Our surveyor was PANTS

[Captainbarnacles1101]

We have just moved in to our dream home. it had been empty for 1 year before we moved in so we paid for a more indepth survey.

Since moving in we have discovered 2 major problems. 1 the oil tank fuel line had been cut so it was no longer comected to the house. 2. the wet room floor has sunk and was leaking into the living room.

the survey saud nothing about the oil line and never mentioned the problem in the shower. yet the plumber seems to think both issues should have been picked up on survey.

Do we have any chance of recouping even part of the cost as the surveyor was obviously rubbish?

all advice appreciated.

anybody?

Gosh, that is grim.
Have you talked to your Solicitor?
Lots of surveys have disclaimers but I wonder if you have the Agents particulars i.e. does it advise Oil Central heating? Maybe you'd have comeback with them for misrepresentation.

I suppose it depends if either problem has visible symptoms: is there some way of showing that the line has been cut without turning on any of the appliances, for example? Has the wet room floor been bodge-repaired to make it look even thus disguising its unevenness or was it visibly bowing?

As Eastwick said, most surveys come with an awful lot of caveats but if there are signs that something is amiss that a person with some building knowledge could/should have picked up on, then you may have some redress.

we had a problem with our survey, also the more in depth one, which hadn't picked up asbestos.

took 3 years to sue and get money for repairs. surveyors insurance company fought all the way but that was for 40k worth of work.

get 2 or 3 quotes to repair and write to surveyor. you may need a lawyer

good luck

oh lord I don't think its bad enough to sue over the course of 3 years. Both problems were sp[oted by the plummer with in seconds of looking at the problems. He felt the surveyor should defo had noticed it.

We've had major problems with a next to useless full building survey. We couldn't afford to sue (think £250 per hour) and the surveyor didn't want to know, but we went through a v long process with the property ombudsman and eventually got £6k out of the surveyor

We had leaking showers and damaged sanitaryware that our plumber told us should have been spotted at survey.
We asked surveyors to comment and they whitewashed it, claiming it was so bad they couldn't possibly have missed it, therefore they didn't

We decided it wasn't worth the hassle/time delay to sue and chalked it down to experience. Surveyors will wriggle and caveat out of EVERYTHING.... Good luck but it may be blood from a stone to get them to admit liability.

My parents had to sue the surveyor that had failed to spot subsidence (he'd said the house was in perfect nick except for the roof, the only part of the house that is ok is actually the roof) , the rectification works cost 270k and they had to fight hard to get a penny from the surveyor (big national firm). They finally paid up when ordered in court but appealed it, costing my parents 1000's in legal fees. They also refused to pay out for any alternative accommodation whilst the works were on saying they couldn't see why they couldn't live in the house. The house had the complete downstairs floor removed to a depth of several metres to put in new foundations, the upstairs was propped and as soon as you opened the front door there was a drop of 2m. As my parents can't hover in mid air they moved out but had to bear the costs themselves. Somehow the surveyors very expensive legal team managed to argue to the judge that my parents were the unreasonable ones, and despite winning they still never got all the money back. It devastated my parents and I think was the final straw in causing their divorce. It took them several very stressful years to sort out and has left my dad a nervous wreck when having to deal with anything in relation to the house.
I think I would following this always think twice about surveys and the guarantees they provide knowing the nasty tactics they used against my parents when the surveyor had genuinely made a mistake.

Ours told us our loft conversion was stable. It wasn't. We've just spent £30k having it redone before it pushed the side wall of the house off. He also didn't notice the death trap electrics or the inappropriate gas piping to the boiler. Or the subsidence in the garage.

How long ago was the survey done? We had a full structural survey on a house about 10 years ago and after moving in found many problems that the surveyor should have picked up on. How he described the boiler we will never know as it was sealed in behind the only piece of kitchen the previous owners did not take. Our electrics were condemned, as was the gas boiler once it had been found. We telephoned his office and did write quite a few times, then instructed a solicitor. One solictors letter did the trick and they sent us a considerable amount of compensation.

All surveyors should have indemnity insurance to cover claims of negligence. Write to them outlining the issues. Ask them to confirm their proposed course of action within 14 days and confirm that if you do not receive a satisfactory response then you will report them to the RICS (royal institution of chartered surveyors). Check their website for details