Partially upheld: claim decline and customer service failure complaint against National House-Building Council (NHBC)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained about NHBC's decision to decline a claim under his new build home warranty for damage to coping stones on his property. The claim for lower storey coping stones was declined because repair costs fell below the minimum claim value (MCV) threshold. A subsequent claim for upper storey coping stones was declined because NHBC's surveyor found no damage to the stones themselves, only minor thermal cracking in mortar. The ombudsman found both claim decisions were reasonable and properly applied the warranty terms. However, NHBC had admitted to failing to respond to one email from Mr B, and the ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, ordering £100 compensation for this service failure.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that for the warranty to respond, there must be both a defect and damage caused by that defect. For the lower storey, the MCV calculation was correct and the claim properly declined as repair costs fell below the threshold. For the upper storey, while a defect in the build may have existed, NHBC's surveyor found no damage to the coping stones themselves at the time of inspection, only minor thermal cracking in mortar. The surveyor's conclusions were reasonable and persuasive in the absence of contrary expert opinion. The only admitted failure was the failure to respond to one email, for which £100 compensation was fair and reasonable given the limited impact and brief duration.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website