The
FCA have ruled that the NHBC Buildmark Policy is unfair "to the detriment of the consumer":
"(i) Significant imbalance to the detriment of the consumer
The imbalance was caused by the fact that NHBC had set out technical requirements in the
NHBC Standards that the consumer was not aware of. In our view, this imbalance was
significant, because the primary purpose of the insurance cover was to cover the situation where
a builder did not meet those Requirements, and the consumer was not told what those
Requirements were, whereas NHBC had full knowledge of them."
Whether this means this opens the floodgates for new homebuyers who have had their claims rejected to now be able to appeal and challenge previous rejections, remains to be seen.
