Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 29, 2009 12:22 pm In business I will only give credit to companies that measure up in credit checks. When they don't measure up, they pay up front. We have a few of these. Even then, some companies fail. That's fine for business, we can insure for bad debt and we make a provision for it, so we can contain our losses.
But what about the private individual? You order a project home... what protection do you have to say that your money is safe and the company will deliver? There's a lot of pain out there from builders who didn't survive. You have a lot to lose. So what can you do as the economy worsens to protect yourself? Aside from paying someone like Dunne & Bradstreet $400 to check their credit worthiness, you can order a home and ask for a company's financials and make your order subject to the financial report being satisfactory. If it's a public company they are obliged to provide the info. A private company is not... but it's then your choice. Businesses limit their liability when doing business with other businesses. Just a thought... Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: How safe is your builder? 2Jan 29, 2009 12:45 pm A very good point EC. I did ask questions about financial viability but didn't really get any useful responses.
I suppose we have builders insurance but that isn't going to give a speedy resolution if they go into administration/receivership Does D&B cover all private companies as well? After 4 years - we're in! Re: How safe is your builder? 3Jan 29, 2009 1:10 pm stonecutter1309 A very good point EC. I did ask questions about financial viability but didn't really get any useful responses. I suppose we have builders insurance but that isn't going to give a speedy resolution if they go into administration/receivership Does D&B cover all private companies as well? D&B covers basically all public and private companies, big and small. When I worked for an IT distributor, they had to use D&B on every one of their 5000 customers, no matter how big or small they were. At the highest level of involvement, they can basically give you a risk assessment ratings to help out if you don't understand figures being thrown at you. Using these services you can also find out a lot more information about a business like previous trading names, the names of directors, whether directors have been disqualified before, what companies the directors used to work for, etc. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: How safe is your builder? 4Jan 29, 2009 1:48 pm Well, I wish I had thought to pay the $400 and get a credit check, it would have been the best $400 I had ever spent. We got caught up in the Marshall Baker liquidation stuff. We learn from our mistakes! Re: How safe is your builder? 5Jan 29, 2009 2:37 pm laldous Well, I wish I had thought to pay the $400 and get a credit check, it would have been the best $400 I had ever spent. We got caught up in the Marshall Baker liquidation stuff. We learn from our mistakes! It all depends on teh circumstances. D&B reports won't show you their balance sheets or their P&L. It only tells you if they have defaulted on payments, things like that. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: How safe is your builder? 6Jan 29, 2009 2:59 pm stonecutter1309 A very good point EC. I did ask questions about financial viability but didn't really get any useful responses. I suppose we have builders insurance but that isn't going to give a speedy resolution if they go into administration/receivership Does D&B cover all private companies as well? Yes D&B can provide reports on private and public companies - there are other service providers too. By the time a builder is in trouble they are out of control and the situation changes overnight from good to bad. I was at a creditors' meeting of a large builder a few years ago, there were people who had made progress payments without the progress being made. Builders' insurance doesn't seem to cover the situation - it's a backstop, but buyers' funds get locked up for long periods and costs to complete rocket. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: How safe is your builder? 7Jan 30, 2009 3:27 pm that is a very good question, while I was building I was so worried something would happen, My husband worked in the building industry so I know it can happen, I was glad when it finish to get there with no big problems like that there were a few companies that when broke as we were building so as soon as youi hear you are guled to the tv to make sure it was not are building company finished building 40 square home on 5 acres with perry homes.working on the landscaping just finished pool deck with ://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2217 Re: How safe is your builder? 8Jan 30, 2009 6:54 pm A building company where I live, recently went bust (commercial rather than residential) and this made me think about the $13000 deposit I had handed over to my builder. It's not a massive amount but is more than I would want to lose. Hadn't given it a thought until then. Re: How safe is your builder? 9Jan 30, 2009 6:59 pm Thinking out loud... I wonder if builders would accept a bank gurantee rather than a real money deposit?
Still thinking... I wonder if any insurance companies would take up this opportunity to insure home buyers? I can buy insurance for say 2%. And with homes that would be a reducing balance. So a home of say $300,000 would cost 50% of 2% of $300,000 = $3,000. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: How safe is your builder? 10Jan 31, 2009 10:33 am you see wincrest is in liquidation now the list is getting longer finished building 40 square home on 5 acres with perry homes.working on the landscaping just finished pool deck with ://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2217 Re: How safe is your builder? 11Feb 01, 2009 8:01 pm stevep79 D&B covers basically all public and private companies, big and small. When I worked for an IT distributor, they had to use D&B on every one of their 5000 customers, no matter how big or small they were. At the highest level of involvement, they can basically give you a risk assessment ratings to help out if you don't understand figures being thrown at you. Using these services you can also find out a lot more information about a business like previous trading names, the names of directors, whether directors have been disqualified before, what companies the directors used to work for, etc. The obvious question is what did D&B's rating of Wincrest say before it actually went into administration? Did it have any warnings? Re: How safe is your builder? 12Feb 01, 2009 8:10 pm thlo stevep79 D&B covers basically all public and private companies, big and small. When I worked for an IT distributor, they had to use D&B on every one of their 5000 customers, no matter how big or small they were. At the highest level of involvement, they can basically give you a risk assessment ratings to help out if you don't understand figures being thrown at you. Using these services you can also find out a lot more information about a business like previous trading names, the names of directors, whether directors have been disqualified before, what companies the directors used to work for, etc. The obvious question is what did D&B's rating of Wincrest say before it actually went into administration? Did it have any warnings? No idea - that would cost $400... but someone knew because that's what forced the voluntary administration. D&B survey all creditors continuously and that's how these things show up. A pattern of slow payment starts and suppliers start to pull back . Then new suppliers don't approve credit terms and the wheels start to come off. It starts with trades because they are on 14 day terms and don't work unless they are paid. Materials are usually on 30 days terms end of month, this can drift out but credit insurance doesn't cover anything outside 60 days. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: How safe is your builder? 13Feb 01, 2009 8:20 pm This is not something I thought about when picking our builder. So hopefully JG K1ng survive this economy.. well at least until my house is built anyway. Re: How safe is your builder? 14Feb 01, 2009 8:32 pm wakeboardandy This is not something I thought about when picking our builder. So hopefully JG K1ng survive this economy.. well at least until my house is built anyway. That's very selfish? Re: How safe is your builder? 16Feb 02, 2009 12:56 pm thlo stevep79 D&B covers basically all public and private companies, big and small. When I worked for an IT distributor, they had to use D&B on every one of their 5000 customers, no matter how big or small they were. At the highest level of involvement, they can basically give you a risk assessment ratings to help out if you don't understand figures being thrown at you. Using these services you can also find out a lot more information about a business like previous trading names, the names of directors, whether directors have been disqualified before, what companies the directors used to work for, etc. The obvious question is what did D&B's rating of Wincrest say before it actually went into administration? Did it have any warnings? I doubt it would've had any warnings. Wincrest's problems were all due to a a huge development they were doing where they weren't getting payment. This being the case, the administrators were able to step in to try and trade them out of trouble. If their normal operations were causing them not to be able to pay debt, they would have probably been put into liquidation or may have asked for another builder to buy them out. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Block of two storey townhouses requires painting on the roof. A brick parapet wall separates each unit and extends above the tiled roof. The parapet walls require sealing… 0 3497 Hi All, I just wanted to close this topic out with an update. So we ended up agreeing to a number with the insurance company, and after an extensive amount of hand… 8 23386 |