Homes from Hell ITV Program

Homes from Hell ITV Program £12 Million insurance claim

      The ITV program Homes from Hell, shown on ITV at 8pm on 3rd of March featured a block of flats which now holds the dubious title of being the highest insurance claim for building defect. The following account shows how a mixture of poor legislation and building management systems and poor surveying techniques are likely to cause a dramatic increases in insurance claims. The occupants of a 3 years old penthouse flat had a small patch of mould in the hall ceiling and were alarmed when American visitors suggested it may be toxic. They called in Jeff Charlton of Building Forensics and requested analysis.

Following international protocols a sampling hypothesis was designed which aimed to identify the cause and probable effect of the mould. This meant assessing the various parameters which could lead to mould. Infra red thermal imaging was used to identify possible thermal breaks or cold bridging which could result in condensation but the imagery was confusing because insulation did not appear to be present at all. More importantly cold bridging and moisture ingress levels were alarming. Finished floors were saturated and various indicators suggested severe flooding or high specific humidity was a continuing problem. The property was placed under both positive and negative pressure and pressure or vacuum gauges identified alarming air leakage to the building envelope. The list of construction defects is endless but seven significant issues were identified:

1. The properties were designed to a high specification to reflect the high cost
2. The build was to a very low and illegal standard
3. Nobody appears to have noticed the failures until the mould survey
4. NHBC the insurer had inspected or signed off construction phases which were obviously not completed
5. The cost of retrofit is already £12million and likely to double when all claims are assessed
6. Over 40 new flats were sold and many had mortgages but surveyors it now appears failed to identify any problems in the 3 year life of the building
7. The majority of faults were identified in a routine mould investigation

While some of the faults were clearly building defects some were design issues or the result of compliance to legal requirements. This included adherence to typical carbon footprint type controls such as Part L of the building regulations which increasingly has detrimental effects to building structure or occupants. We are now faced with the fact that compliance to legal requirements can cause the elevated decay of buildings, poor health and a substantial increase in insurance claims often misdiagnosed as insured peril or building defect.

The belief that new products, innovative design and build coupled to reduced carbon footprints can be of value must be challenged when it is patently obvious that serious problems exist. I have a suspicion that unquestionable evidence is going to be required before anyone is going to act and stop this madness. This requirement of proof before action was reflected in  the known dangers of asbestos which was recognised by the Romans 2,000 years ago but was still used in UK construction up to 1999. Charlton has been critical of the contractor response, building restoration  and damage measurement techniques linked to time and cost issues in flood damage since the Lewes floods of 2000, Carlisle 2004  and yet it took the Pitt report in 2008 to state the apparently obvious fact, deduced by Pitt in a just few weeks that the industry doesn’t know what its doing and should get together.(section 7) While flood restoration may affect a few thousand homes the building industry is following flawed legislation, defective building techniques and even worse the concept of surveyors or loss adjusters using experience instead of science based logic in assessing building defect or damage. 

The audits Charlton undertook in the wide area floods of 2007 proved without doubt to insures and members of the ABI property claims forum that restoration costs could be reduced by 40% and time lines to claim closure reduced by 70% but still the industry follows the historic and wholly inappropriate procedures used by our grandfathers in whitewashed brick built property before the use of sealed double glazing, impermeable surface finishes and reliance on origami skills of builders using paper, tape  and silicone sealer as primary defence against weather or leaks.