NHBC cover - experiences?

[riksti]

Has anyone had cause to make a claim for defects to NHBC? We live in a 3-year old house and came back from holiday to find that the roof has leaked. Contacted NHBC who said that they can't get anyone out to assess the damage before 14th February. Is that delay normal? Considering that we need to live with a leaky roof for over a month BEFORE they assess and then probably some more before it gets fixed, I would expect it to get a lot worse before then.

Any experiences or suggestions?

Why has the roof leaked? If its just a tile that has slipped, you need to find a roofer to sort it. NHBC won't pay out unless its over about £700 of work.

Is it worth getting a roofer to quote for the work, and if its not much, just do it - as NHBC won't cover it. If it comes in at £££ you'll need to pursue NHBC. Any way of putting a bucket under the leak to confine it if your going to have to wait a while?

Hope its fixed soon.

Is it definitely a leak? We had a new build where water was trickling in the loft but it turned out to be condensation.

Definitely a leak. It's probably something having slipped but may still be over NHBC limits as because of the location of the house means scaffolding is required to access the leak location. Got a builder coming soon but don't really want to pay out for it since it's not something we can easily afford.