Important Updates

• 30/07/08 – Resibuildco Buys Beechwood Homes

  The Receivers and Managers of Beechwood Homes have confirmed that Beechwood Homes will be sold as a going concern to Resibuildco Pty Ltd.

  This has been described by the Receivers as “the best possible outcome for homeowners, suppliers, tradespeople and employees”.

  Resibuildco will continue to trade as Beechwood Homes. The agreement includes all assets of the company including existing land, buildings, contracts, intellectual property and copyright.

  Please refer to the Update for Homeowners on our website for more information and next steps for homeowners.

• 10/07/08 - Sale of Beechwood Homes

  Vero continue to liaise with all relevant parties with regards to the sale of Beechwood Homes. We can confirm that the potential buyers have now been reduced to 2 parties. We appreciate your patience and request your continued assistance while the relevant parties finalise the terms of the Agreement. Once a sale has been confirmed Vero will post the announcement on our website.

• 13/06/08 - What Vero can assist with at this stage

  Vero has received a number of enquires in recent weeks from Beechwood Homeowners as to what Vero can do to assist them. Whether Vero can assist at this stage, and the level of assistance, depends on where the building works were up to at the time that Beechwood was placed in voluntary administration.

• 13/06/08 - Contract signed, building works completed apart from appliances, final payment has been made under the contract.

  Vero will supply and install appliances. Homeowners need to submit a claim to Vero. Please see the link below to Vero’s letter to homeowners providing further detail.

  Outstanding Appliances.doc
• 13/06/08 - Contract signed, building works completed, all payments made under the contract but defects noted.

  Vero will assess the defects and rectify if there has been a breach of statutory warranty. Homeowners need to submit a claim to Vero.

  Vero will advise regarding the situation as far as homeowners who do not fall in the above categories as soon as further information has been obtained from the receiver as to the potential sale of Beechwood Homes.

• 13/06/08 - Vero appoints independent consultant

  Vero advises that in an effort to reconcile inconsistent information it has received regarding state of completion of many homes it has appointed an independent consultant to provide an overview of the situation. The consultant will attend a random sample of homes over the next few days. This will not constitute a formal assessment of your insurance claim, which depends on the outcome of the receiver’s efforts to sell Beechwood Homes.

• 13/06/08 - Documentation required by Vero

  Vero has received a number of claim forms from homeowners that do not have with them all the documents that Vero requires to accurately assess the claim. The following documents must be provided with the claim form:

  1. A complete copy of the building contract;
  2. All progress payment receipts;
  3. Council approved floor, site, elevation and engineering plans;
  4. Specifications (general and colour/finish schedule);
  5. Any variations to the contract.
  

  The claim form must be fully completed and signed, including a brief description in Section 4 of where your building works are up to or what defects you are claiming.

  The above information is required to enable an accurate assessment of the situation including exactly what you contracted for Beechwood to do (including internal finishing’s/appliances), when completion was due, what stage your works were up to at the time that Beechwood was placed into administration, the contract amount and the balance owing under the contract.

• 06/06/08 - Alternate Accommodation Costs:

  Vero have recently received a number of calls from Beechwood homeowners querying the sale of the company and the length of time involved. Whilst we understand the concerns raised we believe that the anticipated outcome will be in everybody's best interests. We would like to take this opportunity to emphasis our commitment to helping Beechwood homeowners through this particular time. Under the terms of the policy Vero will reimburse homeowners any reasonable costs incurred with regards to alternate accommodation and storage fees, which may result in the overrun of the contracted timeframe. If your contract was to be completed within 30 weeks from the date of commencement however due to insolvency of the builder it takes an additional 8 weeks to complete than Vero will reimburse you any reasonable costs incurred for the additional 8 weeks. Any costs incurred while still within the contracted period, will not be covered.

  To make any such claim, Vero require that you complete and send into our office a claim form, enclosing a complete copy of your contract and any receipts for costs incurred.

• 06/06/08 - Completion of Works by the Receiver:

  In accordance with recent announcements by the receiver, it is our understanding that it is their intention to arrange for the completion of a number of homes that are close to the stage of practical completion.

  We would strongly recommend that owner's in this situation contract an independent consultant to inspect and report on any defects that may be apparent. It is critical that home owner's ensure that all defects are drawn to the Receivers attention prior to signing off on the completed home.

  We further recommend that all owners should seek independent legal advice regarding their rights and obligations concerning the completion of their homes.

• 06/06/08 - Installation of Appliances:

  Today, Vero has arranged the installation of some appliances into homes with completion expected by the end of next week. As per our message of 5 June 2006, anyone who has paid their final progress payment but has their appliances outstanding should complete and submit a claim form with copies of the required documentation i.e. building contract, specifications and list of outstanding appliances, to our office to enable immediate action and installation of their outstanding appliances.

• 05/06/2008 - Final Payment Made - Appliances Outstanding:

  There are a number of homeowners who have made all payments required under their contract with Beechwood Homes, but have not had appliances installed. Vero will assist homeowners in this position and has taken steps, such as contacting the relevant suppliers to organise the supply and installation of any outstanding appliances.

  What you need to do - You need to complete and submit the claim form, along with a complete copy of your contract, specifications, proof of payments (receipts) and an itemised list of outstanding appliances. You need to also confirm that you are not yet in receipt of your appliances and advise available times for installation to be arranged.

  Subrogation - It is important that you understand that by Vero paying your claim Vero becomes subrogated to your rights against Beechwood Homes. This means that if you receive any monetary compensation/dividend from Beechwood Homes you will be required to reimburse Vero for the monies it has paid under the claim. Alternatively, you will be required to provide all cooperation/assistance to Vero should Vero take steps to recover the amount paid from Beechwood Homes. Should you proceed to lodge a claim, you will be required to sign a confirmation letter, acknowledging the above along with providing confirmation that your final payment under the building contract has been made however your appliances have not been installed.

• 29/05/2008 Protection of the building - Some building materials, while able to withstand a certain degree of exposure, may suffer some level of deterioration if left open to the elements. In order to prevent potential damage to the building it would be prudent to cover the exposed sections of the structure with a tarpaulin or similar. If your building is partially completed and does require protection, contact Bankwest's receiver on (02) 9602 0999 to organise the required works.
• 27/05/2008 Vero met with the Receiver of Bank West on 26 May who confirmed that the expressions of interest closed on Friday 23 May. There were 15 expressions of interest received and a short-list is now being drawn up – and are hopeful to make a decision by next week. They are also working through a list of homes which were due for hand-over/close to completion to identify any homes which could be finalised within the next few weeks. Vero also provided them with a list of homeowners who had contacted our office and were in this same situation. Any of those who they considered could be finalised would be contacted by the Receiver of Bank West to make the appropriate arrangements.
• 27/05/2008 Re: Pre Contract Payments: The Minister has advised that because Pre Contract Payments are not covered by Home Warranty Insurance assistance can be sought from the Office of Fair Trading. Please refer to article in the AFR on Tuesday, 27 May 2008 for full story.
• 26/05/2008 On behalf of a homeowner in the Hunter Valley, Vero has worked with the receiver to get the first homeowner into their completed home after the Beechwood Homes collapse. Vero is working with the receiver to get as many people back into their homes as quickly as possible.
• 23/05/2008 A new voicemail system for 1800 554 255 has been implemented by Vero, which directs customers to our NSW office where their calls will be handled quickly.
• 23/05/2008 Vero has mailed out letters to all affected policyholders along with a claim form. This information is also available on our website.
• 23/05/2008 The Receiver is in the process of going through all the contracts held by Beechwood Homes. Vero is trying to quickly get information on the progress of all our policyholders contracts from the Receiver. Once we have this to hand we will be able to make more informed assessments of all claims. We are hopeful that the information will start emerging soon.
• 23/05/2008 Vero has held a meeting with senior representatives of the Office of Fair Trading. We informed them of what action we had taken so far and how we were acting on as many claims as we can - particularly where our policyholders need immediate assistance.