Building Insurance - End Our Cladding Scandal

Our statement on Michael Gove’s building safety update

We thank Michael Gove and his Department for their work to ensure that 39 developers, who were initially asked to sign the Government’s pledge a year ago, have so far signed the developer remediation contract. The “naming and shaming” of those who have still failed to take responsibility is appreciated – and long overdue. Mr Gove’s apology to leaseholders for the many years that we have been forced to wait for our homes to be made safe is also welcome. However, the time for tough talk is clearly over.

Our meeting with Michael Gove

We met with Housing Secretary Michael Gove on 11^th January – this was our fourth meeting with him since his September 2021 appointment and the first since his return to the role in late October 2022.

DLUHC responses to EOCS questions

DLUHC has responded to the questions we submitted following our meeting on 3 August 2022 with the then Secretary of State for Housing, Greg Clark.

Statement on our 3 August meeting with Housing Secretary Greg Clark

We would like to thank the new Secretary of State for Housing, Greg Clark, for meeting us to listen to the stories of ordinary people trapped in the building safety crisis. Mr Clark told us that he considers this scandal to be the most important issue facing his department today, and one that he is determined to solve. Last week, a construction industry source suggested that finalising contracts should be delayed until a new prime minister is in place. However, Mr Clark has told us that the Government will accelerate policies put forward by his predecessor, Michael Gove, and that there will be no ‘treading water’.

Relief from exorbitant insurance costs needed urgently

For years leaseholders have been facing issues with the opaque residential building insurance regime – whether the cartel-like behaviour of the insurers, clear conflicts of interest and secretive commission arrangements between freeholders, brokers, managing agents and insurers or the simple fact that we have no ability to influence the selection of the insurer and no redress once exorbitant premiums are forced onto us.

Our report of unfair building insurance increases to the Competition and Markets Authority & Financial Conduct Authority

For some years we have been aware of, and faced directly, issues in the opaque residential building insurance regime. There has long appeared to be evidence of cartel-like behaviour by the insurers, with apparent conflicts of interest between freeholders, brokers, and insurers, meaning the building insurance that leaseholders are forced to pay for is not, and never has been, fair or fit for purpose.

Continue reading “Our report of unfair building insurance increases to the Competition and Markets Authority & Financial Conduct Authority”

Summary of Meeting Between Resident Groups, Lord Greenhalgh and MHCLG

Government announcement on withdrawal of Consolidated Advice Note (CAN)

We met with Lord Greenhalgh and MHCLG officials on 22 July. Our detailed notes of the meeting are below. We expect the next meeting to take place after the summer recess.

Our previous meeting with MHCLG was on 26 May (see meeting notes); you may also want to check the notes of our March roundtable with MHCLG, ABI and BIBA.

Meeting with Lord Greenhalgh and MHCLG officials

On Wednesday 26 May, we met with Lord Greenhalgh and members of MHCLG’s Building Safety Team to discuss progress.

Our insurance meeting with ABI and BIBA

EOCS campaigners met representatives from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) along with Lord Greenhalgh and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) civil servants on March 11^th.

Meeting with Lord Greenhalgh and MHCLG

On Monday 1st March, End Our Cladding Scandal campaigners had a meeting with Lord Greenhalgh and officials from the MHCLG building safety team.

As you can imagine, we had a packed agenda, with many questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t get many clear answers. Below are the key points from our meeting. We have requested minutes from the meeting for us to be able to properly track the actions; these are still awaited. One of our main frustrations relating to the meetings we’ve had with the MHCLG civil servants is that we have been promised documented actions for over six months, but these have not been forthcoming.