Hi all, need your advise on this one!
Settled on a property late last year. Engaged a building and pest inspection and all seemed ok….until i received a call from my PM few days ago saying that tenants have noticed wood dusts along the hallway.
So PM called in another pest inspector to see whats going on. Inspector reported cause of problems were termites! And according to him, it started from the bathroom, spreading along the hallway to the kitchen ceiling. From his estimate, he said they could have been there for a year or more.
Now, I'm getting some quotes on the repairworks and hopefully it won't be that expensive. Just called up insurance company and was told that they don't cover for damages caused by termites.
Do I have a case against the pest inspection company that I engaged last year? Has anyone had this problem before?
Any advise is appreciated.
If they started in the bathroom, it is likely that there is a water source which termites need. This should have been obvious to a building inspector (but not necessarily to a pest inspector) – hence the need to have both inspections. If the pest inspector was not informed of the building inspection (if it showed a leak/rising damp etc) then it would be very difficult to build a case against the pest inspector.
To have a case against the pest inspector, you would have to be able to prove that the termites were there at the time he/she did the inspection. YOu would have to engage experts to determine how long the termites have been there. And then you would need to engage a solicitor. Work out how much it will cost to repair the termite damage. If it is only a few thousand then I don't think it would be worth pursuing legal action because you would spend at least that much trying to nail the pest inspector. However, if it is going to cost in the tens of thousands, then if I was you I would get some legal advice.
Cheers
K
Hi i am in almost the sme position with termites discovered in the ceiling of one of my properties that i had an inspection carried out on prior to purchase. i too got another inspector to look at the property and he said that the termites would ahve been present for a long time due to the fact that they had migrated to the ceiling. He said however, that pest inspections are only valid for the day that they are carried out because 'a termite may have entered the building the next day'.
i don't know why we pay for these inspections when they have so many clauses in the contract whereby they abstain any responsibility if termites are found in the property. they are not even valid for six months!!! Bu I guess they MAY tell us if there is any evidence of termites but don'd bet on it.
let us know how you get on
cheers
Sonya
I have been termited out 2 x so far – on both occassions the termites invaded fairly quickly- we get inspections every 12 months – they can enter all different ways the little devils and hide and chew and chew until your house is nearly gone. I have one home at the moment that in about 9 months they have cause approx 15k of damage and got in behind walls, roof, beams, now I have gutted out the whole property, treated, and now rebuilding walls, sheeting up, cornices, skirting etc.
I would probably doubt you would have a case, as they may not have been present at all ont he day the inspection was done and could have invaded afterwards.I have sat on my houses lawns and cried a lot to try to sort through this as all up it has cost a fortune, I was just lucky that overall e havent lost any money, as the land val went up a lot in one home, and the other hoem it may have been a blessing as forced us to reno, and when I ripped down all walls I realised I had a huge home I could reconfigure and make more open plan and sort it out and instead of loosing a lot as market dropped a bit in this regional town, we shall now fix, sell and make about 25k- so I guess it was all learning. Both homes had no gardens around, good ventilation, ant capping, no water leaks- termite nests were up the road and travelled through nearly every home in the street.
Good luck – get a few quotes and make sure quotes very very specific what they will do and fix and also get costs to replace beams if needed and see if you need any structural engineer
Hi guys, thanks for all your comments. Decided against legal actions as we engaged a terminator to get rid of the problem for around $2500. So definitely not worthwhile going thru legal process. Got a lawyer who encouraged me to pursue legal actions though…but hey, it's ttheir job!!
Businessglobal – yea, definitely a good idea to have termite inpections every 12 months now. Lessons learnt!! Never knew termites have wings, and could fly into your house!! Lucky for me, they only chew up the skirtings and architraves and nothing major.
Sonya – you are right, those contracts definitely have way too many clauses. But i guess what they said is true that termites might not be present today, but they might come in tomorrow. The only way to be safe is to put few of those termite traps around the house in case any termite activities.
Cheers.
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