Home Insurance Claim - Defect New House

Hi Guys
My wife & I bought a new house just over a year ago. We got someone to lay solid-floorboarding throughout. However, a couple of weeks ago we noticed that one or two of the boards were rising/buckling and called in the guy we got to fit them. He took up the offending board. It transpires that at the location, the underground DPC does not extend fully to the wall, which allowed the access of moisture to the floorboard, causing it to buckle. I phoned our Insurance Company enquiring about putting in a claim outlining the position. However, they said that they don't extend cover for this type of damage.

Am I in trouble??

How do you know the DPM doesn't extend fully across the slab? Without taking up concrete this is very difficult to be diagnose for certain. A moisture meter will give a more accurate indication of rising damp and it's location. A possible fault could be a leaking pipe in a floor screed; this can appear like a faulty DPM etc and can be difficult to trace as water will migrate away from the source, finding the lowest point- which could be remote from the actual source of the leak. I suggest you rule out a possible leak in the plumbing before looking at other possibilities. I had a similar problem myself in a new house a few years ago- a weeping rad valve was allowing water to soak into a ground floor screed, where it migrated to the internal walls and caused a damp patch on those walls. The leak went undetected for some time and I thought the mysterious damp patches were DPC/DPM related. I was wrong thankfully and a simple repair rectified the problem. Rule out the obvious first before contemplating more radical (and expensive) defects.

Thanks Carpenter
Sorry I should have clarified, our floorman chipped away at the screed and it is evident where the DPC ends. The area involved is located beside a Conservatory door.

Is the house covered by HomeBond? If so you could try contacting them if this is considered a serious structural problem. Good luck though - my own experience with them was overwhelmingly negative.

Agreed clubman, my own experiences were far from positive also. However Homeobond will cover more minor defects such as that described, where they are uncovered in the first two years. However the homeowner must first contact the builder directly and if the the builder fails to respond he can then make a complaint to Homebond.

Thanks Guys.
No Homebond, but I have a Structural Defects Indemnity. However, I don't want the same incompetant Builder to do the remedial work unless absolutely necessary. I'd prefer to get my own guy to do the repairs, get the works paid for under the House Insurance and let them go after the builder under the Indemnity if they want to.

I really want to know are the insurance people correct when they say they wont cover me?

Micky said:

I really want to know are the insurance people correct when they say they wont cover me?

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A quick read of the terms & conditions of your policy document should clarify what's covered and what's not.