Buildings insurance cover cavity wall tie failure?

quatro

Does normal buildings cover of a standard construction property provide cover in the event that a property suffers from cavity wall tie failure in the future? Anyone had experience of this?
I am thinking of purchasing an older house and only previously insured newer properties. I am willing to pay an excess to bring insurance costs down a bit.
Thanks....

edwardianlady

Just trying to find this out myself as we have made an offer on a property and this has just been picked up a a possible risk by the structural surveyor.

I think you are only insured for specified insured perils (like storm damage or subsidence). Any damage to a wall that has occurred over a considerable period of time and not been caused by an insured peril will not be covered.
In most terms and conditions it does state that you are not covered for damage caused by wear and tear or anything which happens gradually.

You might be able to ask your insurer to cover you for a specific 'peril' like this but I suspect that the increased premiums might be less cost-effective than just sorting it yourself.

We had a worst case scenario estimate from a builder to replace the wall-ties in the property we are hoping to buy (the vendor will not allow us to have the cavity opened up and have the wall-ties inspected). The estimate is in the region of £8500 including VAT (for about 120m2 of walls). In addition, the whole house would need repointing to avoid a patchy effect at extra costs.

I am not an insurance expert - this is just my understanding of the issue. I hope this has been helpful. If anyone knows differently or can concur, I'd love to know!