question about what to do after dodgey house survey?

[jeangenie]

we had a full survey done when we bought our current home. This was done in Nov 2003, we moved in in Feb 2004 so it is all quite a while ago. The survey was positively glowing about the condition of the house so we didn't negotiate price after our offer was accepted.
When we moved in we realised surveyor might as well have done the survey from outside the house and accross the road (in fact thats what we suspect may actually have happened) so many things weren't mentioned. SOme quite minor, some potentially more serious.

Anyway, to (try to) cut a long story short we've been in (sporadic it has to be said) communication with the surveying company who said they had sacked that surveyor shortly after the date our survey was done. The head of the firm came around and agreed the survey wasn't up to scratch and offered a refund. This didn't seem fair to me so I suggested a refund and paying another firm (unbiased) to do another report. After all we bought the bloody house on the strength of this firm's incompetent surveyor's report. Initially he said yes but then we got a letter saying no, they'd refund and do another themselves (so completely biased against showing anything problemmatic) but then another letter came saying refund only and in full and final settlement, which I believe means we would ave no recourse against the surveyors if anything were to emerge with the house that they should have spotted. Again to me this seems outrageously unfair.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to do? Ideally I would like the price of the survey refunded but not in full and final settlement. Do I need to go to the small claims court or something?
anyone know the length of time a survey is "good" for legally anyway?
I suppose I should go to a solicitor but I am loathe to spend more cash on this...although at this stage I will if I have to just for the principle of the thing

How does a refund help you? What you need is the money you could have cut the house price by if the survey had been accurate [probably the cost of major repairs]. The refund is a compete bargain for them and you'd be a fool to take it.

The surveyors will be insured for a case like this.

You need a solicitor who is competent to deal with a claim of this type. You should be able to get a first meeting with them free.

The other thing you could do is look at the RICS website - they are the surveyors' governing body - might be some suggestions there if you are allergic to solicitors.

well, so far (fingers crossed) we haven't had to shell out for major repairs, there has just been lots of minor stuff that we might have bargained the price down with by a grand or two

I want the cots of the survey back because it was £800 and it pisses me off that someone has £800 of mine for nothing. But I want it back and still to have the same legal recourse should anything major go wrong iyswim.

Do you know how long you can claim against a surveyor for?

(I did check with RICS but really all they ensure is that the surveyor has a valid complaints procedure, which means naff all really)

yes, I should just go and get a solicitors advice really shouldn't I

bumping in case someone on "the dayshift" has any thoughts on this

We had a similar issue - unfortunately we did have to do a substantial amount of work in the end (it started off as minor, but actually an important issue was overlooked).

Do contact RICS and make a complaint. They should send someone round to check whether your compalint shoudl be upheld or not. Also do see a solicitor for advice. You shoudl get another survey done and if anything shows up then it is down to how much you have lost out by. Also check your house insurance (the insurance policy you had at the time of the survey, not necessarily your current policy. You may have legal expenses protection.

I would consult a solicitor with a view to suing the surveyors for negligence. You bought the house on the basis of their report and you can claim compensation either for the amount it will cost you to put the faults right or for the amount by which the house is devalued in view of the faults.

Do not accept anything from the surveyor at this stage until you have taken legal advice.

thanks guys, anyone know a good solicitor in SE London then?

All surveyors by law have to have Professional Indemnity insurance, not necessarily individual but the company will have it on behalf of their employees (the surveyors).

PI claims are quite common and there should be a procedure that the company will tell you about. If they don't or won't, then go to the RICS without delay. In the meantime, write a letter explaining that you will be taking things further and that you are not accepting any offers in the meantime until you have taken the appropriate advice.

Hope this helps!

Sorry, I meant to ask - you say you had a "full survey" done - was that a Homebuyers or a Structural? I presume you don't just mean a mortgage valuation?

The other thing to consider is that your lender will be interested in this as well so if you're not getting anywhere with the surveyor firm, you might want to get them involved. Assuming you have borrowed some money of course [grin} apologies if not!

I think it was a homebuyers rather than a structural but I'll need to check, it was about £800

why, do you think that would make a difference?

yes, we should have let the bank know. We have since remortgaged but we must tell the original lender so that they can think about taking this company off their list of recommended surveyors

I hope we haven't left it all too late - its been over 3 years since the survey now [we are such awful procrastinators!]

No I don't think that will make a difference at all. I was just a bit concerned that if it was a mortgage val, sometimes lenders do only ask for a 'drive by' valuation. But certainly with an HBR any surveyor worth their salt should have picked the problems up.

I would get a builder to come and quote on the works that you KNOW need doing, you can always bung that figure in your first letter of complaint. Then as and when a subsequent survey is done, which will happen (or rather SHOULD happen) as part of the complaint process, the builder can adjust his quote depending on what that surveyor finds.

Hope this makes sense! DH is a surveyor so do let me know if you need more advice and I'll try and pick his brains.

Just read your post again, and have seen that it was 3 years ago. That MIGHT make a difference but it would be worth getting some legal advice and asking the company about their complaints procedure etc.

Good luck!

thanks Orlando

we have already had a couple of letter exchanges and met the director of the survey company but I think it is time (well past time actually but I blame having another baby and the mayhem that ensued for the awful delay ) to get legal advice as the compensation they are offering (refund of fee but in full and final settlement) is a joke