Insulation not been done as claimed / Complaint Letter to Estate Agent?

[jasmin10]

Please forgive me if this isn't in the right place or I have missed it.  I am needing to lodge a complaint with an Estate Agent to give then I think the 8 weeks to respond before taking the matter further (if needed) to the Property Ombudsman.

 

Could someone please point me in the right direct so that I know that I have included everything I need should the matter need to be pursued further.

 

Many thanks in advance.

[dx100uk]

there isn't one here sadly.

 

p'haps expand upon your issue and your thoughts of a letter and we can advise?

 

dx

 

 

 

[jasmin10]

thank you so much. 

We bought a bungalow two years ago and have since had nothing but problems with it being very cold (for my disability I use morphine and the pain I have makes me feel very cold).

 

We moved from a nice insulated new build to an older bungalow as I could no longer use the stairs after a horse riding accident.  we only wanted to buy a bungalow that had a similar heating efficiency to the house that we had just sold so that I knew it would be warm.

 

After the first winter I contact a cavity wall insulation installer to redo the walls (we already had it but thought it might need topping up). They came back saying they couldn't do it as we had already had it done in the past.

 

Well now the cold nights are well and truly underway, its cold, very cold. 

I'm sat here now 13degrees and hurting like hell. 

 

I decided to get the paperwork out to check the ratings etc and what they recommended we could do to improve.

There wasn't much more to be honest as most had been done. 

 

Husband decided to check to see if there were any parts on the outside brickwork that had been missed with the insulation. 

Well he couldn't find any drill cement plugs at all, not anywhere.  

 

i went online to see if I there was a register for the certificate you get when you have houses insulated. 

 CIGA have confirmed our suspicions that there is no certificate for our property meaning it hadn't been done. 

 

I got a copy of the EPC on line and found the details of the assessor. 

I have spoken directly with him and he has confirmed that he has made a mistake and it says none and that he could amend it and issue us with a new certificate so we can get it done. 

 

I did say that if we had of know this at the beginning we would have not bought the property. 

We have had damp wall in the outside corners, which my Husband realised was caused by the cold and warm air and drilled holes in the walls of the bedrooms where it was happening and filled them with expanding foam. 

Since he had done this the wet damp patches have not returned, reinforcing our thoughts even more.

 

Phew - so having looked at the property ombudsmen regarding a formal complaint and it says that we have to lodge it in writing with the estate agents and give them 8 weeks to respond. 

If they don't respond satisfactorily we that then refer the matter to TPO. 

 

I want to make sure that I don't leave anything out in my complaint letter so that every aspect is covered should it go further which is why I was wondering if there was a template. 

 

Obviously it is good that he has straight away been honest, but at the same time makes me not happy that for two years we have had heating full blast and been a nightmare to keep warm.

 

Any help or advice would be so helpful. (apologies if I have missed any typos, isat here with my coat on and fingers numb

[stu007]

Hi

 

You mention you got a cavity installer out to to redo the walls and they stated they couldn't do it as you already had the cavity insulation. Do you have a written report from this company that states there is cavity installation?

 

Then you contacted the EPC Assessor directly and they stated an error had been made as none had been done. I assume you have a copy of the original EPC so I would (if you are in England or Wales) have a look at this link and enter certificate reference number to see if this EPC Assessor has actually amemded it to state none:
https://www.epcregister.com/searchReport.html

 

I can understand your furstration but IMO with the EPC if you have a copy of the original and the Assessor has stated the error and they will amend the certificate

IMO I would wait till the Assessor has amended/updated the EPC error (gives you more evidence of Maladministration by this Assessor)

 

Which Company was the Assessor employed by?

 

Ofgem link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/key-term-explained/energy-performance-certificate-epc

 

This link may help explain an EPC a bit better: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-performance-certificates

 

Do you know when the bungalow was actually built/how old it is?

 

When you were purchasing the property did you get employ your own surveyor to get a report on the property at all?

 

Their is going to be no fast resolution to this sadly but you need to gather evidence to be able to challenge the Estate Agent/Previous Property Owner.

[jasmin10]

Thank you for your detailed reply.

 

i only contacted an installer, they didn’t come out to the property. They said that they could see from the online epc that it already had insulation.

 

yes we have the original epc, printed out from on line and I also have the original marketing brochure given to us by the estate agent with the epc also printed on it.

 

i will have a look at the link you posted. The assessor amended the epc tonight whilst I was talking to him and emailed me across the new one. I will check to see if this is now also online and overwritten the previous one.

 

the bungalow was built in 1988 going by the deeds.

 

the building society did a standard home buyers survey. I will see if I have the report.

 

what do you think.

 

the company is called cc - ltd which stands for complete certification ltd and is local to the estate agent. The date of the incorrect epc ties in with it being carried out when the bungalow was put on the market. The assessor is on their website as being a director

 

I have put the new epc reference in the link as you suggested and the new epc that he amended tonight is already live and updates on the register.

 

I think I have all the evidence that there is to get tbh and with his own admission that a mistake was made would that not be enough for a good strong case ?

 

I have put the new epc reference in the link as you suggested and the new epc that he amended tonight is already live and updates on the register.

 

I think I have all the evidence that there is to get tbh and with his own admission that a mistake was made would that not be enough for a good strong case ?

[ericsbrother]

The EPC person should have professional indemnity insurance so you may get the cost of doing the work from them as they were negligent in their assessment and report.

I doubt if you will get anywhere against the EA unles you can show they had a condition that forced the vendor to use this company and have a small chance of redress from the vendor for allowing false statements to be made on their behalf but that will depend on what they knew or should have known at the time.

in the meanwhile does the govt still pay for insulation or at least subsidise it? You might want to investigate this and suggest to the errant aprties that they pay for the work between them and save a bundle on legal costs