QBCC won’t review Gold Cost homeowner’s $200k insurance claim because it ran out of time

The owner of a $2.5m Broadbeach Waters home is furious with the state’s building watchdog’s internal review process, describing the QBCC as a “government scam”.

Justin and Rene Herald at their home at Broadbeach Waters, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

A multimillion-dollar Gold Coast homeowner is fuming after the state’s building watchdog told him it would not review his home’s $200,000 insurance claim because it ran out of time.

Justin Herald was shocked to receive the rejection letter on July 13, after requesting the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) review its original decision to deny a warranty claim made in August 2022 for water damage to his $2.5m Broadbeach Waters home.

The QBCC letter said it would stick with its original decision to deny the claim because of being “unable to decide the application within the required period”.

QBCC currently has a 28-day cut off for internal reviews, designed to prevent the review process from being protracted unnecessarily, with unchanged decisions referred to as “deemed” decisions.

A bewildered Mr Herald has now labelled the QBCC internal review process – which cost him thousands to apply to – a “government scam,” run by staff who “can’t be bothered to do their job”.

Justin and Rene Herald are contesting the Queensland Building and Construction Commission against denied insurance claim for leakage in their house at Broadbeach Waters, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

Mr Herald and his family had moved into the multimillion-dollar Gold Coast home in mid-2022 before discovering the top floor of the three-storey home was leaking water.

“We were under the understanding that due to the age of the house and from what the real estate had told us, we were still under the six-years-and-six-month inclusion (warranty) period to be able to address any major issues if they arose with the builder,” he said.

But after trying to contact the builder of the home, Mr Herald found the business liquidated and had the damage assessed through the QBCC.

The assessor determined the builder had failed to waterproof the top floors, and Mr Herald submitted a home warranty insurance claim, which was denied.

“They said we should have had full knowledge of the issue due to one line in a pre-purchase pest report,” Mr Herald said.

“They said I should have known about swelling and about the moisture based on the report... but the reader showed no moisture.

Justin and Rene Herald at their home at Broadbeach Waters, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

“It’s unreasonable for the QBCC to say that these defects and damage were caused by our omission to engage a technical expert to investigate given the defects and damage already existed at that point in time.”

Mr Herald decided to pay a lawyer $2000 to review the QBCC decision.

“Common sense didn’t work so we went legal,” he said.

“We had 28 days to submit the review and our lawyer informed us they (QBCC) have 28 days to look at it.”

Surprised at the information, Mr Herald called QBCC on June 27, but was told by a customer service representative that they had “never heard of it”.

“He then put me on hold and spoke to the review department, who told him that they were running very far behind with all cases and they just extend the time and don’t reject reviews based upon the 28-period,” he said.

Two weeks later, Mr Herald’s review was denied, with the QBCC decision saying: “Unfortunately, the internal review unit has been unable to decide the application within the required period, or a longer period of time.

Justin and Rene Herald at their home at Broadbeach Waters, Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

“The QBCC’s decision is therefore taken to be the same as the original decision.”

Mr Herald has now engaged a lawyer to have the matter externally reviewed through the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) at his own expense.

“The builder, who is obviously dodgy, they get to keep the money... while we have $200,000 worth of damage we have to live with,” he said.

“No poor bloke buying a house right now would know about this (review process) and especially with the amount of builders going arse-up right now.

“The government is there to protect us and they’re not.

“It’s simple, don’t have a review department if you can’t review things.”

Should his QCAT review submission proceed to court, Mr Herald expects to spend more than $10,000 in legal fees.

A spokeswoman for QBCC said the commission was unable to comment on the matter because of strict privacy and confidentiality laws.

“It would therefore be inappropriate for the QBCC to provide comment about a specific matter,” she said.

“The QBCC strongly encourages buyers to get a pre-purchase building and pest inspection from a licensed inspector when buying a home.”

In the 2022-23 financial year, the QBCC made 208 “deemed” decisions.

Timeline

April 27, 2022 – Pest report completed

May-June 2022 – House settled

June-July 20, 2022 – Rain events, damage noticed

August 22, 2022 – Defective construction warranty claim submitted to QBCC

March 6, 2023 – QBCC inspection for claim assessment – assessor deems defective work issues

May 8, 2023 – Justin Herald told to answer six questions as last part of claim assessment steps

May 9, 2023 – Claim denied stating they should have had prior knowledge of water leaks

June 27, 2023 – Justin Herald calls QBCC to ask about 28-day cut-off and assured it’s never implemented

July 13, 2023 – Internal review denied, initial decision upheld