Frequently Asked Questions
Check out our list of FAQs and answers for homeowners or people looking to buy a new-build home
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out our list of frequently asked questions and answers for homeowners or people looking to buy a new-build home. If you can't find what you're looking for, please contact us.
Clicks on a question to reveal the answer.
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If you are buying a newly-built home you will need cover such as Buildmark in order to secure a mortgage and release funds.
If you are buying a newly-converted property your lender may not require you to have such cover, however, buying a property with Buildmark cover will give you reassurance that you will have protection if problems arise in the future. Please note that sometimes on conversion properties we add exclusions to the cover - these will be printed on your insurance certificate.
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You should have received your Buildmark policy documents from your solicitor or conveyancer upon legal completion.
If you have not yet received your policy documents, please email cssupport@nhbc.co.uk, quoting your name, address, postcode and NHBC Buildmark policy number if available.
Alternatively, please call 0800 035 6422, press 0 and say 'Duplicate Documents'.
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If you are buying an older home where the Buildmark policy has not expired, the current owner should provide your solicitor or conveyancer with the Buildmark certificate and policy details. We recommend that once you have moved, you email us with your policy number, name and contact details.
If you have moved in to a property that you believe has Buildmark cover and you do not have the certificate, our Customer Services team can issue a duplicate for you. Please email cssupport@nhbc.co.uk quoting your name, address and postcode or call 0800 035 6422, press 0 and say 'Customer Services'.
Electronic copies of the policy booklets are available, click here.
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To offer Buildmark cover, your builder is required to build in accordance with the NHBC Requirements.These are contained in the NHBC Standards which include the technical requirements, performance standards and guidance for the design and construction of new homes that all NHBC registered builders and developers are required to build to for newly-built homes registered with NHBC.
Our inspectors carry out inspections of all new NHBC registered developments at key stages during their construction to check compliance, as far as reasonably practicable, with the NHBC Standards.
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Please visit this page What does Buildmark cover? for information about the warranty and insurance cover provided by Buildmark.
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Yes. The most we will pay is the original purchase price as shown on the insurance certificate up to a maximum of:
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£1,000,000 for a newly-built home (up to a maximum of £25 million for all homes in a continuous structure) or...
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£500,000 for a converted home (up to a maximum of £5 million for all homes in a continuous structure).
Note: The insured value may have been increased above these limits in special circumstances. Please refer to your Buildmark certificate and schedule, or contact our Customer Services team for further information.
Please email cssupport@nhbc.co.uk quoting your name, address and postcode or call 0800 035 6422, press 0 and say 'Customer Services'.
The limits are increased on each anniversary of the completion date by 5% of the original limit. We then deduct amounts we have paid or have to pay for claims we have accepted (please see the current Buildmark Policy document for full details).
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NHBC registered builders and developers apply and pay for Buildmark when they register their building plots with NHBC.
Buildmark warranty and insurance cover is included when selling newly-built or newly-converted residential homes to homebuyers in the UK.
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Can't find your policy document?
If you know your policy number you can download a copy of your policy booklet here
Please note: If you’re unable to find your policy prefix (e.g. AJ, AE, XA or other) on the page or you don’t know your policy number then you will need to contact our Customer Services team to obtain your policy booklet.
Please email cssupport@nhbc.co.uk quoting your name, address and postcode or call 0800 035 6422, press 0 and say 'Customer Services'.
Can't find your insurance certificate?
Our Customer Services team can issue a duplicate for you. Please email cssupport@nhbc.co.uk quoting your name, address and postcode.
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Firstly you should ensure that you have an appropriate contract with the builder to build your home. It is the builder's responsibility to register your home with us for Buildmark cover and pay the appropriate fee.
Find out more about custom-build projects
We recommend that you check you have an offer of Buildmark cover before entering into a contract to have your home built and that you or your legal advisor accept the offer as soon as you have entered into the contract. You may be at risk of not having the benefit of Buildmark cover if you do not do this.
If you're planning to build the home yourself, then you will need a self-build policy. Find out more here
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If you are the first owner of the home, Buildmark gives you protection from exchange of contracts if, due to your builder's insolvency or fraud, you lose your deposit or have to pay more to complete the building of your home.
Cover then continues for ten years from the date on your Buildmark insurance certificate - usually the date of legal completion. If you sell the home, the remaining cover passes to the new owner.
This remaining cover means both the balance of the 10 years post-completion, and also any available financial limit. Any claims made may have reduced, either partially or wholly, the financial limit available for future owners.
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If you are not sure if your property is covered by an NHBC warranty, please email us at cssupport@nhbc.co.uk, with your full name, address, postcode and a daytime telephone number, and we will let you know.
Alternatively, please call us on 0800 035 6422, press 0 and say 'Customer Services'.
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If you're concerned that there’s a problem with your home, please contact our Claims team.
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Buildmark provides cover for the home and is fully transferable during the lifespan of the policy. So, if you sell the home and the Buildmark policy has not expired, the new owner benefits from the remaining cover.
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NHBC is the UK’s leading independent standard-setting body and provider of warranty and insurance for new homes. Our purpose is to work with the house-building industry to raise the standards of new homes and to provide protection for homebuyers in the form of Buildmark warranty and insurance. With no shareholders, we are able to invest surpluses in our purpose of improving the quality of UK house building. We also work with government and stakeholders to help shape housing policy.
NHBC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. NHBC is registered in England and Wales under company number 00320784. NHBC’s registered address is NHBC House, Davy Avenue, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8FP.
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You can check our builder register here to see if your builder is registered with us or to find NHBC registered builders in your area.
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If you’re buying a new-build home, once your conveyancer has accepted the Buildmark policy on your behalf via our online NHBC Conveyancing Portal, we will issue your Buildmark insurance certificate. Your conveyancer will be able to provide you with a copy and you will also be able to access an electronic version via NHBC HUG.
Where our subsidiary NHBC Building Control Services Ltd has acted as the Approved Inspector for Building Control, the Buildmark insurance certificate will not be issued until the Building Control Final Certificate has been issued. In this instance, the insurance certificate will include a statement that 'This home is subject to NHBC's Building Control'. Where Building Control is being carried out by a 3rd party, it is possible that we will issue the Buildmark insurance certificate before the 3rd party is ready to issue the Building Control Final Certificate. Your conveyancer should check the status of Building Control with the relevant Approved Inspector before completion.
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NHBC run the 8 week survey on behalf of HBF (Home Builders Federation) to gather feedback from owners of new and newly converted homes shortly after they have moved in. We run a further survey at 9 months to find out your experiences having lived in your home for a few months.
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Following the introduction of IDD (Insurance Distribution Directive) in 2018 builders are required to send details of their purchasers to NHBC at reservation stage. This data is updated by the builder to reflect dates of exchange of contract and legal completion (together with any reservations that have fallen through). Once a legal completion date is submitted by the builder and/or the purchaser or their conveyancer this date is used to send out the surveys 8 weeks later.
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We endeavour to send the survey to all owner/occupiers of all newly built properties and new conversions, but we do rely on the builders/solicitors to supply us the required data within a specified time period.
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The survey is voluntary and you do not need to respond if you don’t want to. This will not have any effect on your NHBC cover. You can unsubscribe from any further invitations, by sending an email to homeownersurvey@feedback-nhbc.co.uk.
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We send out the first survey 8 weeks after your date of legal completion, and a second survey 9 months after you have moved in to your new property.
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Surveys are sent by email initially (if we have an email address). If we don't receive a response we will send a further email and text reminder (if we have your mobile phone number). If we don't receive a response to those invitations, a postal questionnaire will be sent out by second class post.
If we only have a postal address for you, we will send out a letter with details of how to complete the survey online. If we don’t receive a response a full survey is sent by post 14 days later. These are both sent by second class post.
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You are under no obligation to complete the survey, but should you wish to do so, you only need to respond to one of the invitations. Feel free to use whichever way of taking part suits you best.
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Please email informationproducts@nhbc.co.uk or telephone 01908 747906 to request a further survey.
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Please email informationproducts@nhbc.co.uk or telephone 01908 747906 to request a further survey.
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Because we use various methods to invite you to participate in the survey occasionally there can be a crossover where you may have responded online and then receive a postal version the next day. If you are not sure you can contact us to confirm we have received your completed survey.
Please email informationproducts@nhbc.co.uk or telephone 01908 747906.
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No. The rules of the survey are very strict. Once a completed survey is received by us, the results cannot be amended or retracted for any reason.
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No. If you have any queries, please email: informationproducts@nhbc.co.uk or telephone 01908 747906.
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Yes. We ask that you complete and return the survey sent at 8 weeks and at 9 months as soon as you can, but you do have up to 12 weeks from the date of the survey invitation to return it to us.
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Please email informationproducts@nhbc.co.uk or telephone 01908 747906.
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Q.23 on the survey gives you the option to allow your builder to link your responses to your identity or for you to stay anonymous if you prefer. If you tick the box your builder will be able to see your identity, if you leave it unticked they will not.
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To help drive improvement within the house-building industry, your survey responses are combined with responses from other new home owners, and the analysis is provided back to the industry.
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Our Claims Charter and Customer Charter set out how we deal with complaints about our products and service. Please see more information here.
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Either contact us now to talk to our Customer Services team or submit a question.