$180,000 for leaky home

By ELIZABETH BINNING


A Waikato couple who have battled their council and builder for five years over a "nightmare"' leaky home have won more than $180,000.

The payout, 80 per cent of which is to be paid by the builder, is the largest to be awarded by an adjudication panel of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service.

The Government set up the service two years ago to deal with thousands of leaky home claims - 12 of which have so far ended in payouts through the adjudication process.

David and Angela Widdowson took their case to the service claiming poor workmanship by builder Peter Bekx and negligence by Waipa District Council, which was responsible for carrying out inspections.

The couple bought their three-storeyed Te Awamutu home in March 1999 from Mr Bekx and his wife, Debbie, who had built it over a period of years starting in 1992.

Within months of moving in the Widdowsons noticed rust stains appearing on the outside cladding. By winter the Spanish-style home was leaking badly.

At one stage the family moved to the Bay of Plenty for work reasons. Ten months later they were forced to move back because their leaky home had deteriorated so much that tenants would no longer rent it.

The problem became so bad that the Widdowsons, who were suffering from health problems because of the damp ceilings and rotting carpets, tried to sell. No one would buy.

When the resolution service was established in 2002 the Widdowsons were among the first to register.

Mediation with the council and other parties failed, so they started the adjudication process, which lasted for a week in August.

Yesterday, the adjudication panel found that Mr Bekx and the council were liable for the property value loss.

While the Widdowsons feel vindicated by their win they are disappointed by the level of payout. They had sought $330,000 - the cost of rebuilding their home - but were awarded only the cost of repairs. The $70,000 they have spent on legal bills will have to come off the $182,000 because costs were not awarded.

Peter and Debbie Bekx are believed to be living in England and a family spokeswoman said they had no comment.

The council was not available for comment either but the Herald understands it plans to appeal against the decision.

Seeking resolution

Claims through the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service:

1936 active claims.

186 completed resolutions - including 130 through mediation and 12 through adjudication (all of which resulted in payouts).

381 claims in mediation or adjudication with another 300 home owners considering similar action.

Previous adjudication payouts have ranged from $1200 to $107,000. Ten of the 12 payouts were under $86,000, and nearly half were under $10,000.