subsidence ???

lyla

we had cracks appear in the house and problems with the door shutting properly this summer. we have got a plum tree in the garden quite close to the house (we didnt plant it). we had a builder round to say it was normal movement (he didnt know what he was on about). also had a tree surgeon round who said the tree was a sapling and it would not be causing the cracks. BUT the cracks kept getting bigger so we rang our insurance company who said theyld send structural engineer round and if it was found not to be a "subsidence" claim then we would not be penalised.

that was 2 months ago, still waiting for an engineer to come round. all ive had is a loss adjuster to do an ititial report. Found out renewal premium today had gone up from £250 to £650 !!!

can they charge me that much without even knowing for definate what the outcome of the claim is going to be? i am so stressed about this, it was bad enough worrying about the £1000 excess which they have great pleasure in reminding me about in every letter they send. also how do i pay the excess? do they send me a bill at the end of claim?

anyone been in a similar situation?

Astaroth

All open claims count against the policy at renewal because nothing is ever certain until the end of the claim and so insurers assume the worse (there will probably also be an endorsement on the policy now about subsidence claims). If they close the file as a non-subsidence claim then the premium will be revised and refunds/ adjustments to monthly installments made.

Different insurers have different ways of doing things but in the majority of cases you would pay the £1000 to the builders after they have completed works to fix the problem.