subsidence claim: how long?

frenchbird1

I found a buyer for my house 3 months ago. All was going well until she decided towards the end of the procedure (!) to have a full structural survey (she had another survey done earlier that was fine apart from a bit of damp). The surveyor basically said the house was a good solid house but mentioned a crack on the kitchen wall at the back that could indicate minor subsidence. The buyer's solicitor now won't proceed any further until this has been checked and my insurance involved. An engineer from a firm of loss adjusters sent by my insurance came and said that it was very unlikely it was very serious (tiny old crack only on one wall not mirrored on the corner wall) but more investigative work had to be done. I now have had a man come to take some soil samples and put a camera down the drain near my house. When I asked when the report would be ready he said at least 3 weeks and then the report will be sent to the firm of loss adjusters' engineer who will take a week to write his conclusions. So that's at least 4 weeks lost. What I'm wondering is how long things will take after that? We are buying a house and expected exchange date is the end of July. Is there a chance all will be done and dusted by then or shall I change my mortgage application now to be sure to be ready by the end of July (we can afford a mortgage whatever happens but obviously our deposit, and therefore the rate, will be affected)?

G_M

Well a lot will depend on the report. If it gives an unambiguous 'all clear', then things could proceed fast, assuming everything else is in place. If it reports major problems, you'll probobly lose your buyer straight away.

If it is ambiguous, or recommends minor works, you might find the buyer either re-negotiating price, or insisting you undertake the work yourself before Exchange.

frenchbird1

6 months on and:
-the crack is still almost invisible.
-the trees that might have caused the problem have been cut.
-the buyer is still willing to wait but in the mean time I'm still paying for the mortgage/gas/elec/council tax on an empty house and the mortgage etc on our new house.
After months of struggling to get people at the firm of loss adjusters to do their work: ie organise site investigations, send them to their engineer, wait for him to write a report, chase water company,etc, we are still in the same situation. The engineer who told me there probably was no subsidence, now says that, because the dodgy guy who came to investigate the drains found some problems, the water company needs to pay for the repairs, not the insurance. Anglian water did their own investigations and found no problem other than the pipes are a bit old.
The whole system is stupid. Of course the guy sent by the firm of loss adjusters, found something wrong with the drains, he wants to repair them and make money. Of course the water company doesn't want to pay. And who's stuck in the middle, wasting money and time?