Dispute Resolution Document

Disputes are resolved using an adjudication process. During this process, a trained adjudicator reviews written submissions from both parties and issues an award based on his or her conclusions. They will decide whether or not a Home Buyer has a legitimate dispute or has suffered financial loss as a result of Urban & Urban failing to comply with the Consumer Code requirements.

The following is a summary of this process. More detailed information will be given with each application for adjudication and is also available from the Consumer Code web site: www.consumercodeforhomebuilders.com.

  1. A Home Buyer must first complain to Urban & Urban and give them the opportunity to investigate and put things right.
  2. If the Home Buyer is not satisfied with Urban & Urban's response, the Home Buyer should contact the Home Warranty Body that issued the warranty on their Home.
  3. The Home Warranty Body will:

    1. Deal with the complaint under the terms of their Home Warranty policy; or
    2. Where the complaint falls outside the Home Warranty Body's own disputes resolution scheme, offer the Home Owner the opportunity to refer their complaint to the independent Disputes Resolution Scheme provider. The Home Buyer must bring the claim within three months of the date of Urban & Urban's final response to the original complaint, or within three months after the date of the original complaint, whichever is the later.
  4. If a Home Buyer decides to refer a complaint to the independent Disputes Resolution Scheme provider, the following adjudication process happens:

    1. If the Home Buyer wishes to use this scheme, they must complete an application form and send it to the independent Disputes Resolution Scheme provider with their statement of evidence and a case registration fee of £100 plus VAT(1). Their statement of evidence must contain all the information relevant to the complaint and copies of receipts or other evidence of expenditure.
    2. If the Home Buyer wishes to use this scheme, they must complete an application form and send it to the independent Disputes Resolution Scheme provider with their statement of evidence and a case registration fee of £100 plus VAT(1). Their statement of evidence must contain all the information relevant to the complaint and copies of receipts or other evidence of expenditure.
    3. The independent Disputes Resolution Scheme provider will ask Urban & Urban to respond to the Home Buyer's statement of evidence. Urban & Urban may at this stage resolve the complaint without a formal adjudication going ahead – this is called 'early settlement' and will cost Urban & Urban a reduced case fee of £100 plus VAT(1).
    4. The adjudicator will consider both submissions and decide whether or not the Home Buyer has a legitimate dispute and has suffered financial loss as a result of Urban & Urban's failure to comply with the Consumer Code. In any case, Urban & Urban and the Home Buyer will be expected to have acted reasonably and to have controlled their costs.
    5. The adjudicator will make a decision based on the information submitted and send it to both parties. The decision may be to issue a performance award (where Urban & Urban has to do something), or a financial award (where Urban & Urban has to pay money to the Home Buyer), or a combination of the two; the adjudicator may also decide to reject the claim. The maximum value of the combined award available under this adjudication scheme is £15,000 inclusive of VAT.
    6. If the adjudicator makes an award, they may also make a discretionary award for inconvenience, up to a maximum of £250. The £15,000 maximum award would include any award for inconvenience. A Home Buyer cannot claim an award for inconvenience alone.
    7. The adjudicator will use his discretion when considering whether to award compensation for any inconvenience a Home Buyer may have suffered as a result of how their complaint was handled by Urban & Urban.
    8. The adjudicator will also decide whether or not Urban & Urban must reimburse the Home Buyer their case registration fee. This will be in addition to the award referred to in 4.5 above.
    9. The adjudicator's decision cannot be appealed; it can only be accepted or rejected by the Home Buyer.
  5. Under the rules of registration, the Home Warranty Bodies will require each registered builder to honour any award made against them under the independent Dispute Resolution Scheme. If the Home Buyer accepts the award, the courts will usually recognise this as evidence of the validity of a Home Buyer's claim.
  6. A Home Buyer may refuse to accept the award, but if they do so any subsequent legal action is likely to take account of the decisions reached in any previous adjudication.
  7. Urban & Urban remains liable for an award, even if they are removed from a Home Warranty Body's register. Please note: This Consumer Code Dispute Resolution Scheme is independent of the Home Warranty Bodies. Adjudication decisions made under the Consumer Code independent Dispute Resolution Scheme are not insured under the Home Warranty Bodies' Home Warranty schemes.

(1) Case fees subject to annual review.