Advice need on Underpinned house

CloudCuckooLand

"some draining problem" could be a cause of subsidence, or not...more detail is required to be sure it really is not an issue that an insurer would need to be told about.

It may have been preventative underpinning, or corrective. Or for rerouting drainage when the extension was put up.

A question for the vendor - do their insurers know about past underpinning, already? Have they changed insurers recently? If they have the same insurer since 1975 (or other date of underpinning), is it because they could not get insurance elsewhere?

A bit confused about how the underpinning came to your attention. If it was in a survey, that should be known to the lender and they would have concerns. If not from a survey, was your surveyor looking with that in mind. Some small signs can be missed, if not primed to be looking for them.

helping_hand_3

We came to know about the underpinning through our solicitors...
I dont know how long they have been with their current insurance provider will find out though..
the insurance company knows about the unerpinning as they did the work I am being told so...

CloudCuckooLand

helping_hand wrote: »

the insurance company knows about the unerpinning as they did the work I am being told so...

That's quite important and potentially both good and bad news...

Good in that it should have been done properly. The insurer may even have an old paper file with details. Should at least have a date.

Bad in that is must definitely have been an insurable cause, so absolutely needs to be declared.

However, you can ask to take over the insurance - and by staying with the insurer who alreadys knows about it you avoid the difficulty in getting insurance with other firms who will, at the merest mention of "underpinning", decline cover.

If the insurer can give a bit more detail, I think it would be worth it, for peace of mind, to get a re-survey with those specific details in mind, so the affected part of the house can be focused upon.

helping_hand_3

The surveyor confirms there is no sign of any movement or damage and that the fact there is no sign is evidence to the work being done well.
What I need to know is will I have problems should I sell it on later date?
Shoudl I renegotiate the price and reduce it

CloudCuckooLand

I'm not entirely convinced that a Home Buyers report would look in all the right places to be 100% sure they would not miss something a Full Structural survey would pickup. Otherwise, what do they charge an extra £500 for..?

Although, if the surveyor is not offering to do one, it does reassure somewhat, and indicate a certain honesty on their part, as it would be easy money for little effort...(cynical, I know!)

With only part of the story (even if nearly all you will get) its difficult to judge any price reduction.

If the insurer can give you the date, that would be useful. A year ago?, it might not have finished settling. 30+ years ago?, less concerning. Maybe even the name of the company who would have carried it out, even a simple one-line description of the cause of the claim - which might be all they have on a computer system if it was decades ago - then you might have more to go on.

Its impossible to tell whether a future buyer would go to further lengths than you. If they do, they might discover something reassuring, or more worrying...and vice versa if they don't go as far as you - some will just lop 20% off the price at the mention of it.

helping_hand_3

Thanks CloudCuckooLand. Just found out that underpinning of the garage was done in 2002 and that the house was not affected at all. However the occupiers in the house could not access the ground floor of the house for sometime whilst the garage was being underpinned.
The price I am buying is 223k how much do you think I should reduce by ?

helping_hand_3

Here is a thought...
If I demolish the garage that has been underpinned ( its is anot atatched to the house) and rebuild it. will the whole clause of underpinned property be removed form the house?

Will I then be able to shop around normal for home insurance?

DVardysShadow

helping_hand wrote: »

Here is a thought...
If I demolish the garage that has been underpinned ( its is anot atatched to the house) and rebuild it. will the whole clause of underpinned property be removed form the house?

Will I then be able to shop around normal for home insurance?

Less drastic, if it is not attached, would be to get insurance in the normal way, declare the underpinning of the garage and exclude subsidence of the garage from the insurance.

You may need a specialist insurance broker, because an insurance company call centre will not be intelligent enough to deal with this. But there should be a choice of insurers to take this on.

Once you have scoped out whether this is possible, it will reduce the value of the property - because the garage is effectively valueless, but you get the use of it for free. You will also need to inform your lender, because they may have views on the value.

aberis

Having an underpinned property myself, I know the hassle and cost involved in insuring this.

However for everyone out there with older underpinned properties, I found some great news last night whilst looking for a new insurer.

Legal and General will insure an underpinned property IF the work was completed more than 15 years ago; at what appears to be no extra cost. I have just sorted out my buildings insurance with them this morning for around £240pa for my house which was underpinned in 1987/88

Apparently, speaking to the call centre agent, L&G consider that 15 years is long enough for any problems to re-occur.

Hope this is helpful; and spread the word ... maybe other insurers will start to follow suit.

rkvohra70

cant say enough thanks for letting know about legal and general thing!My sale of property is only going ahead because of it
cheers