Q: We have offered a house which was accepted. Someone had previously offered and then discontinued for personal reasons. They had already investigated the property.

Can we buy them out of their research – to speed things up a bit or you have to buy your own through your own mortgage company?

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A:Thanks everyone – that's made it clearer for me.

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A:Surveyors generally leave so many things for further investigation, hence to get out of any future comp claims.

Has anyone ever sued or known some who has sued a surveyor for negligent survey and how successful was it?

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A:We have offered on a property which has been accepted. Someone had offered previously and then due to personal reasons dropped out. They had already had a survey done on the property.

Can we buy their survey off them – to speed things up a bit or do you have to buy your own through your own mortgage company?

Whatever you do, your lender will insist on their own valuation, so you'll have to pay for that. Usually, this is what the application fee is for (or, at least, it's included in the application fee).

If the previous buyer had a survey, then there's no reason why they shouldn't just give it to you – although, many would want a fast buck for it :rolleyes:

However, even if you paid for the previous buyer's survey, it's not worth a lot to you. If, for example, the surveyor overlooked something – and that something was a thing for which compensation would be payable, you can't sue for that compensation. The reason being that you were not the surveyor's client – the previous buyer was. It's for this reason that it can be worth paying for your own survey, as your surveyor then owes you a "duty of care" and if s/he gets it wrong, they can be liable to compensate you.

HTH – post back if I've not been clear.

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A:….

As for buying a homebuyers report or strucutral survey, you do so at your own risk. Yes it would be useful to read beforre deciding to proceed but, if you did purchase and there then turned out to be a problem, the surveyor has no liability to you as a third party.

Good point, i never thought of that!

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A:You can arrange for the mortgage valuation to be retyped, this should cost about £40. Only possible if the original valuer is on the new mortgage company's panel.

As for buying a homebuyers report or strucutral survey, you do so at your own risk. Yes it would be useful to read beforre deciding to proceed but, if you did purchase and there then turned out to be a problem, the surveyor has no liability to you as a third party.

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A:Three types:

Valuation – mandatory –> cheapest

Home Buyers – Optional and includes valuation – next expensive

Buildings – Optional and includes the above two – dearest.

Structural survey is different and are very costly.

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A:Is there more than one survey?

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A:u will still need to get a valuation of your own (that's a minimum) but if the previous party had a full/hbuyers report then you can pay a bit of money to see it (it'll save you some money from having a full survey of your own)

Ash

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A:Do you mean the mortgage survey or a structural one?

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A:Thanks – I thought the answer would be no – but no harm in trying. Just thought it may save some money in the long run and time. Although I've heard these days the survey is done pretty quickly.

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A:you have to have your own to satisfy your lender. However, it might be worth offering them a bit of cash to read the survey they had, in the event it raises big concerns for you and you can then avoid paying out for your own survey IYSWIM

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