NHBC Reviews 497

An nhbc certificate is a complete worthless piece of paper. Basically once outside your builders warranty you are on your own.

I would not recommend NHBC to anyone.

I moved into my property in December 2020, and understood that the builder would manage defects within years 1 and 2, with NHBC taking responsibility thereafter form years 3 to 10 for structural defects. I did not receive any paperwork at all from NHBC, but did not think this was anything to worry about as I expected this would come to me when they took over from year 3.

2 and a half years after moving in, I call NHBC to register a claim and was advised that there is a minimum claim value of £1850 which MUST be met before any claim would be accepted. Additionally, there is no guarantee that all structural problems would be accepted as part of the claim.

After registering a complaint to NHBC as they sent me no paperwork whatsoever, I was told that the responsibility lies with the housebuilder and they have no responsibility to ensure I am aware of their terms and conditions.

Needless to say, the housebuilder used NHBC as a sales tactic, but didn’t give me any of the important information that one would expect to have.

What frustrated me the most about this is NHBC sent me two questionnaires to my email address within six months of moving into my new build home asking what my opinion was of the housebuilder, build quality etc. I do not understand how they can use my email address for that, but not to provide me with the necessary information regarding the limitations of their policies.

A complaint will be going in to FOS about this as I have never been sold a policy before that I have not been provided any information about. I know I’m not the only one affected by this as I’ve checked with my neighbours.

Rating this company with only 1 star is overly generous. For the past three years, my property has suffered from water ingress, despite the company acknowledging the claim. Regrettably, the damage to my property worsens with each passing winter. Despite my persistent efforts, the situation remains unresolved. Dealing with this ongoing issue has taken a severe toll on my mental health, l am utterly drained and disheartened to find that my experience is not unique. I would strongly advise others to avoid dealing with this company, although for many, there may be no alternative. There is a pressing need for better regulations to protect consumers from such experiences.

I've had a rather unpleasant experience dealing with NHBC as well. Initially, they rejected my claim, which seemed to be either due to a negligent assessment by their internal claim assessor or potentially even collusion between the assessor and the builder. After going through an appeal process and lodging two formal complaints, NHBC eventually offered us a small cash compensation and partially addressed the damages caused by the builder's failure to properly set up the ventilation system. It took us three years of fighting for justice to reach this point.

From what I've read about others' experiences, it seems NHBC is causing distress to many of us, with actions that range from unethical to potentially criminal. In order to achieve better outcomes and potentially seek redress, it's important for us to band together, as individual cases can easily be overlooked.

Here are the steps we took when our initial claim was rejected:
1. We conducted an independent investigation into the claim.
2. We lodged an appeal against the claim decision.
3. We submitted formal complaints to NHBC, followed by another complaint when they failed to resolve the matter satisfactorily.
4. We escalated the issue by filing a complaint with the regulator, the FCA (search for FCA consumer queries on Google), as they have an obligation to investigate potentially unlawful conduct by regulated companies.

Currently, we are in the process of preparing a formal complaint to submit to the Financial Ombudsman Office. This is because, in addition to the inadequate settlement proposed by NHBC, we strongly believe that exclusion clauses in the buildmark insurance, which prevent us from claiming for distress or costs related to independent claim assessments are unlawful and should be voided.

I urge you to take similar actions and to keep all evidence related to your case. It's crucial that we unite and stand up for our rights, otherwise, justice may never be served. Please consider filing a formal complaint, reporting to the regulator (FCA), and escalating your claim to the Financial Ombudsman Office if you feel that justice has not been achieved.

NHBC are just as bad as the developers and should be investigated by the government. Standards and quality are two different areas and builders take advantage of this. The fact that NHBC allows the developers to get away with poor quality work and pass of as "built to spec" is why new builds are so low quality.

Absolutely useless organisation. Hardly anything In the home is covered.

Had our fence fall over due to poor installation...they don't cover fences.

Had a leak due to pipes not being fit and tested properly...they don't cover leaks.

If you can find anything they do cover please tell me as I'd love to know!

many thanks to NHBC for inspecting the leak as well as helping the house builders representative to have a look at the issues. they gave a thorough report and based on the report the builders have agreed to carry out the work. many thanks for all your help NHBC

These guys are in the pockets of the housebuilders and have no intention of fighting against the hand that feeds them.

I would never buy a new home again. NHBC as good as a chocolate fireguard. They will not help and told me to go to my own home insurance company. I explained it’s not built to NHBC standards and so many things wrong but they don’t care!!! Then I said I’ve been in less than two years they said I need to contact builder but I have done this so many times and I just want an independent check as builders lie !!! Nope they just sent me copy of certificate and what I should do !!! No real help.

We have had two occasions when we have had to contact the NHBC due to faults with our home which had NHBC warranty. On both occasions the claims process was thorough and clearly communicated to us. The claims allowed the work to be carried out to rectify the issues identified. The experiences on both occasions have been positive for us.

Not sure what NHBC does for each and everything they are on builder side took jo action. I have my house coping stone falling like lego pieces and Taylor wimpy is not taking any action for almost 1 year and 6 months. Reported it to NHBC, inspector came in and in his report is specified no action all satisfactory as builder said they will fix it one day no timeline is specified. Coping stone are big slabs which has already broken furniture in my garden and if it falls to some might cause very bad injury or can kill. But inspector took no action to fix the issue urgently. Not sure where to go next and NHBC guarantee is there for

After leaving a 1 star review and dambing report on redrow as part of a survey I have heard nothing back from this company. Any probably never will. Pointless waste of my time.

Long boring story of roof leaking into bedroom. Building and contents insurance couldn't cover damage as not storm related. NHBC contacted in desperation who sent out an engineer, Chris I think. He was a breath of fresh air. Inspected damage and recommended a course of action.
This was completed with a small problem that Eliot and his team fixed quickly and efficiently.
Complete professionals, all of them.
I am thoroughly impressed and grateful.

Despite sending a set of photographs and two expert opinions to NHBC on a roofing fault with TaylorWimpey North East house I cannot get them to call out and repair the issue. TaylorWimpey don’t want to know either. Starting legal action as the NHBC certificate is worthless.

Well well well …. only 1 star for this disgraceful outfit that are supposed to be there to protect new home buyers. I was once told that NHBC are “in bed” with the Developers, well today I found that out for myself. Following 18 months of sleepless nights due to living in a new build semi detached property, I have finally collapsed and now need medication to sleep and be able to work full time due to the unacceptable sound transfer from the adjoining property. The Developer does not care and neither does NHBC as they refer to it as “impact sound” and they can get away with this type of sound transfer regardless of how loud it is. We hear our neighbours every move as if they are in our property. We have also been told that any airborne noise is a result of ASB, however our local council has carried out sound recordings and has produced a report stating “no ASB and therefore due to insufficient insulation between the properties”. The Developer and NHBC do not care about that report. We have been requesting that a representative from the Developer or NHBC visits our property to witness the disturbing noise transfer but they refuse. I hope that I can help just one person if they are reading this and have been told by the Developer that NHBC will protect you. They WILL NOT. Just read the reviews on here and you will see what a waste of time they are! Once we are out of this property and not suffering anymore, I will be naming and shaming the Developer, in the meantime …. NHBC you are as disgraceful as they are!

NHBC... NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE! Everyone I talk to think they are an official body, council/government backed to help innocent homebuyers. Their name is very misleading.
NO, they are a private company paid for by the builder so not independent. They provide building control and the Buildmark warrenty, so they are marking their own homework. This is surely a conflick of interest and open to abuse which I think I have found in my case.
They do all they can, and lie, not to help the home buyers. Apparently their regs or only guidlines so the builder can ignore them!! As we have found out with our waterlogged garden from day one of moving in. Builder totally ignored those regs and NHBC said yhey will do nothing. Their warrent is not worth the paper it is written on.. Be warned.

Gosh didn't realise so many people had a problem with NHBC. Thought it was just me. I have been waiting over 2 years with builder for many faults, some rectified, and each time I contact NHBC they were useless. I was trying to contact the chap who passed the house before I moved in as I had plenty to say to him. In fact he should be sacked as he is obviously incapable of inspecting anything! I do laugh now when I see a house for sale quoting the amount of years left on the NHBC guarantee on their house, it is worthless and means nothing! Was told that they only cover anything life threatening, well my sanity has been threatened and ruined!

Rather than protection homeowners from the unscrupulous practice of housebuilders they look for any reason not to assist but support the developer who pays their fees. Even now after 18 months the developer is foot dragging when it comes to remedy defects. The developer concerned doesn't even have a policy when it comes to customer care, which is a requirement they must have, but somehow the NHBC has overlooked.

I never believed they collude with builder. Today it was proved infront of my eyes that they did it. I am going to court with this case.

Corrupt organisation. I believe they are in cahoot with the house builders. They know stuff is not right and not to regulation, they just waffle excuses for bad builds. Money talks.