Complaint about surveyor

[cloudedyellow]

In November 2011 I had a Home Buyer's survey done on a town house/maisonette I was hoping to buy. There were a few problems/recommendations, but nothing serious that got the red light. The surveyor was a member of RICS.

I went ahead and bought the flat, but wasn't able to move in until this August 2012, because there were tenants in the house (another story in itself).

When I moved into the house, I noticed two leaks - one from the upstairs roof and another from the bathroom extension roof. They were both obvious and not new - I don't know how the surveyor could have missed them.

I wrote to him detailing the problems/complaint and had a very sad and unexpected phone call from his wife, saying that he had been killed in a car accident last December. This was shocking news and I felt unable, at the time, to press her on details of his insurance, which she did not offer.

I contacted the RICS who were unable to help and now I feel a bit stuck. My insurance won't pay the £2,000 costs of fixing it, because I should have dealt with the problems which were causing the leaks.

Do I have a claim on his estate? Any advice welcome.

If he was a RICS member, surely they should be able to help you. I would persist with them. If they really can't help you and you don't feel you are being fobbed off, then I suppose write a note to the widow explaining you need details of his professional insurance as politely as possible? I'm assuming he was a one-man band?

Yes, you are right, he was a sole trader.
I was given the wrong information on the phone by two different people from the RICS: they said he was not registered with them. So at this point I thought he was also a fraud.
Fortunately, I had also sent an email which was eventually answered by another person who confirmed that he WAS a member, but that the RICS would only be concerned with professional conduct and in the circumstances they could do nothing.
I will go back to them, but don't hold out much hope.
I think I will write to his widow. Good idea. Thanks so much for answering.

As surveyors need to maintain their professional indemnity insurance for several years after their retirement, I would think that their insurance would continue after their death too.

Thanks, Daisy. That's useful information.

His professional indemnity insurance should cover this - I would go back to RICS and ask them to provide details of his insurance as you are wanting to make a claim. If they don't help, then go back to his widow - but I would work through the professional body first (rather than chasing his widow).

Yes, it's his professional insurance that's relevant. I'd think it being in place at the time is what's important, rather than now but I don't know that. Maybe RICS can help track the insurer down.

We had a similar situation with a surveyor not spotting leaks. Ours is alive and we're 18 months into a complaint / legal case, we're hopeful of some compensation without having to go to court but it does take time.

I would point out that surveyors do not go onto roofs, they look only from the ground and within the house. This will be in his T+Cs. The potential for leaks would have to be apparent from these vantage points, or actual leaks obvious within the house. Did he recommend that you get the roof looked at at all? If so did you?

Ours noted a few cracked tiles and suggested a price of £950 for repairs. There wasn't obvious evidence of leaks in the house, though there were some cracks. We have a case only because there were lots of odd features of the roof that were not mentioned and visible defects that could have allowed leaks.

Thanks Panic and Lottie!

No, he didn't go onto the roof, but there is a loft hatch and one of the leaks is directly under it. The wall paper is peeling off.... I can stand on a step ladder and look into the loft space and immediately see a wet, crumbly piece of wood with white mould on it. Luckily, it is not, so the roofer tells me, a main joist or some such.
What is strange is that he mentions 'some infestation by insect', which suggests he did look in the loft...but who knows...he might just have put it in the report as it is a likely hazard.

The other leak is in the boiler cupboard and again easily spotted. No steps required.

Well, he did mention that local repointing was required to the ridge tiling, but this is not the problem and there is NO mention about leaking.

The professional insurance being in place at the time is a very helpful point. Thanks Lottie and good luck with your claim!

From what you say you could have a good case. He should have spotted the problem and recommended you investigate before purchase. I'd just wonder how you could prove it was obvious at the time of the survey. Did you take any pictures when viewing, or notice anything? Are you able to contact the previous owners?

Try talking to a good local litigation solicitor. You can search through the law society website. Can you ask another surveyor to take a quick look just to give an opinion - they may do this for free, especially if you explain you may be likely to commission a report from them if you pursue this.

The bad news is that pursuing a case is not cheap. Our solicitor is working on a no win no fee basis, with their costs included in the claim. But, we've paid about £1k for an expert witness report from another surveyor and a report on diminution in value, to show what the house should have been worth, to help define the amount of the claim. We've had to get the roof fixed in the meantime too. Luckily we did have some money for doing other, non urgent work on the house, which will have to wait!

Thanks Lottie. No photos or anything. There were complications because the owner was in the States and I took over tenants who stopped paying my rent. So we are not on the sort of terms where I can ask them those things!

I really can't spend much more on it. But I appreciate your help.

Well good luck. You may get somewhere with the insurer if you can get an initial opinion from a surveyor and maybe a solicitor. In the end it's all about whether they think they'd lose in court, so offer to settle.

We had to start with the surveyor's own complaint procedure, before we reached a point where involving the solicitor was the right thing to do. That won't be relevant in your case, but I wonder if RICS would offer arbitration (this was a later step in our surveyor's complaints procedure, we decided we'd want a solicitor acting for us before any direct negotiation but it might be an alternative approach).

RICS won't even give me the name of the surveyor's insurers. They have been totally useless and unhelpful to me.
Have written to the widow, but am not hopeful...

I would doubt that RICS know who the insurers are if it's anything like the RTPI