Date of Warranty Certificate

[newhome]

After a fair bit of chasing I have finally received my structural warranty certificate from Build-Zone. To my surprise it’s dated from Nov 2016 and expires Nov 2026. I had expected it to start Dec 2017 as that’s when I got the completion certificate. I’ve no idea what the 2016 date relates to but surely this means I only have a 9 year warranty? Is this usual or a mistake on Build-Zone’s part? I’ve got to contact them anyway as they’ve put my husband’s name on the certificate too despite knowing the circumstances ... ?

 

[HerbJ]

That would seem to be a mistake and it certainly needs clarification.

 

I have just checked my Insurance Certificate issued for my Residential Latent Defects Insurance Policy and it commences on the date of the Building Completion Certificate, for 10 years.

 

[newhome]

Thanks. I’m sure it must be wrong. Their own surveyor didn’t come out for the final inspection until 2017 and produced a list of things that needed to be remedied (unsurprisingly as it wasn’t quite finished at that point). 

 

@PeterStarck what date does your warranty run from please? 

 

 

[HerbJ]

Just for completeness

 

The Policy was issued on 26/06/2015, with the Applicable Endorsement stating "The insurance will commence on completion of the Residential Property, the issue of the Approval Certificate and the payment of the premium in full. The Certificate of Insurance will then be issued in confirmation. "

 

The Building Completion Certificate (the Approval Certificate as defined in the Policy) was dated 25 February 2017 and sent to the Insurer ( via my Broker) in accordance with the Policy on 27 February 2017.

 

I received the Insurance Certificate as part of an updated Policy Document on 8 March 2017.  As noted above the Insurance cover was valid from 25 February 2017. 

 

[ProDave]

Ours went the other way on the last house. We had the NHBC solo for self build.

 

At completion, I got the NHBC inspector out for the completion inspection.  He signed the completion stage in the log book. I asked what other paperwork we would get and he said that is it.

 

6 months later the 10 year warranty certificate arrived, dated for 10 years from that day. so we got an extra 6 months.

[newhome]

Thanks. Build-Zone sent their surveyor out when it was pretty much complete and they just asked for a few things to satisfy them that it was finally complete (one of those was the completion certificate when issued). They said at the time that another visit wasn’t required. I’ve found them a bit rubbish to deal with in truth and this latest experience has reinforced that view. 

[Gone West]

13 hours ago, newhome said:

Thanks. I’m sure it must be wrong. Their own surveyor didn’t come out for the final inspection until 2017 and produced a list of things that needed to be remedied (unsurprisingly as it wasn’t quite finished at that point). 

 

@PeterStarck what date does your warranty run from please? 

 

 

Ours runs from 1/1/14 to 31/12/23. It started from when they said they considered the build was weathertight because the build time was longer than average. It was actually weathertight at the end of 2010.

[HerbJ]

25 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

It started from when they said they considered the build was weathertight because the build time was longer than average. It was actually weathertight at the end of 2010.

 This is a bit subjective on their side...  What was there a  definition for commencement  of cover in the Policy Documents?

[Gone West]

1 minute ago, HerbJ said:

 This is a bit subjective on their side...  What was there a  definition for commencement  of cover in the Policy Documents?

TBH I never checked because at the time I had more pressing things to worry about. We bought the warranty because we thought it was worth the relatively small outlay at the time but probably wouldn't bother now.

[HerbJ]

Totally understand. I was just curious....

[newhome]

Thanks. I’ll contact them and see what they say. They shouldn’t have put a deceased person on it anyway. 

[newhome]

They’ve replied and said it was the date that I submitted the application for the completion certificate but the council asked me to do that after my hubby died in order to trigger a visit so they could assess what still needed to be done. It wasn’t complete at that point. So I clarified that and they have amended the start date so all good. I still don’t think these policies are up to much TBH but at least I have it for when it’s time to sell. 

[HerbJ]

Another problem solved! On to the next one....

[newhome]

26 minutes ago, HerbJ said:

Another problem solved! On to the next one....

 

Oh there are still many things for me to tackle! ?

[Mr Punter]

On many of these policies you may be liable for the first 2 years, so it may not matter.

[newhome]

23 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

On many of these policies you may be liable for the first 2 years, so it may not matter.

 

I was more concerned about the later years tbh because if I want to move in, for example, 5 years, then surely the buyer’s mortgage company will want to see 5 years remaining on the warranty, not 4. 

[Mr Punter]

5 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

I was more concerned about the later years tbh because if I want to move in, for example, 5 years, then surely the buyer’s mortgage company will want to see 5 years remaining on the warranty, not 4. 

 

No they will not care.  There will be X years remaining of a 10 year warranty.  They will not be checking completion date, building regs final date etc, just that if it was built within the last 10 years it has a warranty.