"Betterment" sounds daft - if the survey had been done professionally it would have told you the roof was shot - then you could have either pulled out or negotiated the cost of a new roof. If you couldn't negotiate a new roof you could have still pulled out. £5000 isn't even half the cost! It's also wrong to keep you waiting months just because the surveyor won't reply - if OS:Property charged them £100 a week for the delay they'd soon get their act together - by OS:P won't because their salaries are paid for by the surveyors subscriptions! You could also blog your case and case number! Sounds like with your struuctural survey you stand a good chance in court. Best wishes - ombudsmans61percent

Hello Steve_M, This is all becoming a little bit strange. The person who suggested a judicial review in the first place was the "Independent Assessor." But the whole issue of the legality of Ombudsman shemes is an important one and I'm the first to admit that I assumed that the Ombudsman sat at the right hand side of the Lord Chief Justice. However, the fact that Office of Fair Trading had approved the scheme led me to expect a "fair" and "independent" investigation of my complaint. Something we didn't get The fact is in 2010 61% of complainants also believed the same. This has risen to 64% in 2011. They didn't get a fair result either. The company are going from bad to worse but they're still telling the consumer that their cases will be handled fairly and independently. Ed999 hadn't promised me a fair or independent investigation of my case and as we're here to offer support to each other it doesn't seem helpful to say who is right or who is wrong. It's the ombudsman and her team who don't seem to get their facts right. Hence the campaign for a "fair" and "independent" dispute resolutiion service free of RICS influence. Best wishes Steve G.

If you think its a good idea to have a programme on OS:Property and the Ombudsman and her team who don't "understand the complexity of property complaints," can you take some to contact: BBC Radio4 You and Yours. The programme was on Press Standards with Julian Worricker - there seem to be no newspaper that criticise the Ombudsman for OS:Property. You can either click on Contact Us and leave a message or phone direct 03700 100 444 Best wishes ombudsmans61percent

Hello Bedlington83, I always try to take a step back and review everything before deciding what to do next. OS:Property's "Independent Assessor" wrote, "In my letter I referred to the possibility of commencing judicial review proceedings.... "But I have to reiterate that there is no appeal against the decision of the Ombudsman other than the possibility of a challenege in the courts, and none against mine." We don't yet live in a police state Beddlington83 and either the "Independent Assessor" is right ie consumers still have the right to a judicial review or he's wrong and we don't. I've been told he's right. Hence the campaign's fight for a judicial review of our cases. You say, "There is nothing for the judiciary to make a judgement on." I hope what I've been able to tell shows that what you say is not the case. I have been contacted by other consumers who say solicitors are offering them "no win no fee" offers to take cases against the Ombudsman. Julia wrote to me saying, "It has been eye wateringly ludicrous! We have suffered financial loss and severe health issues." For hundreds of consumers this isn't a "spurious cause" and we're sorry that you think so. I've been evicted from a squat in Commercial Road, London and when I was a tenant on a houseboat came home to discover we'd been given a month to clear everything including ourselves out. Citizens Advice told us we had no legal protection and weren't even covered by The Mobile Homes Act. I then lived in the back of a car until something slightly less dangerous came up. I have every sympathy for tenants and will gladly lend your cause my support. Shouldn't we be finding ways to support each other and not seeking to undermine each other's fight for what each of us believes to be right? Best wishes Steve G.

Hello Thin - Lizzie and other victims of OS:Property. I managed to get on the You and Yours BBC Radio 4 programme today. If you have the time you could try going to their website and asking them to arrange a future phone-in on OS:Property. Best wishes Steve G.

Hello again Ed - here's an extract from a letter from The Independent Assessor for Ombudsman Services ( a person who claims to be independent but who uses the same headed notepaper and email address as his boss), "In my letter I referred to the possibility of commencing judicial review proceedings...... I understand that you do not accept the Ombudsman's Final Decision. But I have to reiterate that there is no appeal against the decision of the Ombudsman (other than the possibility of a challenge in the courts), and none against mine." This is why, Ed, we are campainging for a judicial review of all our cases. You have it from the horse's mouth, or Independent Assessor as he likes to be known, the only way to overturn this Ombudsman's is by judicial review. Appeals to logic, common sense, fairness or justice just won't wash with OS:Property. I preferred their old name, the Surveyors Ombudsman Service - or SOS for short, at least the consumer had an idea they just might be that, a service for surveyors. This makes the Ombudsman - no matter how illogical her thinking - incredibly and ridiculously powerful. And unless you're happy to sit back and let lots of other innocent people get taken to the cleaners, you have no other choice but try to do something about it. Hence the Ombudsmans61percent Campaign! Best wishes Steve G.

Hello Ed - thanks for taking the time to contact us. We hope - eventually - to achieve one of goals which is a judicial review of our cases. This is the only way to challenge an "Obudsman's" decision no matter how illogical it might be. Her decision that is, not us challenging it - we think that's a very logical thing to do! But your point does call into question why it is we've sleepwalked into giving "Ombudsmen" so much power. It's a big stitch up when all's said and done because once RICS gave their Ombudsman all that power we as consumers are going to find it difficult - but not impossible - to get it back as it were. The present system is unjust. Consumers have been mis-sold the promise of a "fair" and "independent" investigation of their complaint by a private company who have employed staff without the necessary wherewithall to do the job. They couldn't investigate their way out of a paper bag. It needs a Levenson-like inquiry and the people who turned to this company need to have their cases independently reviewed and then to be compensated for what's happened to them. Best wishes. Steve G.

Hello Thin Lizzie and thanks for what you said about the Ombudsman and her investigations. At the moment I waiting to see if the Observer is interested in our story - been trying all the newspapers as we're very democratic here. Talked with researchers at newsnight and will be meeting my MP on the 9th March when I will ask him to try and get answers to our complaint that the Ombudsman doesn't even follow her own rules. If you contact us we'll get back to you - Sally did and has been on "Rip Off Britain," they edited what she had to say! We just have to stay calm and carry on! Best wishes Steve G