NHBC Reviews 494

Labour and material prices from 2019/2020

If your claim is accepted then you will be concerned to find out NHBC still use hourly and material charges from 4 years ago, with construction seeing some of the highest inflation in the past few years you will still be out of pocket. Another example of NHBC being completely out of touch with it's own industry.

Most pointless company on earth! They are all affialiated with the builders anyway! Even when we have water coming into our house, wonky porch roof, multiple leaks, water in the electricity box- they won’t do anything as it’s not worth however many thousands of pounds yet! They ve agreed that over time it will get a lot worse and then cost tens of thousands of pounds but rather than fix it now they re leaving it to hopefully go wrong outside the warranty period! Absolute waste of time and not even worth the paper it’s written on to be honest!
I have also never dealt with such rude, arrogant, nasty and patronising people as those at the NHBC! Being accused to my face of lying, saying there’s nothing they can do to help even before they actually look at any of the problems! Just had the most rude, vile, impolite nasty little man out to inspect and he actually didn’t even come inside the house- already made up his mind before he even got here!

Worthless guarantee

Note the NHBC do not relly to reviews and that illustrates how poorly they view your comments.

Failed to listen to my representations. Failed to take account of video evidence. Failed to reply to communications they invite you to make. Contradicted each other - 2 assessors involved. Awful people. As bad as the builders of the homes

NHBC award and endorse builders and staff members and that shows how NHBC lack impartiality.

clueless inspectors clueless customer service professional I don’t think so would nt let them build a shed puppets to the house builders who subsidise them just a scamming insurance company

They don't live up to their 10 year guarantee at all, I've literally had large pieces of cement falling off from under my roof, causing there to be a lack of support and they're obstructionist and unhelpful at every turn. The guarantee is pretty much worthless.

Contrary to most here, we had an excellent experience. Multiple roof leaks due to incorrect installations by the developer. James at NHBC got back within the week, drew up his report and full claim settled within 3 weeks We appreciated being kept in touch throughout.

The biggest most corrupt company in the UNITED KINGDOM.

DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY.
They are NOT there for you. They are NOT giving you a warranty they are not helping you in anyway.

They are paid BY THE BUILDER and are in the builder’s pocket.
They will lie. Cheat. Push force. Play so many games with you to make you give up.
I’ve been threatened by this company on multiple occasions. And was told when they caused me a breakdown that me committing suicide would “save them a few QUID”

They have spent more money in admin staff surveyors. Con artists and crooks than the repair would have cost.

I have been told that I’m unreasonable. And that even though my house is inhabitable. And ice cold all year round. And I’m yet to use 1/3 of my house the whole ground floor. I NEED TO BE CONSIDERATE AND CONSIDER THE POOR HOUSE BUILDER.

WHO CARES ABOUT THEM. Did they care when they built a shoddy house and made me pay for it? Making them £millions in profit???? NO THEY DID NOT!!!

YEARS DOWN THE LINE. £200,000 in equity of mine tied up in this house. That I’m forced to own. I cannot sell it. I cannot leave. I’m forced to pay the mortgage.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEAEE READ THIS AND DO NOT EVER BUY A HOUSE WUTH NHBC SIGN OFF OR NHBC 10 YEAR WARRANTY

the warranty doesn’t exist!! Unless you need a basic handyman to touch up paint!!

Beyond that you will get ZERO and you like me will be trapped into a house

They are programmed to safeguard new builds. They will bring something up which they know cannot be fulfilled in the complaint process. a useless body.

Contacted NHBC January 24, had to wait until may 1st for inspection, meanwhile mould and water ingress proceeded to get worse. Was told I would have a report within 24 hours - I did not. There has been 12 people sent to my property, 3 surveys, and another inspection drilling holes in my slab and walls and they want me to wait until July for another surveyor to be completed. I’ve been told they’ve done things to ‘keep you happy’. All the while I’m living in a mouldy house causing me mould toxicity. There is no urgency, no one communicates with you and they are in complete cahoots with the builder yet meant to be independent….everything they’re doing is to avoid fixing my house. The NHBC have confirmed numerous times they don’t even inspect properties when they sign them off. The whole thing is ridiculous and to benefit the builders. I have numerous emails from the builder confirming their involvement with my NHBC case and their request for the 4th survey - something I’m sure trading standards will be interested in seeing.
They take days/weeks to respond - no priority as to what the issue is which is crazy and yet their excuse is always something urgent came up - how can something be more urgent when they say their isn’t a priority list?!
They’re an absolute joke, they need investigating by trading standards and the ombudsman as they most certainly are not independent and frankly are working in the interests of the builder.
They have no regard to people’s short and long term health nor mental health.
I would like to know where all the money builders give them for each house registered with them actually goes because it certainly does not go towards fixing people’s properties.

Not worth the paper it is written on, oh we don't cover this, or we don't cover that. You need to use your home insurance.... Well no it is a build error, not wear and tear. ABSOLUTELY USELESS, I WOULDN'T WIPE MY BACK SIDE WITH THE CERTIFICATE.!

Totally unhelpful, for NHBC to be able to assist you must follow the company's complaints process which I have done previously and been ignored!! I asked how I can go about getting the problems fixed myself to which they replied if you do that we won't be able to help. Well you haven't helped me at all so that doesn't make any difference!! I wouldn't bother contacting NHBC as it only adds to the issues you experience from your builder.

waste of time using nhbc they did nothing to help rectify problems with miller homes in over 10 months

The NHBC is only there to help builders sell houses. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. Your house needs to be falling down before they do anything. They send a questionnaire not long after completion. Another questionnaire should be sent after 1 year and 5 years. This would give home buyers a true reflection of builders. I think they would get very different answers than the first time.

Absolutely disgrace of what NHBC did. Their guarantee is not for homeowners but for the poor contractors to continues their sub-standard houses and flats.

Been waiting 5 years to have my house fixed. Excuse after excuse, my mental health and that of my families deteriorating along the way. NHBC don't care.
Now I have a precariously hanging TV due to a warped wall mount. No picture because we weren't able to adjust cables properly and can't attempt a reset without getting to the back of the tv. After 8 days the response i get, find someone who can take it down and we'll pay them and buy a new bracket. I don't even know where to start!
They should be ashamed of themselves! And yes I have put in a formal complaint, won't stop the risk of a TV falling on my child though will it? An absolute disgrace.

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.