conservatory guarantee

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joescrivens

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We bought our house about 4 years ago and it came with a conservatory We just found out it has a leek in the roof.

I got hold of the previous owner and he found the manufacturer for me and told me the roof had a 10 year guarantee on it.

I just phoned the guys who fitted the conservatory and he was very sketchy about it. He said I'll need to get the document from the owner (ok no porblem) but that the guarantee doesn't transfer from person to person.

does anyone know if that's true?
 
Some warranties arent transferrable. However a warranty is in addition to your statutory rights. If the manufacturer deems the structure to be worthy of a ten year guarantee it would be hard for them to argue that it would leak at the 4 year point. Statutory point is 6 years I believe but it will be incumbent upon you to prove an inherent fault.
 
Most of the conservatory guaratees are only transferable by agreement -sometimes an additional fee and / or inspection is required before it can be transferred to a third party.
 
now, is the guarantee with the manufacturer or with the installer?

i.e. if I have to transfer the gurantee with a fee, who do i contact?
 
Unless it's backed by the manufacturer or a national trade body, it's highly unlikely that the warranty is going to be much use. Manufacturers aren't going to back an installation warranty unless they've approved the installer.

If it's a small independent installer without trade body or manufacturer backing, you're probably swinging in the wind or falling back on your own household insurance.

How bad is the leak? Is it just a seal gone, panel cracked or a major defect in the frame?
 
joescrivens said:
now, is the guarantee with the manufacturer or with the installer?

i.e. if I have to transfer the gurantee with a fee, who do i contact?
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Whoever backed it (not necessarily who issued it), you need the piece of paper to tell.
 
Alastair said:
How bad is the leak? Is it just a seal gone, panel cracked or a major defect in the frame?
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I had someone come and look at it and he basically said, it's gradual shifting of the panes in the roof due to heat and cold. They would service the roof and realign all of the panels. Total fee £600, then they gurantee the roof for 5 years.

im in the process of getting the documentation to find out who and what the guarantee is.

The weird thing was that when I spoke to the installer the first thing he asked me was "What makes you think it has a 10 year guarantee?".

isn't it pretty standard for a conservatory roof to come with a 10 year guarantee?
 
Some guarantees are via the original installation company; some are independently underwritten by an insurance company so that if the conservatory company cease trading the guarantee is still valid.

The insurance backed guarantees are best but unless previously agreed, they are not tranferable.

You need to backtrack though the paperwork I'm afraid.

Your solicitor should have asked for and checked copies of any valid guarantees prior to exchange - so you would have had extra bargaining power
 
it so does annoy me when warranties are not transferrable.

I mean, why in this case should it not be?
 
I thought all double glazing and conservatories came under FENSA. They're like the NHBC of windows.
 
Lynton said:
it so does annoy me when warranties are not transferrable.

I mean, why in this case should it not be?
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Some warranties are transferable but it is not automatically the case.

It depends if any guarantee or warranty was originally in place - sometimes they are automatic sometimes an additional fee is payable - it depends on the T&C's of the original purchase.

FENSA is not a legal requirement - it is an option for windows.

FENSA does not apply to porches or conservatories

There are tens of thousands of doors and windows not covered by FENSA or warranties of any form - insurance backed or otherwise.

It is dangerous to assume that just because it's less than 10 years old - it has a warranty or guarantee of any form.

Double glazing companies quite often install for the trade or supply doors and windows direct to builders and no form of guarantee or warranty is offered.

Buyer beware!
 
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yes indeed "caveat emptor"....

hypothetical question...

I buy a house. I have a conserv put on with a 10 yr guarantee.

3 years later I move.

Why should the fact that someone else lives there now (for it is 2015) lose 7 yrs of warranty/
 
Lynton said:
yes indeed "caveat emptor"....

hypothetical question...

I buy a house. I have a conserv put on with a 10 yr guarantee.

3 years later I move.

Why should the fact that someone else lives there now (for it is 2015) lose 7 yrs of warranty/
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The original contract was between the purchaser and the conservatory company.

If someone wishes to transfer the guarantee or warranty (these are two different things) to a third party there is normally a conditional clause in the original contract covering such an eventuality.

It's no different with cameras. If I have a 3 year warranty on my DSLR and decide to sell it, there is no guarantee the manufacturer will honour any warranty work with someone who was not party to the original contract.
 
Just to illustrate the minefield of conservatory and window warranties this is an actual insurance claim we (my employer) are currently dealing with.

We (my employer) bought a 5 bed detached house for a member of staff which was 2 years old.

It came with a very large and spectacular Victorian conservatory attached to the back of the house and a 10 year guarantee (not insurance backed - but issued by the small family business that erected the conservatory)

The conservatory was so large and good looking, PR photographs were taken and the house we bought was featured in all the marketing material for the small family business as an example of their Victorian conservatory range.

Our employee moves in and during the first winter, reports several small roof leaks. The conservatory is now 3 years old.

The conservatory company send out an engineer and they adjust the roof panels and install new gaskets. Most of the leaks are cured - not all.

The employee complains every time it rains of persistent roof leaks. The conservatory company make two further remedial visits - then say sorry, the conservatory roof is twisting due to subsidence.

We notify our insurers, who send out a specialist engineer and he confirms that because the house and conservatory are built on highly shrinkable clay - it is indeed subsidence.

The NHBC foundations to the house are 8 feet deep - the conservatory foundation is 1 foot deep - just below the top soil and resting nicely on a thick band of highly shrinkable London clay.

We go back to the conservatory company and their 10 year warranty to make a claim - only to find the person we bought the house from, in order to save money, put in his own base, floor and foundations - the conservatory company erected their structure on his base but very wisely excluded any claim to do with the base and foundation from the warranty.

So we have a non-insurance backed guarantee, from a small family business which basically covers the frame of the conservatory but not what it rests on. The original owner skimped on the cost of the base to save money.

The base and foundation have now twisted so badly that the whole structure has to be demolished and rebuilt with new foundations.

The cost of demolishing and rebuilding the conservatory on a "like-for-like" basis is just under £35k and now 2 years after we bought the house the conservatory is still leaking every time it rains and the subsidence has become a lot worse. One corner of the conservatory has now dropped 3 inches and the roof is very badly twisted.

We ran the conservatory "warranty" past our company solicitors at the time of purchase and they thought it was OK as far as private company warranties go but as the warranty only covered the work which the conservatory company carried out - the foundations and base were not covered.

Buyer beware indeed.
 
I can't help it but I keep going back to line 2.
 
gman said:
I can't help it but I keep going back to line 2.
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Yes, it gets mentioned a lot where I work too.............................especially by those who work just as hard and aren't entitled to such a perk with the job.
 
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Oh isn't that just typical Rhody! I also see it a lot with family run businesses and despite the family often being the biggest liability within the business, they are also rewarded the most for doing the least!
 
update on this, it turns out the previous owner has a recipt with the gurantee lifetimes written on it, but not the actual guarantee.

gues i'm out of luck whatever way i go down now, will have to pay for the work
 
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hi gman - what saddens me is that it is taken for granted and not appreciated at all.

Some even have the nerve to send me the bill for a new shower head because they can't be bothered to clean the limescale off the one they have Grrrrrrrrrr
 
joescrivens said:
update on this, it turns out the previous owner has a recipt with the gurantee lifetimes written on it, but not the actual guarantee.

gues i'm out of luck whatever way i go down now, will have to pay for the work
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It will pay to shop around Joe - times are hard in the conservatory business. Lots of companies are laying men off down south and there is a lot of competition for the work you require. Good luck
 
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