Successful claim for compensation for a bad survey
If you wish to make a compensation claim for a bad survey then call us for a free case assessment and details of no win, no fee funding.
We were recently approached by a gentleman who had purchased a property which turned out to be defective. He wanted to know if he was entitled to compensation for a bad survey.
He told us that a valuation had been required by his mortgage company prior to him purchasing the property purchase. A surveyor was accordingly instructed by the building society, but the surveyor’s fee was paid by the client. No significant defects were noted in the surveyor’s report so the client felt happy proceeding with the purchase.
Shortly after moving in however, he noticed significant cracking. On investigation it was established that the bungalow he had boiught was constructed on a raft design, but due to subsidence the raft had snapped in two, splitting the bungalow down the middle and tearing it apart.
Obviously our client was devastated and wanted to know why this defect had not been picked up by the surveyor.
When he looked into it further he discovered that there were a number of indicators that should have been spotted by the surveyor. when he carried out his inspection. If the surveyor had noticed these then the serious defect would have come to light. The telltale signs included cracking, sloping floors and doorways and evidence of previous subsidence investigations.
We agreed to pursue his compensation claim for a bad survey and work on a No Win, No Fee basis.
The claim has now been presented to the surveyor who has denied that he is at fault. He claims that his obligation was purely limited to carrying out a valuation of the property. However both the RICS guidance and the original instructions by the building society specifically stated that he should review anything which would affect the valuation, including subsidence. Needless to say we have rejected the surveyor’s arguments and the case continues.
