[Watsey]

Originally Posted by ZedsRedBaby

All very well but as I said if you don't even attempt to use the NHBC dispute resolution process the court will give you short shrift. And while the SCC is usually limited in the amount of costs they can award, they can and will award punitive damages where they deem a case as being brought unnecessarily.

Maybe so but as has been, rightly, pointed out the NHBC is funded via builders' subscriptions and is heavily (if not totally) biased in favour of its subscribers.

The most powerful angle in this situation isn't the NHBC nor the SCC, it's a smartphone photo, taken on a rainy day, with water all over the floor/dining furniture (or whatever) and an emotional post on Twitter etc with all the right words : new home only a year old; single mum; key worker; struggling to pay the bills; a year of stress; "such a disappointing customer experience"; distraught; damage to personal property; and, of course, REDROW in caps.

[ZedsRedBaby]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Maybe so but as has been, rightly, pointed out the NHBC is funded via builders' subscriptions and is heavily (if not totally) biased in favour of its subscribers.

The most powerful angle in this situation isn't the NHBC nor the SCC, it's a smartphone photo, taken on a rainy day, with water all over the floor/dining furniture (or whatever) and an emotional post on Twitter etc with all the right words : new home only a year old; single mum; key worker; struggling to pay the bills; a year of stress; "such a disappointing customer experience"; distraught; damage to personal property; and, of course, REDROW in caps.

Yeah, that's more like it. I'm just on the wrong side of 50 to be fully social media savvy but I notice my neighbours' gripes seem to get sorted pretty quickly once they hit FB

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by ZedsRedBaby

Yeah, that's more like it. I'm just on the wrong side of 50 to be fully social media savvy but I notice my neighbours' gripes seem to get sorted pretty quickly once they hit FB

I have never done twitter really but it is a fab media to get a response... they try to take you to private message but if that doesnt work, copy the private message to twitter....

Or so I hear

[ZedsRedBaby]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

I have never done twitter really but it is a fab media to get a response... they try to take you to private message but if that doesnt work, copy the private message to twitter....

Or so I hear

I'm impressed. Are you sure you're as old as you claim to be?

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by ZedsRedBaby

As said, it would be the developer, but on what basis is she thinking of taking them to court? SCC is for claiming money owed to you. She'll only be owed money if she pays a third party to do the work, in which case I'm pretty confident both the court and Redrow will say tough shit, you didn't make use of the available dispute resolution process.

In other words, if she wants to pay someone to fix it, fine, but leave it at that and save a whole load of further pain and expense.

Otherwise, get NHBC involved. If they sort it, happy days, if they don't then you've got a green light to take legal action.

Sorry, but this is not correct.
You don't have to have spent the money in order to claim through SCC. If you have quotes for the work that is enough. You also don't have to prove you've gone through all the channels either. You've got a contract with the builder and they have failed to fulfill the supply of goods/services to the standards per the contract.
It is important to follow the process of highlighting the tort, including giving a chance for the builder to fix. And in case of no reply, a date in which to do so. This correspondence is probably already in place. You need to lodge the action correctly as the builders legal team will swing into action and they don't care about the fact that you've been wronged, they look at it from a legal standpoint and will complain the action isn't legally constructed to the correct standard. The judge won't expect the claimant to be a legal expert, so it's not as daunting as you think. Just follow templates online.
Make sure everything is listed in the action, damaged carpets, painting and decorating, etc. Don't even attempt to add pain and suffering though, courts don't appreciate that nonsense.

Wish your friend Good luck.

[ZedsRedBaby]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Sorry, but this is not correct.
You don't have to have spent the money in order to claim through SCC. If you have quotes for the work that is enough. You also don't have to prove you've gone through all the channels either. You've got a contract with the builder and they have failed to fulfill the supply of goods/services to the standards per the contract.
It is important to follow the process of highlighting the tort, including giving a chance for the builder to fix. And in case of no reply, a date in which to do so. This correspondence is probably already in place. You need to lodge the action correctly as the builders legal team will swing into action and they don't care about the fact that you've been wronged, they look at it from a legal standpoint and will complain the action isn't legally constructed to the correct standard. The judge won't expect the claimant to be a legal expert, so it's not as daunting as you think. Just follow templates online.
Make sure everything is listed in the action, damaged carpets, painting and decorating, etc. Don't even attempt to add pain and suffering though, courts don't appreciate that nonsense.

Wish your friend Good luck.

Well I'm certainly no lawyer. I'm basing my advice on the one and only time I used the small claims procedure and what I can remember of the myriad things I read at the time, so I could well be wrong.

I'd still advocate trying the NHBC first though, as it's the line of least resistance and there's nothing to lose. Maybe it's just me, but if there's an easy way of fixing something and a hard way, I always choose the former.