10 year warranty for new build

[MyAuntyBadger]

I'd really appreciate any advice for this. Dh is a retired builder and as he neared his retirement (April 2018) we bought a building plot and finished the house a few months ago (Nov 19).

We bought the building plot in May 2017 and it already had architect plans and the engineered foundations were in. The developer sold it to us with a 10 year warranty from CRL. Dh was a bit concerned as he thought they had very low standards compared to NHBC, who he had been registered with for 40 years. NHBC wouldn't take us on as building had already started (foundations), so we stuck with CRL and built the house.

We received a letter late last year informing us that CRL had gone bust and I can't find another company to replace them. Every time I go through the procedure I get stuck at the point that we're past completion and they want to have made regular inspections during the build to provide the warranty. Dh has built the house to NHBC standards, but we can't prove it at this stage.

The house has it's completion certificate and has been signed off by building control - the inspector only paid three visits in two years but we sent him photos of various stages. We don't have a mortgage but we'll probably sell in a few years and we'll need a warranty. If anyone knows of a company that can help I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

Hi there @MyAuntyBadger - I hope I can help you. I’m a victim Of CRL and self builder myself - completed my build in Feb 2017.
You have a couple of things to get cracking on. Firstly, try and claim back QUICKLY some of your original premium via the FSCS! Call them, find out what’s to be done and do your best to wade through the paperwork. I originally paid 7K for my defunct CRL warranty and got 1.5K back last week - not loads but better than a kick in the teeth!
Secondly I got my retrospective replacement warranty with ICW. V happy, they will come visit the site. Have all the documents ready to hand especially the build inspection reports and all the building reg documents. Any proof of foundation depth would be great. If you don’t it you might have to arrange for some foundation pits to be exposed for inspection and measurement. I hope this helps, any more questions please come back to me. Have hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel but I know the stress!

Have a chat with PWC building control to see if they can recommend a alternative route

That's brilliant, thank you both. I'll contact ICW tomorrow regarding a retrospective replacement warranty, and PWC. I've googled endlessly and just keep coming up against the same dead end.
Thank you Bakedbrie for the details on the compensation from FSCS, I had been told that it would hardly be worth bothering as we'd receive about £200, but £1.5k is definitely worth persevering for. I hope you're enjoying your new home, it's not for the faint-hearted!