Board Spotlight: Kim Carter, Senior Claims Outcome Manager, NHBC

This month, we caught up with Kim Carter who represents NHBC on the board of the Consumer Code for Home Builders.

Tell us about your background. How did you find yourself working in the home building industry?

I started my career in insurance, initially dealing with household/buildings claims and then commercial and liability claims. When I joined NHBC over 25 years ago, I had to quickly learn more about the technical elements of building construction.

Throughout my time at NHBC, my focus has always been on the consumer and ensuring we provide fair outcomes and a high level of service. By working in the Claims team, the corporate communications team and being tasked with creating and leading the central complaints department, my knowledge and experience of dealing with a wide variety of issues about claims, building control and consumer protection, is particularly relevant in my role as a board member of the Consumer Code for Home Builders.

During my time at NHBC I have learnt a considerable amount about the home building industry – how it operates, the challenges builders face and how, by working with builders, we can bring about successful outcomes for homeowners.

What do you consider to be the role for warranty providers when it comes to consumer protection?

I believe warranty providers help to improve the quality of construction of new homes and provide valuable protection to consumers should a problem arise. The claims data collected by warranty providers is fed back to builders and the industry so that construction and customer service can be improved.

What do you feel are the major strengths of the Code and how does it help consumers?

The major strengths of the Code are that it requires builders to comply with specific requirements so that purchasers of new homes are provided with clear information upon which they can make informed decisions. The aim is to ensure they receive a high level of customer service. If they experience issues with their builder, which cannot be resolved through the builder’s complaints process, they can pursue a dispute through the Code’s fair and robust Independent Dispute Resolution Scheme.

What do you believe are the most important elements of good customer service when selling new homes? Are there any examples you have seen or initiatives you have promoted that stand out?

Builders must ensure that they provide accurate information and documentation concerning the properties they are selling to ensure purchasers aren’t misled and are in a position to make informed decisions. In addition, builders must communicate with purchasers promptly and have an efficient complaints procedure so that if there are any problems they are resolved with the minimum of distress and inconvenience to the purchasers.

In your role as the Senior Claims Outcome Manager, what’s the one area you’d encourage builders to put more time into getting right to improve their customers’ experience?

Apart from ensuring properties are built properly, the main area for me in my role would be for builders to act promptly when a problem arises and not to argue over issues which are clearly their responsibility. We see too many cases referred to NHBC where a builder should have accepted they were responsible for rectifying issues, which would have avoided a lot of wasted time and unnecessary distress and inconvenience for the purchasers.

What improvements would you most like to see within the industry in the next five years that would benefit home buyers?

Continuing the focus on build quality and customer service. Builders must consider the purchaser in everything they do – from the first brick laid to the finishes, the marketing and sale of properties and in the service they provide throughout the purchaser’s journey.

We should all be striving to deliver a positive experience for home buyers as bad experiences can very quickly damage a builder’s reputation. The risk of negative publicity, combined with the rewards of having happy customers, should be ever present in a builder’s mind to ensure they prioritise build quality and customer service.

What’s your top tip for switching off after a busy working day?

My first stop is to put the kettle on and have a quiet cup of tea. This gives me a chance to mull over the day, park things and switch off until tomorrow.