How to make my house insurance affordable after subsisence claim

sapphire_nick

Hi

In 2003 I put in a claim for subsidence on the outbuildings of my property:

Lean-to garage
Lean-t porch

Separate side coal shed.

All lean-to buildings had come away from the house. They did not have proper foundations and were not tied into the brickwork.

The house itself had not moved and was not affected by any form of subsidence.

The insurance company were going to proceed with repairs to the outbuildings (crack filling) and the cost of the work was quoted at £13,000 with a £1,000 excess.

Given this, we decided to take the money and have our outbuildings deposit and we used to money to use towards a new extension (with very deep foundations).

Now we have a completely new extension and have not got any of the affected buildings any more and the extension is absolutely fine.

Anyway - when it came to renewing, I considered other companies as my current provider has quoted £550 pa which seems an awful lot for buildings insurance.

Now - given that my house was never affected and didn't need repairing and the buildings that were affected have been demolished and a new extension was built in 2006, should I declare that my house was ever affected by subsidence?!

My feelings are that I shouldn't but I wanted advice. The house did not need under-pinning and the extension was built and certified nearly 4 years ago.

Advice appreciated. Thanks so much!
:beer:

huckster

Yes you will have to declare, as otherwise you risk any Insurance you arrange being made void due to non disclosure. Insurers will have the claim noted noted on a central database, so they will find out.

You can still shop around for Insurance, but you will need to phone companies to discuss the information in full. They will want to see the paperwork connected with the claim, which confirmed that it was only the lean to garage/porch and coalshed that were affected and not the house. They will also want to see what was done to deal with the issue e.g. demolish lean to and build proper extension.

sapphire_nick

Thanks for the reply

Hmm - seems to be the case - every company I called when I asked for a quote would not touch it given the history of movement in the nearby area.

Is there a period after which this becomes irrelevant?

Something tells me we should have not put the claim in and I am worried when it comes to selling the house. The only reason the lean to buildings moved was that they had insufficient foundations (crust).

Am I able to hire a surveyor to pass the property as not at risk of subsidence? Fr instance, to de-blacklist my house!?

As it stands I am stuck with the current insurer as no-one else seems to want to discuss it.

This is especially annoying as the lean-to buildings no longer exist.

huckster

If the property is in an area know for subsidence and you have had a claim, then yes it will be more difficult to move your Insurance elsewhere. Obtaining a full surveyors report may help you, but whether the cost of this will be recovered from savings on Insurance, I don't know. It might help if you were selling the house I suppose.

Perhaps your best bet would be to go to a decent high street broker (not Swintons) with all the information and see whether they will negotiate for you.

Alternatively, depending on which Insurer you are with, it is sometimes possible to arrange a new policy with them at a better rate, providing your previous policy number for reference. It is worth a try. They may just say the existing policy reflects the payout and risk, so are not prepared to offered a new policy at a reduced rate. Often new policy rates are cheaper than those offered to existing customers at renewal.

sapphire_nick

Thanks! Will contact them and see if they can give me a new quote.

So you think its best to go and talk to someone on the high street in person instead of getting a quote online?

Would a building society such as Nationwide be a good idea? I have a savings account (but not a mortgage with them).

huckster

Yes, if you have claims on record or any issues, you should always speak to people. Never arrange online, as the Insurance might then prove not to be worth the paper it is written on.

You could talk to the Insurance arm of the people you hold your mortgage with.

sapphire_nick

Thanks - currently it is actually with my mortgage provider so I will see is someone else will give me cover by going in and visiting branches.

Much appreciated!