TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 31
MAY 2019
COMPLAINTS AND CLAIMS HOW YOUR EVIDENCE AND ROBUST PROCESSES CAN HELP YOU HILARY GRAYSON BSC EST MAN (HONS) DIRECTOR OF SURVEYING SERVICES, SAVA HAYLEY BOWKETT TECHNICAL TEAM, SAVA
Prior to 2019, when Sava had a scheme Professional Indemnity (PI) policy in place, we were able to handle many complaints and claims on behalf of our members who produced the Home Condition Survey (HCS). In doing so, we have truly learnt the importance of having an excellent set of site notes and evidence from an inspection. In this article, we discuss how your evidence and processes can help defend you in the event you receive a complaint or claim. Complaints and claims can arise some years after the survey was undertaken and the report prepared and sent to the client. It is unreasonable to expect you to remember an inspection in great detail, therefore the main reliable source of information about the inspection, and proof that what was quoted in the report was in fact the case on the date of the inspection, will be the comprehensive record of the inspection you made while on site. This includes any annotated photographs, measurements, moisture meter readings etc., together with any notes relating to the research undertaken before and after the inspection as well as any conversation or other communication you might
have had with your client. If the client challenges your report it will be down to you to prove that what you reported to your client was appropriate for the service provided and correct at the date of inspection, and that you were not negligent. Therefore, even if an issue wasn’t apparent on the date of the inspection, if you do not have evidence to prove that, then you will already be on the back foot. When Sava has handled complaints on behalf of an HCS user it would probably be fair to say that ‘on the date of inspection’ was the most commonly used phrase in complaint responses because it is important to emphasise that the surveyor can only report on what was present on the date of inspection
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