Barratt/David Wilson Home File

[plot17]

Morning all,

I am in a long running dispute with Barratt/David Wilson over the poor quality of my new home and their bodged attempts to put it right. I have the photos on a keepandshare page but can't post the link because I am a new member.

Something that has helped my case was a subject access request under the data protection act. If you make such a request then Barratt MUST (legally)send you all information they hold on you within 40 days. The request costs £10.

They sent me my entire home file which contained all sorts of useful information and internal emails. This includes letters saying things about specific items such as:

"We cannot tell him what is our normal practice etc or what tends to happen on site. We must tell him what the official regulations are and ensure that the installation is fully compliant"

I also know how much profit they made on my property and how much they spent putting it right and have received emails sent from Chris Burton (MD for the region) to Mark Clare (CEO) regarding my property.

I believe that this will significantly help my case for compensation. The letter I sent was as follows:

Data Protection Compliance Officer,
Barratt Developments PLC,
Barratt House,
Forest Hill Business Park,
Cartwright Way,
Leicestershire.
LE67 1UF

11th February 2012


Dear Sir or Madam,


My name is xx and I live at xx. This address is Plot 17 at your David Wilson Homes (xx) Development.


Please supply all information about me to which I am entitled under the Data Protection Act 1998. Where applicable, this should also include all information and correspondence relating to my property (address here).


I enclose a cheque for £10 made out to Barratt Developments to cover the costs of fulfilling this request.


If you require any further information from me, to comply with my request, then you may contact me at the above address, by email at xx@xx or by telephone on xxxx.


Yours Sincerely,

And then post it recorded delivery with a cheque for £10 enclosed.

I would be interested to know if anyone else goes down this route and if you have any success as a result. For me it was money well spent.

 

[plot17]

Photos

I've now updated my details to include my keepandshare page. Click on my name (plot17) and select view homepage. Anyone else had this much wrong with their house?

 

[NewHomeExpert]

If you are having lots of problems and it looks like this is the case why not set up a proper website to feature your experiences.

Many disgruntled home owners have done this in the past.

It is not really that difficult and there are free website templates you can use and your broadband provider would probably host it for you for free as part of your package.

No one is going to mess about with that "keepandshare" thingy.
Poor man's facebook?

 

[plot17]

Barrat/David Wilson Home File

Proper website is on its way - domains are registered but I am giving Barratt a chance to live up to their responsibilities first.

Keepandshare account if just a way of sharing and storing files, although I have had over 270 visitors in 2 days without trying...

The purpose of my post is not to tell everyone about my photos, it is to let people know about using a subject access request to force Barratt to give information that they would not normally share. It also shows them that you are serious about getting the issues resolved and that you are not going to simply go away.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

I agree. Few people realise that they can get copies of e mails and letters held about them under the Data Protection Act.

I made a SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST to obtain details of my personal pension from a major insurance company and it was amazing what they said to each other in e mails about my claim for compensation and their efforts to limit and deny liability.

Most companies run scared of the ICO but everyone should be aware that any complaint to the ICO about a Data Protection Issue may take over a year to be even investigated.

But I agree it is a good way of getting information, especially if you are considering going to court.

Re domains, you can often get these for free as part of a full hosting package. Have you chosen some great domain names? Do tell!

 

[robbo]

I have read your thread and think i will have to go down the same route i have been having isues with DWH for over 16 months now and all i get is crap i speak to DAVE FELLOWS almost every couple of weeks BUT THE SO CALLED DIRECTOR COLIN JONES will not reply or come out to my house i have now told them i will be charging them each time myself or my partner take time off work and the jobs are not done (first bill passed on last week)will see if they pay or if i need to go to court to get money
CAN ANY PEOPLE ON HAMPTON VALE SITE WITH PROBLEMS PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS THE MORE THINGS WRONG THE MORE POWER WE HAVE

 

[NewHomeExpert]

It is always a great idea to do a "class action" with anyone else on the development that has been having problems.
It gets the media interested too and makes it less likely that you will be dismissed by the house builder as just a "moaning mini"

You can claim compensation and you may need to go to the County Court and get judgement to get paid though.
Keep your claim realistic and give them every chance to pay before taking that route.

Have you written to Barratt's CEO Mark Clare?

 

[plot17]

Just copy my letter, include your cheque for £10 and send it off. I also got the satisfaction of knowing that it cost them £27 to post my home file and that someone had to go through the entire 1000 or so pages crossing out 3rd party email addresses and the like. £10 well spent.

I had a visit on Saturday from our local Construction Director and Customer Services Executive and while they were here I asked them questions about some of the things I found in my home file. For example, there was an email saying that the Sales Person knew at second fix that the wiring for a burglar alarm had not been installed (DWH sold the house with the cheapest wireless system they could find that didn't really work). I showed the email to the two DWH people and asked if DWH thought that it was OK to sell a property knowing that it had not been built to specification. The answer I got from the Construction Director was "It's not ideal.".... lol. I asked them both if I now had the correct fence for my property installed. Construction Director said yes and Customer Services Executive said no... clown music anyone?

 

[plot17]

Be aware that they have 40 days to reply though...

 

[NewHomeExpert]

First of all I love your username Plot17. I wonder if more people will sign in with thier plot number.

It really looks like a great way to get information from your housebuilder.
And as you say, it only cost you a maximum of £10 and if it costs them even more money posting it and a great deal of inconvenience, this may well be a way forward and a great way of lodging a protest against bad workmanship and poor service.
If everyone who had a problem on a particular development all made Subject Access Requests to the house buuilder at the same time it would be sure to get their attention!

 

[robbo]

Dwh

It is always a great idea to do a "class action" with anyone else on the development that has been having problems.
It gets the media interested too and makes it less likely that you will be dismissed by the house builder as just a "moaning mini"

You can claim compensation and you may need to go to the County Court and get judgement to get paid though.
Keep your claim realistic and give them every chance to pay before taking that route.

Have you written to Barratt's CEO Mark Clare?

i do not know if MARK CLARE as been informed i have sent hundreds of emails to DHW and asked so called director colin jones to reply but he never does except first time when he stated DWH do not pay compensation
i am now going to use the route of getting all paperwork under data act and will pay the £10 then use small claims court

 

[plot17]

I can confirm that Barratt Developments DO pay compensation. They have offered me financial compensation on several occasions and they have just increased it by 50%. Their original offer was conditional upon me signing a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement although they have not mentioned this in their latest offer. I have rejected the offer as I do not believe it to be fair. In fact, I do not believe it even covers the expenses we have occurred.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

i do not know if MARK CLARE as been informed i have sent hundreds of emails to DHW and asked so called director colin jones to reply but he never does except first time when he stated DWH do not pay compensation
i am now going to use the route of getting all paperwork under data act and will pay the £10 then use small claims court

You should ALWAYS write to the top man, in this case CEO Mark Clare, if you have not had success at regional level.
Believe me 9/10 when a complaint reaches the CEO's office it ripples all the way back down and things happen.
he will, after all be the one on BBC Watchdog trying to explain how he let the situation happen!

The more letters the various CEO's get from unhappy customers the more inclined they may be to do something about the dreadful standard of new homes generally.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

I can confirm that Barratt Developments DO pay compensation. They have offered me financial compensation on several occasions and they have just increased it by 50%. Their original offer was conditional upon me signing a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement although they have not mentioned this in their latest offer. I have rejected the offer as I do not believe it to be fair. In fact, I do not believe it even covers the expenses we have occurred.

ALL THE NATIONAL HOUSE BUILDER'S PAY COMPENSATION.

Don't believe there so-called "no compensation policy" they first tell you.

You never hear about payments because thay always come with a confidentiality or gag order as a condition.

Dont be put off making a claim. The Small claims courts is easy, relatively inexpensive and no house builder would want to have their terrible customer service broadcast in an open public court!
They will always pay in the end.
The longer they mess you about thew more it will cost them!

 

[robbo]

I have sent yet another email to colin jones but he will not reply but dave fellows wants to talk
but is is not in charge or a director is it any use going via him?????

 

[plot17]

What sort of problems do you have with your house?

I've found constant emailing to work quite well. Typically, I'll email the customer services manager and then email him the next day to ask if he got my email. If I don't get a response then I forward the email to every single DW/Barratt email address I can find and ask if anyone else can help me. That tends to get a response.

In the past I've walked down to the site office and sat in there until someone turns up. I also phoned head office and asked to speak to Steven Boyes. I then got put through to a woman called Lynn Nernekli who I think holds some sort of senior customer services position. Things seemed to get a bit better after that. I've also put a large number of photos on a file sharing website and emailed them the link. Proper website is on its way depending on how they treat us over the next coupleof months. I can recommend 1and1 for web hosting and easy set-up.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

What sort of problems do you have with your house?

I've found constant emailing to work quite well. Typically, I'll email the customer services manager and then email him the next day to ask if he got my email. If I don't get a response then I forward the email to every single DW/Barratt email address I can find and ask if anyone else can help me. That tends to get a response.

In the past I've walked down to the site office and sat in there until someone turns up. I also phoned head office and asked to speak to Steven Boyes. I then got put through to a woman called Lynn Nernekli who I think holds some sort of senior customer services position. Things seemed to get a bit better after that. I've also put a large number of photos on a file sharing website and emailed them the link. Proper website is on its way depending on how they treat us over the next coupleof months. I can recommend 1and1 for web hosting and easy set-up.

Don't wait do the website straight away!
or at least give DWH/Barratt a deadline after which the website goes live no matter what.
It will help and add urgency to this.

You should not have to e mail everyone at DWH/Barratt to get a reply/response.
Not what I call "customer service"
The regional directors will be worried that the main board will hear of it.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

I have sent yet another email to colin jones but he will not reply but dave fellows wants to talk
but is is not in charge or a director is it any use going via him?????

If someone is offering to talk then you must take this offer up.
Record the conversation, or make notes after on what was said as you will need a record of this if promises are not met.
Confirm what was agreed, in writing to Dave Fellows right after the call.
Don't trust anyone at their word in the new homes industry!

 

[plot17]

I'm looking into the legality of publishing documents obtained through the Data Protection Request. Once I've figured this out I'll know the extent of what I can put online. That said, there's nothing stopping me from putting my photos in a more accessible place.

 

[NewHomeExpert]

Good point!
Data Protectiion Issues work both ways.

Whilst you may be happy with disclosure the other party probably would not.
That said, you could publish facts on your website rather publish the e mail, you could say Barratt would not agree because "....................."

Publish things like the profit thye made on your house and you would get into trouble IMO