This is a follow up to this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?269220-Never-Paint-Again-All-Seasons-Wall-Systems-Warranty-Issue The original thread ran from July 2010 to May 2011. The thread was then closed as the issue I was having with the wallcoating had been resolved. Unfortunately, it did not stay that way, so I am posting an update to act as a 'consumer review' to the Never Paint Again experience that I have had. So, in September 2012, following some fairly heavy rainfall I noticed that I had a number of new damp patches appearing on the internal walls of the property, mostly in the lounge but also in the hallway, the dining room and the bedroom. I attempted to contact All Seasons Wall Systems but discovered that the company had been dissolved. Luckily, I had my insurance backed warranty to fall back on so I contacted the Independent Warranty Association (IWA.biz). To cut a VERY long story short, the contractor that IWA appointed to remedy my problems never materialized, and I was eventually told to find my own contractor to do the remedial works. I also had to jump through many hoops of paperwork and red tape to get IWA to agree to a quote and to reimburse me after I had paid the contractors bill. This whole process took 8 months, during which time my property was left with damp coming in for the long wet winter and spring that we had. The remedial work was finally completed in May 2013, but IWA refused to do anything about all the internal repairs that I was then faced with, stating that the insurance did not provide cover for that. So, I made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, on the basis that 8 months was an unreasonable length of time to take to process a claim, and has caused me to suffer substantial loss. This complaint was upheld, and IWA have finally just settled. The whole process took over 11 months, and was extremely stressful and time consuming.

Thanks Dotty, They can't make repayments off of the lifetime mortgage because they don't have any excess income to do this. If they sold the property now to a 'sell and rent back' scheme, they would not be able to claim Housing Benefit for five years due to the rules around entitlement for previous owners (I am a Benefits Adviser!). Having researched this some more, and discussed it with my parents, I think long term renting the house back would feel insecure to them, we cannot guarantee that Housing Benefit will cover the rent forever, due to welfare reform and them having an extra bedroom. I think the only possible option they may have is a home reversal scheme where they sell the property to a company who then lets them live there for life, rent free. They will of course get considerably less than the market value, but if they get enough to cover the Aviva Mortgage debt and some extra, it seems worthwhile rather than do nothing and the Aviva mortgage growing to be larger than the property value, which I think is very likely to happen within the next ten years or so. I have left it with them to go back to an IFA, if they want to, to see whether this may be a possibility.

Hi, Thanks for replying. It is just the level of interest and the rapid rate that it is rising that seems extortionate to me, and I wonder if they were properly informed of the consequences of their decisions. I have looked through the paperwork and they did see an IFA, they were advised of four different products, the IFA seemed to recommend a Legal and General one, but they chose the Aviva one as they offered the most money. I guess it is done now, for various personal issues (bereavement) around the time they needed the money, my parents went off and did this alone, and have only just started discussing it with myself and my sister. We cannot raise the cash between us to pay off Aviva now as the debt is too big, and we both have mortgages of our own. I am wondering whether they should now look at a sell and rent back scheme, to see if they can get the maximum possible amount of money out of their property? There may just be enough to pay off Aviva, put 5 years rent aside (they could claim Housing Benefit after five years) and still be left with a little bit of money to improve their current situation, as their income is very low, and savings have gone. Any thoughts on these schemes, or recommendations for a good company that might offer to do it? It does mean that they wouldn't be liable for maintenance and repair bills for the house anymore, which could be good for them long term. lisa

Hello, I may be clutching at straws and a little naive, but I would really appreciate it if someone clever could give an opinion on this scenario.. I have just discovered that in 2003 my parents took out an equity release mortgage with Norwich Union. The paperwork is now headed Aviva 'Index-Linked Lifetime Mortgage'. They took 25% of the property value at the time, and were paid a total sum of £37,500. On the latest yearly statement, dated June 2011 they owe £71,005.96. They basically need more money, but they can't have any more, because the debt has grown so big that they now owe approx 35% of the property value, which is more than Aviva will lend them as they are in their early 70's. They are both in reasonably good health and hopefully will live for many years yet. I imagine that by the time the property needs to be sold, the debt with Aviva could well be higher than the property value. There is a rider in the paperwork to say that there is a no negative equity guarantee. So, it seems that Aviva / Norwich Union have essentially bought my parents property for 25% of its value in 2003. This seems to me to be pretty outrageous, but I am not familiar with this area of the money / property market, so maybe it is usual? Here is some wording from the paperwork that seems to explain what is happening, but I am afraid I don't really understand it: 'This is an Index-Linked Lifetime Mortgage. It has a variable interest rate linked to inflation, with guaranteed minimum and maximum rates. Inflation is measured by reference to the UK All Items Index of Retail Prices, the RPI. On each anniversary of the loan, we will charge interest at the minimum rate and then increase your loan plus interest in line with any increase to the RPI. Each year, if there is an increase in the Retail Price Index, the interest rate will reflect the increase, up to the maximum rate. If there is no increase in the RPI, the interest rate will be the minimum rate. The minimum rate on this lifetime mortgage is 4.89% and the maximum rate is 10.14%. You do not have to make any monthly repayments during the life of this lifetime mortgage. The total amount you owe including the interest and charges must be repaid when you have left your home because you have died or need to go into long-term care. So, my question is, does the above sound okay? Have they been mis sold an awful product and can we challenge this somehow. Are there any other financial options available to them, to enable them to get some more money for their retirement? Many thanks lisa

As promised, I have returned to update the thread. All Seasons visited again this week, their visit spanned three days and the two guys were outstanding in their customer service and helpfulness. They initially tested the whole balcony area thoroughly with a hosepipe and found a couple of areas that were probably responsible for the leak into the lounge. One of which was an area of the flat roof balcony which I had added an extra layer of liquid rubber too, after they had finished coating it in a different liquid rubber last year. They didn't quibble about this though, they just got on and repaired it, along with re-painting / coating some areas of brickwork where they spotted some defects, with the Andura product. They returned early this morning to re-test with a hose pipe to ensure no water came through before ending the repair job. I happily agreed to paint on some more of my liquid rubber to the repaired area, as this has to be applied in layers with drying time in between. They also helped me with some of the preparation work to repair the decor in the lounge, making it ready for me to get on and re-paint once the damp plaster has dried out. All in all, I am now really pleased with the work. It remains to be seen whether any leaks re-occur, but I do think they have done all they reasonably can to get the house as watertight as possible. I still have 14 years of my guarantee left to run, 9 of which are now insurance backed, and I feel sure that they will honour this if any more problems re-occur. Let's hope that is not necessary! I have also received a separate, private email from Guy Bell, apologising for being rude to me. So, looks like all is well after all, what a journey lisa

Incidentally, I did contact Wethertex when I was looking for quotes, which would have been approx Nov 2009, and they never got back to me.

Hi Joanne Fisher and all. I had a visit from the owner / director of All Seasons this week. He had travelled a long way to see me and could not have been nicer or more charming. So I am exceptionally delighted with the customer service that I am currently receiving. There is still a problem with the balcony area, and unfortunately damp has leaked into the lounge below, but I am assured that it will be sorted within the next couple of weeks, and monitored in the long term, even to the point of involving the paint manufacturers if need be. My guarantee has also now been registered with IWA and is insurance backed for 10 years from when the work was completed, so for 9 more years. I have every faith that they will return to carry out the repair, and very much appreciate their recent efforts to remedy my complaints. Now, the issue with Guy Bell that Joanne Fisher mentions is another issue. I have never met him, but he has been very rude and threatening towards me on this website and on MSE. He has gone back and deleted a lot of the abusive language that he originally used, but some still remains where people have quoted him, as he wasn't able to edit those. I am assuming it was him anyway, as he never actually used his real name in the posts, I don't think, but whoever he is, his behaviour towards me via these forums has been shocking. Interesting that Joanne said that she met him when wall coatings work was carried out on her Dads property, and for quotes on other friends properties, as he tells me that he just passes details on to other companies to do the work and doesn't have any customers of his own. (despite quoting glowing customer testimonials on the never paint again website). Anyway, thats the current update as Mrs Joanne Fisher was wondering what was going on. I'll keep you posted. lisa

Very odd. Who did you pay then lotus12?

Hello, just thought I'd check in to say that I haven't abandoned this thread. Good news is that All Seasons did send me the insurance backed guarantee paperwork, I have sent off my documents to IWA and I'm just waiting for them to send confirmation back. Also, there was a mix up with the first date set for them to fix the balcony problem, but we have sorted out a new date for next week, so I am looking forward to that. Bad news is that my thread on MSE never got resurrected, and their admin / mods never replied to my message asking why they had taken it down. Will keep you posted of any more developments, thanks for your support. lisa

Yes, I have not taken it down, not sure where it's gone. I have emailed the MSE admin for more info. lisa

That's good to hear.

No Problem. ScarletPimpernel asked what trader details were on the invoice.

The 'Cash Agreement' and Invoices have these details: All Seasons Wall Systems Ltd BCR House 3 Bredbury Business Park Stockport Chesire SK6 2SN The letterheads have as above but with www . neverpaintagain . co . uk added and the following details in small print at the bottom: Director M Ackroyd Reg Office: 12 Holroyd Business Centre, Carbottom Road, Bradford, BD5 9BP Co Reg: 6584702 VAT No: 973006821

Mods / Admin - can you please have a look at this post and see if it breaches any of the forum rules? It is very overtly threatening. Thanks.

So, I have just received a phone call from All Seasons, and all is looking very good. A date has been set for a couple of weeks for them to call back and survey the problem with the balcony area and come up with a new solution for a better and more permanent repair. They have also offered to upgrade my guarantee with an insurance backed one at no extra cost. This all sounds excellent and I am happy that things seem to be progressing.