Structural warranty...caveat emptor

[Helen2]

We are about to start work on our self-build.  We need a structural warranty, partly to keep the mortgage company happy and partly because who knows what will happen in the next 10 years.

 

I got two quotes from companies that are on the mortgage lender's list, both marketing themselves as being 'self-build specialists'.  Both quotes came in at, give or take, 1% of the build cost.  I assumed that was therefore the going rate.

 

It was only after I had paid for one of these and got sent the Personal Guarantee form to complete, that I realised that the niggling doubt I had about them insisting that I was the 'Developer' was in fact a major flaw.  It meant that I was being asked to underwrite the cost of any defects in the first two years myself. So in effect the 10 year warranty is only for 8 years.  And were we to sell, the purchaser would claim against us for any defects, not the insurance company.

 

I asked if they had sent me the wrong paperwork - after all, the company markets itself as being "specialists in self build insurance".  I pointed out that the definitions in the policy made clear that I was not a 'Developer' as I was not building the property to sell to another person, and the policy is clear that it expects the 'Insured' and the 'Developer' to be two separate people. I also pointed out that the precise reason I needed the insurance for 10 years was because I would not have the money to rebuild should the construction company go bust in the first two years, and a defect materialised in my house.  But  alll to no avail.  

 

In the end, I decided to exercise my rights under the 14 day cooling off period.  I then got a quote from Protek - and it was one third of the cost of the previous two quotes.

 

What worried me most of all was that the company insisted that many self-builders are entirely happy with their arrangement.  Maybe I have missed something, but I can't imagine many others in our shoes would want to knowingly put themselves in this position.  So I am posting this here in the hope it helps others still finding their way through this minefield.  

 

 

 

[nod]

I’ve used CMLC this time 

For a professional certificate 

£1500 Paid in stages 

Seem ok