Insurance for houses that have had previous movement

nivek01

Hi,I`m a first time buyer and have a valuation report that says "Evidence of movement was observed in the form of cracking to walls,out of square door frames etc.This appears to be long standing & non progressive & the likelihood of further significant movement seems remote.No structual works are considered necessary." This pushes my quotes up from around £200 to around £650 per year.Anybody got any advice on what I should do? I need it sorting ASAP.

shudder

Find out who the existing insurer is and try getting a quote from them, depending on whether the existing owner has declared this and how long they have insured the property you may get a better deal from them.

Have you actually bought the property yet?

nivek01

Yes I`ve bought the property but it was a reposession so I don`t know which insurer the previous owners used.

shudder

nivek01 wrote: »

Yes I`ve bought the property but it was a reposession so I don`t know which insurer the previous owners used.

The unfortunately you are left with what is available on the open market.

Given the previous history did your lenders insist on a full structural survey? This should make the job cheaper/easier all you have got to do is look for a specialist insurer as most will ask for a one. Google something like 'subsidence history home insurance' as a start.

vaio

the deeds will give details of previous mortgage company who will have details of the insurance company.

Whether you can talk them into telling you is another matter

huckster

nivek01 wrote: »

Hi,I`m a first time buyer and have a valuation report that says "Evidence of movement was observed in the form of cracking to walls,out of square door frames etc.This appears to be long standing & non progressive & the likelihood of further significant movement seems remote.No structual works are considered necessary." This pushes my quotes up from around £200 to around £650 per year.Anybody got any advice on what I should do? I need it sorting ASAP.

You mention movement but not subsidence.

All properties will suffer a certain amount of movement and you will get some cracks appearing internally to walls and near door frames.

Based on your post above, I am not sure you have a problem that would be a concern to Insurers. But they might want to see the whole report and might request a further structural engineers report.

What I would suggest that you do is find out which Insurers your mortgage company use and approach them with a copy of the valuation report. See if they will Insure under normal terms. You could also approach other companies. Most will take a look at the mortgage valuation report, to help them decide whether and on what basis that could quote.

nivek01

My mortgage lender is Santander.Would it be worth insuring through them? Obviously they`ve seen the report and thet can`t be too concerned as they`ve lent me the money.

huckster

Yes give it a go. If you contact the Santander Home Insurance number mentioning that you are getting a mortgage through them, you might be ok. But just because they are providing the mortgage, does not mean that they will provide the Insurance.

On the mortgage valuation, there should be questions about whether the house has is suffering from any signs of subsidence. If there is no mention of subsidence by the surveyor, then I cannot see what the problem is. You should be able to obtain Insurance any where. As I said earlier all properties will suffer from a certain amount of settlement damage.

shudder

huckster wrote: »

If there is no mention of subsidence by the surveyor, then I cannot see what the problem is.

Surveyors usually mention 'movement' in a property and do not refer to 'subsidence' as this is a generalisation. Any signs of cracking will be referred to in this manner to avoid the surveyor incurring claims against their professional indemnity insurance. In most circumstances they do not investigate the cause of the movement as this would be down to a structural engineer (unless they have dual qualifications).

Insurers typically pose a question that is quite open to limit their liability:

'Are the premises free from signs of damage due to subsidence, heave or landslip (such as internal or external cracks) and not in an area where there has been or which shows evidence of these causes'

It is up to the policyholder to answer this correctly, it is a simple 'Yes' or ' No' answer there is no grey area. If the answer is 'No' then it is up to the insured to obtain a structural engineers report to ascertain the cause of the damage whether it is from natural settlement, subsidence or heave before the insurer will consider cover. Generally the only way to get the label removed is if the damage is as a result of root intrusion and the cause ie tree has been removed. In any case the chances of getting the general 'subsidence/movement' label removed from a property are somewhat low as most professionals will never give a definative answer due to fears of a claim being made under their professional indemnity policy.

The only reason you will get a lower premium from an insurer is if the report does give a specific cause as this gives them the right to claim against the professional who has produced the report, however they have to have a solid faith in the accuracy of the report. Even then the lower premium will be offset against a higher excess for claims of this nature, typically £25,000.

huckster

Shudder

There is also normally another part of a mortgage valuation, where the surveyor can add whether they think any other reports should be obtained e.g. structural engineers report.

I think if I were a surveyor and their were cracks, of which I was not totally sure of the cause, I would add that a SER should be obtained. This must be in the interest of the buyer and mortgage company, even if does cost the buyer, a fee of around £500 to get the report.

shudder

Huckster

Granted, however whilst some insurers may be happy with the surveyors report to accept the risk at their loaded premium to get a premium reduction most will ask for a SER to get a better understanding of the risk they are taking on. I admit that at a cost of approx £500 this may be offputting however the costs saving over time will far outway the initial outlay.

The only was to find out is shop around, Google 'subsidence insurance brokers' or something similar.