In This Guide
Apply for a mortgage
Buying at auction
Buying in Scotland
Conveyancing
Find and view
Negotiate
Plan your purchase
Success and failure
Surveys and valuations
1. Surveys
2. Basic mortgage valuation
3. Basic valuation example
4. Homebuyer's report
5. Homebuyer's report example
6. The surveyor's inspection
7. Full structural survey
8. Choosing surveyors
9. Complaints
To buy or not to buy
Surveys and valuations
Complaints
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A surveyor has a duty of care to you as a customer. They are legally bound to provide a certain level of service and are fully liable if they fail to perform their duties. If they fail to identify a fault with a property, which then results in you incurring a financial loss, then you have the right to either sue them in court or pursue a claim through an arbitration scheme. If the thought of bringing financial ruin to a surveyor's company fills you with moral anguish, you needn't worry. All surveyors are required to hold professional indemnity insurance that covers them against claims arising from the public due to their professional incompetence.
There is an arbitration scheme in place for members of both professional bodies. If there are any complaints that cannot be settled by other means, members of either body are obliged to use the appropriate arbitration scheme and accept its findings. Where the body is the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the arbitration works very much like a court case, though it is administered by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and not by the criminal or civil courts. The RICS pays the full cost of the proceedings. Each side also pays a £200 registration fee. For any successful claims, the surveyor must pay the customer's registration fee. For unsuccessful claims, the customer will only have to pay the £200 registration fee of the surveyor if the claim is for more than £3000.
Going through an arbitration scheme should probably not be your first course of action. Writing a letter of complaint is probably a more sensible first option. This should fully explain what aspects of the work or service you are not happy with and what you expected to be done that was not done to your satisfaction. You should also indicate your view of appropriate remedial action that should be taken by the company - whether you want compensation, a refund or whatever. Keep a copy of the letter and make a note of the date you sent it.
You may well get a standard letter giving you the brush-off as a reply. This should not deter you from pursuing the matter further. If the company or individual is a member of either of the two main professional trade associations, they will be obliged to follow the standard complaints procedures. If you feel that they are not doing this, write to their compliance officer and let them know that you are contacting the governing body. The threat of this is often enough to stir the company into action. If not, then you will have to actually contact the complaints department of RICS and use the arbitration scheme. If they prove not to be a member of the association, then you will have to let the British justice system decide matters.
Further details are available from:
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
24 Angel Gate
City Road
London
EC1V
2RS (020) 7837 4483
If you have a complaint regarding your surveyor that does not relate to a loss of money, you can still air your grievances. You may feel that your complaint was not handled very well by the surveyor, there may have been an apparent lack of complaints procedure, confidential information about your personal matters may have been disclosed to a third party, or there could have been some other reason why the surveyor acted unprofessionally. In this sort of instance, you should contact:
The Professional Conduct Department
RICS
12 Great George Street
London
SW1P 3AD
(020) 7222 7000
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