HLN complaint: Subsidence claim

I am trying to sell my house, that had suffered from Structural movement. We employed HLN, and my cousin dealt with appointing them.

He is a Chartered surveyor dealing with subsidence claims, with Engineers and loss adjusters etc.

The person he spoke to, did not undertake the survey, as he had just retired. My cousin was told that the site engineer was experienced, in dealing with subsidence claims.

My cousin asked for an estimated figure, before the instruction, for the worst case scenario, for the house to be repaired.
However the site engineer would not provide this – despite being pressed on a number of occasions. He eventually, after 2 e-mails, provided a figure.

He would not provide any levels for the steeply sloping hill, very close to where the movement had occurred, but said we needed ‘topographical report’-which we would have to pay for.

There was no indication on the drawing as to the depth of the manhole, nor the direction of the drainage run. When a drainage CCTV was suggested by my cousin, the engineer said the drain report/scan will mark all of this on this on their plan.

He would also not provide an indication of where the trial holes should be excavated, unless we paid for this service.

I feel let down by HLN. As layperson, as my husband had passed beforehand, I assumed this was normal, but having a Chartered surveyor to oversee this, we feel let down, by the lack of commitment from the site engineer.

The engineer had his report checked/countersigned- before it was sent out.

I paid £700 for this service, but I regret having employed HLN, as they didn’t undertake a full and detailed report, showing the changes in levels on site, the drainage details, and simply drawing on the plan- where the trial pits should be dug.

Regards,

Renee Bennett