Costly mistake

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Entire property collapses in on itself during renovation work and family told to 250,000 to repair home

Heartbroken family forced to pay £250,000 after home collapsed as a result of renovation works — despite builder's insurance offering nothing

A SHOCKED couple have been left thousands of pounds in debt after a botched loft conversion on their two-bedroom terrace home in Windsor.

Shockedby the work of a safety regulator.

  • The £38,000 extension was intended to add two further bedrooms to the property but when the roof came off, it caused the floor above to collapse through, destroying the level beneath.
  • The couple's son, who was at home at the time of the attack, also broke a leg.
  • A subcontractor sustained major injuries, and fire crews were dispatched when the home buckled.
  • Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionJames Hobby went on BBC: Rip-Off Britain
  • What was found to be the case: the builder who failed to prop the gable, party wall and chimney. a mistake that could have been avoided with Expert Advice on Party Wall Agreements before starting such major renovations.
  • While the family had gone on holiday, work was carried out at their home by Hobby and his wife who live at the property with two children.
  • Mr Hobby said on the BBC's Rip Off Britain TV show: 'We were shellshocked and it was beyond comprehension how that had happened.
  • The damage was unimaginable, and the casualties were horrific. I was like completely shocked by it.
  • His building insurance would not pay for the damage as there is a clause that says it does not cover workmanship.
  • The family has now paid £250,000 to repair the damage © BBC

Mr Hobby West london.

  • The guys from the insurance company disagreed and said the damage was likely liable on the builder.
  • However six months after the collapse Direct Line, which provided insurance for the builder, said it too would not pay up.
  • While Direct Line said it came across three County Court Judgements (CCJs) against the builder's other name – and they weren't stated at policy inception, so wouldn't pay out.
  • The builder denied knowing about the CCJs and has now settled them, while Mr Hobby was unable to take the case further with Direct Line as he is not a customer.
  • Mr Hobby said he had been unable to claim back money for the damage
  • He is also not able to take his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman for the same reason and hopes that will be more successful with builder.
  • Mr Hobby and his family have since returned to their home, having poured their life savings into fixing the house to a liveable standard and borrowing money from relatives.
  • Mr Hobby said: ‘The one person who is most adversely affected by it the right to it will lie less with me than anyone.
  • How the hell did this even happen? What brought about this all being on me? It doesn’t seem fair.”

Mr Home at his time of collapse in West London.

  • The builder, who has asked not to be named, is hopeful that the Financial Ombudsman will agree.
  • Direct Line Business Insurance said : "We have every sympathy with Mr Hobby and he finds himself in this position after his builder failed to inform the complete truth when he took out insurance with us and now looks set to see his home being reduced to rubble.
  • Since Mr. Hobby is not our customer, we are prohibited from disclosing the specifics on the policy we voided and unfortunately will have to defer any inquiries to his builder.
  • “However, in the case of purchasing business insurance we need customers to answer questions honestly and divulge facts when asked because it is what determines if we take on the risk.
  • 'As soon as a policy is issued we make it clear that the customer should notify us right away of any inaccuracies, otherwise the policy may be invalid or cancelled.
  • Mr Hobby located the builder through tradesman comparison website Rated People and said he was feeling “positive” they had found somebody to carry out the work.

Roof turned to rubble, fell out of the sky

  • The builder in question who said he was suspended from his membership in September after “routine vetting and monitoring processes” went on to claim that Rated People now checks for CCJs against individuals on its site.
  • A spokesperson said: “We do not insure tradespeople ourselves so insurance providers need to carry out their own checks of CCJs irrespective of whether a tradesperson is listed with an online marketplace like ours.
  • "Ought to, plus our vetting is tops and ongoing monitoring.UNRELATED As soon as a tradesperson is accepted onto our platform we keep a close eye on their behaviour and performance monitoring what they do and how they interact with customers, acting on any red flags, in order to meet the needs of society.
  • “Where we are made aware of a possible problem, we will act as soon as it is reasonably practical to do so, as was the case here. Preserving homeowners and all of the high-quality, skilled tradespeople who receive glowing feedback on our site will always remain top of our list.

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