but if the water escape has caused lots of damage that is likely to cost thousands, I would be looking to go after them assuming I could prove (with paperwork) they knowingly lied about it. 

user1977

And if it was a significant amount of damage, surely it wouldn't have taken a surveyor to spot it?