£20k of unexpected payments in 9 months... feel like I'm going under

[badmoneyluck]

New username as I feel so ashamed to be in this position.

I've had 9 months of back luck after bad luck which has completely depleted my finances. I was always known as being such a good responsible saver with loads of savings but I've had £20k of unexpected costs so far this year and I'm now absolutely ruined. I'm not on a high wage, about £35k per year before tax, and self-employed so no protection.

Maybe it's my fault somehow but it all feels like bad luck and bad timing.

I bought my first home just under 2 years ago. I had done so much saving I was in a position to be a cash buyer (I put in 50% of costs and a family member loaned me the other 50% which I am paying back monthly). I got the L3 survey like you're supposed to and it picked up nothing significant. I kept £20k back to ensure I had some savings and a bit of money to do cosmetic changes.

Then in January I had to get a new boiler as mine completely broke (approx £2k).. then even, worse water started coming through in almost every room in the house and it turned out the roof had been badly constructed but the surveyor hadn't picked it up. A whole new roof is needed and because of the attic conversion, which makes it more expensive, it's going to be £15k.

I've already been having constant sleepless nights about how to cover the cost. The work needs to be done asap because it's causing more and more damage internally. Then today I've had a sudden dental issue which is also going to cost £500+ The unexpected costs just keep coming. My anxiety around what costs are coming next is unbearable.

Much of the original £20k savings is gone because I spent some on the new kitchen before the boiler and roof issue came to light. I've found family members who are willing to lend me up to £10k which feels horrible but is essential. Even then though I will be left with £0 in savings (excluding my tax money which I have kept aside) and completely vulnerable to anything else happening. I'm self employed so if work dries up or if I'm unwell no money comes in which always made savings so much more important.

I'm just at a complete loss of what to do and terrified for the future. The surveyor accepts no responsibility so can't claim any more from them. It will take me forever to save the £20k again as my outgoings have increased so much with the house and I'm just terrified what's coming next.

I don't understand what I did to deserve this.

Why can't you get a mortgage for the whole amount you owe the family member to take the guilt away?

You're scared. It's understandable, because you've had a run of high costs. Your emotions are completely understandable.

You have to fix the roof. Focus on that.

There is nothing you can do about possible future costs you don't yet know about.

Fix the roof. Protect your asset. Take in a lodger for two years. Save all that back into your emergency fund.

You keep saying you can't get a mortgage. Have you tried? Has a broker actually told you this? Or is it just your perception based on something you have seen or heard?

Being self employed is not a barrier to getting a mortgage, a broker will know which lenders to approach first. As others have said, it may well be better to borrow enough to pay off relative and repair the roof. You'd still have plenty of equity.

I would sort the roof
Call L&C (london and country) about possibility of a mortgage lote of self employed people have them and 20k is a small % of total property value.slread over 15 years or so it will barely be anything extra per month

l'd also check credit cards at 0%

Pnce sorted I would 💯 be getting a.lodger
If only to help buold a financial buffer

Id also seeing if relative can reduce or pause payments

Being self employed doesn’t stop you getting a bank mortgage. If a high street broker can’t help then look at a specialist broker. Make sure your books and accounts are up to date.

You’d be better off with a mortgage so you could release equity.

Self-employed people absolutely can get a normal mortgage. I got one easily when I was SE. You just need evidence of earnings same as being employed, so your self-assessment documentation. Did you actually investigate it with a broker?

If there is something the surveyor should have spotted, there is an ombudsman, and we were successful in getting some of the money we spent back via this route. I learned a lot of lessons on the way. Ultimately they have RICS registration and this is at risk if they don’t pay after a judgement. Don’t give up because the surveyor says it wasn’t their fault!

I think there is like an insurance you can pay so that you can claim when you are off work due to sickness or illness and make up your salary.

I think you should pursue the claim against the survey - get some legal advice

You need more income. Either get a lodger for a year (carefully chosen of course(, or get yourself another job, even 1 or 2 evenings a week and save all the extra income.

I feel like people are quite fixed on the mortgage part. And are also being quite aggressive and I don’t know why.

You have to be self employed for 3 years to get a mortgage (have at least 2 years of accounts). I do know that. I spoke to several brokers at the time. I could shortly meet the 3 years point and get a mortgage potentially but I’m told it would be limited because of significant fluctuations in my income over the 3 years. That’s a whole other thing but is due to setting up the business in year 1 and turning down work in the second year to care for a terminally ill parent. It’s been a bad few years!

maybe I shouldn’t have gone self employed but I did it because I lost my job and it was an immediate way of making money. I then realised I was happier working in that way so continued. And it worked well to have that level of flexibility while being a carer.

I had to move out my flat I rented when I did as they were selling and I just couldn’t get anywhere else as the rental market was so competitive. so that’s when the family member offered and we went down this route. They are my mortgage lender from a legal / financial point of view.

I haven't rtft, but get a few opinions on the roof. I have owned numerous properties and tradesmen always want to do brand new everything, whereas I am a make do and mend sort of person, so when they tell me the whole thing needs replacing, I ask someone else, how much to repair? How old is the roof? It may have a guarantee from when it was installed. Always ask for repairs. Line up any number of roofers to give their opinion.

Thank you. I’m just hesitant about paying for the Expert Witness Report which is apparently needed and other legal costs on top.

the surveyor put in his report that the roof inspection was ‘limited’ due to limited access although also stated there were no indications of any issues. So the survey company are using that as their get out. Although everyone else I’ve had out has identified there are major issues from looking in the same place.

How did you prove your surveyor was at fault? Did they have the same caveats around their report?

This was us when we moved into our house, we had to have various things done to the house. We had no savings at all, but we had our house and enough money to live on and pay the bills. Our mortgage rate back in the 1980’s was 15%. I wouldn’t borrow any more money unless you need it, hopefully you won’t, you’ve been unlucky with 2 big things that have needed to be done, where I live people are begging for rooms to rent.

I'd take a loan for the roof, you have a new kitchen, boiler and if your roof is sorted there's very little expensive things left to go wrong.

Not for a while.. water comes in in almost every room when it rains and the one bathroom I have is very badly affected.

Once the roof is done I’ll have to save up to pay to fix the water damage (plastering, repainting etc)

I agree a lodger would be a really good shout it’s just all damaged and a building site at the moment though

You might be able to just get the damaged bits repaired as a temporary solution to the leaking roof. Also if you can get into the loft, you can put buckets under the leaks which will stop the damage getting any worse in the rest of the house.

Depending on what type of roof and where the leaks are you might even be able to temporarily fix it yourself from the inside of the loft.

Get more opinions and quotes for the roof. It may not end up being quite a big a job.

We took out a further advance with the mortgage company and borrowed £15k against the house to pay for a new roof. Paid back over 7 years I think we're just over halfway.

It was separate borrowing to the mortgage, so as not to be added across the whole term, but I think it did count towards LTV so it set us back a little there when it came to renewal time.

There's obviously a cost to borrowing but something like a roof that will see the value go back into the house it made sense to do it this way.

This.
You've paid to replace the roof and boiler now, so theyre sorted, and you have loads of equity. You're OK. Saving will be slow now you're running a home, that's just the way it is.

@badmoneyluck read your survey carefully and see what is said about the roof.
If there’s even one sentence that could incriminate the surveyor that’s enough.

We found asbestos in our house after a survey.
28 years ago and cost £12k to have it safely removed.
Our surveyor had remarked that the pipe in the loft was well lagged, proof that he’d seen it and missed the asbestos along the length of it.
We had two very stressful years suing him but also had a brilliant dogged solicitor who got us a decent out of court settlement.

It seems totally wrong to me that a surveyor can miss such an important problem as a defective roof in a house.
What is the point of paying them?

Hi OP, I think you have correctly identified that you are having an emotional reaction to all the stress you have had. And your life has been stressful. When a bunch of shit things all happens at once we tend to think they will keep happening but usually this isn't true.
Some of your problems are bad luck some are fairly common if bloody annoying things. Boilers for example. Every property I've ever owned has needed a new boiler immediately. Also a rewire. I now just accept this.
The roof is also a common problem and I 100% agree with Utterknowitall.
Builders always want to start again. But usually even the worse jobs can be fixed. I grew up in a village with some ancient buildings, they had been repaired since the 16th century! Walls were crooked, thatched roofs, and of course no foundations.
Even if the actual beams in the roof are dangerous not just the tiles there are fixes. A builder or roofer these days needs to protect their reputation on checkatrade or wherever and will do their best to get it right.
And finally you seem pretty solid and sensible despite all these expenses. Well done for not running screaming into the street!

Got 15 quotes for the roof sadly to confirm it and asked a family friend who knows this stuff but wasn’t trying to sell me a roof to confirm.

Some were obviously chancers so I didn’t go with the cheapest. But the £15k is a company family have used, so I have confidence they’re good and not cowboys. The most expensive quote for the roof was £21k !!

I tried to go down the repair route first but no one decent wanted to do it tbh because there were so many issues to repair as well as fundamental issues that can only be resolved with a new roof. So I figured I just needed to bite the bullet.

What has the roofing company said regarding repair? Have you had the gutters checked? Generally they are the root of water leaking into bedrooms and cheap to fix unlike a roof, which generally requires scaffold costs too. Do you have the type of building insurance that covers legal costs? If so I would use that to persue the surveyor, a roof, unlike many internal structural elements, can be viewed and inspected (inside and out)- I would definitely follow this line of enquiry if I were in your position (and my building insurance covered legal costs).

Can you look for employment other than working for yourself to supplement your income, at least short term? I know you said you'd had to cut back on work, but could you accept ramping it up hours wise for a set time, say 6 months, to cover this?