Help! subsidence,insurance & conveyancing

cantworkitout

Hello,

I would really appreciate some advice as very worried and do not know where to turn for fear of loosing it all!

Back in October we brought our second property.
(parents do not own property, so this is a real learning curve for us! )

I had the basic survey from my mortgage company as they assured me this would cover the big stuff such as subsidence , I specifically asked that question.

came back with what it was worth and that was about it.

The conveyancer said all was fine told me what boundries were mine etc. he muttered something about clay area but that was that.

It all went through and I read all the paperwork cover to cover it said nothing about subsidance as i would have run for the hills!!!

we compleated and moved in Oct 10th 2010 and all appeared to be well.


In FEBRUARY!! I received some post from the conveyancer with a cover letter saying your bank does not require this information so we have sent to you ....
it was two survey reports talking about subsidence and it being histroical and no recent movement but that the house at the end of the row ( three doors from me! ) had been compleatly demolished and rebuilt and underpinning had been done in the street.

It was then I began to notice cracks appearing in the celings upstairs. the bathroom door and window catching and the stairs with cracks along the bottom skirting area.

I went into full panic and thought if I tell this to my mortgage people or insurance company who are one of the same ...will they fix this for me or tell me that as the conveyancer sent me the stuff , tell that i already knew and lied to them when i told them no subsidance .
and therefore null my insurance or charge me a crazy premium if they fix it .

How can the conveyancer not have told me that when he obviously knew ? can he be considered negligent for this?
and if so what could i even do about it ?

I was prompted to come here and ask after just bumping into my neighbour in the shop who rents telling me as the whole street has subsidance she thinks it will be hard for them to sell commences the conversation about thier landlords insurance sorting it all out but they have been there for 14 years so i assume it could have taken out the poilcy before the subsidence occured? therefore covered.

Am I covered with my insurance now?
or should I be looking to sue the convyencer or am i up the creek without a paddle with a house not worth a sausage?!

I am so upset i dont know which way to turn or what to do!
Help! sorry for the elongated explanation ...if your still reading that is

Thanks

shar46y

I'm not quite clear - whose survey reports were these, when were they done and were they actually for your property? You only specifically mention the house at the end of the row.

As for your basic survey, do you mean a valuation or a homebuyers report?

King_Of_Bling

The insurance normally has a £1000 excess for subsidence.

cantworkitout

Hello thank you for replyingi ,

I made an offer in the July and the valuation/survey was done in the July as the buyers insisted this was done before they would take it off the market....perhaps I should have twigged then...hindsight!

I am not 100% sure I used a financial adviser as i was unsure of how/what to do and she said to me that i could £500 for a "basic survey"
or £1000 for a full survey. she did say that the "basic would cover subsidence as Halifax would not lend on the house should it be falling down.....

Although what I received did not really say anything of the condition of the house only that it is was worth the amount it was being sold for...

I am feeling more like a idiot by the second...i have a horrible feeling you are going to tell me that this does not cover inspection of the house at all....i just assumed as she said a bank would not lend all that money if the house was and their money was not secure...

cantworkitout

just to add .. the home buyers report...i never saw one ... i had to pay for one for my house via the instance of the estate agent for them to be abolished two weeks later...*rolls eyes*

shar46y

cantworkitout wrote: »

I am not 100% sure I used a financial adviser as i was unsure of how/what to do and she said to me that i could £500 for a "basic survey"
or £1000 for a full survey. she did say that the "basic would cover subsidence as Halifax would not lend on the house should it be falling down.....

Although what I received did not really say anything of the condition of the house only that it is was worth the amount it was being sold for...

If it just said that it was worth £X, that was just a valuation and does not cover the house condition (I've heard they often just drive by to check the house exists). I could be wrong and maybe Halifax really inflate their prices, but £500 sounds about right for a homebuyers report, I would expect a valuation to be a lot cheaper! If so, I do not understand why you think you paid for a second homebuyers report via the estate agent - that doesn't make sense to me. And if you paid the Halifax for a homebuyers report, it belongs to you and you should have a copy.

Sounds like several lots of people didn't explain things clearly to you and you may have the wrong end of a lot of sticks.:(

Re the cracks, please do contact (in writing ultimately) whoever did the "survey" or valuation (it should name the surveyor or at least company responsible on your valuation documentation) and ask them to come and have a look. Take photos of the cracks if possible and include them in your correspondence.

hazyjo

I believe the OP is mistaking your reference to a 'homebuyer's report' with a HIPS report - which were abolished.

You should have a copy of the survey (probably a 'homebuyer's report/survey' as said above. Alternatively, it would have been just a 'valuation', or a more indepth 'full structural survey' - which I'm pretty sure you didn't have).

Jx

shar46y

hazyjo wrote: »

I believe the OP is mistaking your reference to a 'homebuyer's report' with a HIPS report - which were abolished.

I did wonder whether the OP meant a HIP, but wasn't sure because I was thinking about the whole thing from a buyer's point of view. Re-reading the first post, he/she does say it is their second property so now that part at least makes sense.

pmlindyloo

cantworkitout wrote: »

Hello,

I would really appreciate some advice as very worried and do not know where to turn for fear of loosing it all!

Back in October we brought our second property.
(parents do not own property, so this is a real learning curve for us! )

I had the basic survey from my mortgage company as they assured me this would cover the big stuff such as subsidence , I specifically asked that question.

came back with what it was worth and that was about it.

The conveyancer said all was fine told me what boundries were mine etc. he muttered something about clay area but that was that.

It all went through and I read all the paperwork cover to cover it said nothing about subsidance as i would have run for the hills!!!

we compleated and moved in Oct 10th 2010 and all appeared to be well.


In FEBRUARY!! I received some post from the conveyancer with a cover letter saying your bank does not require this information so we have sent to you ....
it was two survey reports talking about subsidence and it being histroical and no recent movement but that the house at the end of the row ( three doors from me! ) had been compleatly demolished and rebuilt and underpinning had been done in the street.

It was then I began to notice cracks appearing in the celings upstairs. the bathroom door and window catching and the stairs with cracks along the bottom skirting area.

I went into full panic and thought if I tell this to my mortgage people or insurance company who are one of the same ...will they fix this for me or tell me that as the conveyancer sent me the stuff , tell that i already knew and lied to them when i told them no subsidance .
and therefore null my insurance or charge me a crazy premium if they fix it .

How can the conveyancer not have told me that when he obviously knew ? can he be considered negligent for this?
and if so what could i even do about it ?

I was prompted to come here and ask after just bumping into my neighbour in the shop who rents telling me as the whole street has subsidance she thinks it will be hard for them to sell commences the conversation about thier landlords insurance sorting it all out but they have been there for 14 years so i assume it could have taken out the poilcy before the subsidence occured? therefore covered.

Am I covered with my insurance now?
or should I be looking to sue the convyencer or am i up the creek without a paddle with a house not worth a sausage?!

I am so upset i dont know which way to turn or what to do!
Help! sorry for the elongated explanation ...if your still reading that is

Thanks

I am completely confused!

It seems that the OP did receive some survey reports mentioning historical subsidence (see my bolding)

Why would the conveyancer send them in February when they had bought the house in October the previous year?

It would also seem that the OP hadn't even seen those survey reports before she purchased the property! All very strange.

If I've got it right then I would be contacting the conveyancer and asking them questions!

OP I hope you've still got these survey reports and the letter from the conveyancer.

G_M

The OP's explanation is very confused. However, I too guess the reference to

the home buyers report...i never saw one ... i had to pay for one for my house via the instance of the estate agent for them to be abolished two weeks later...*rolls eyes*

is actually a reference to a HIP.

OP, forget HIPs. There are 3 levels of 'inspection' of a property:

1) a valuation. This is very basic, and although you pay for it, it is a requirement of your mortgage lender and belongs to thm. It is to ensure their loan to you is safe. It is NOT intended for you, or to 'survey' the property (though they may show you/send you a copy).
2) a home-buyers report. Has more detail/investigation than the valuation. Is to a set format, and examines the property structure
3) a full survey. As 2) but more in-depth. Lots more words/detail and less bullet points/tick-boxes. But covers simialar areas.

My guess? Your lender did a valuation and you did nothing.

As for the surveys from your solicitor, my guess is that these were handed over to him by the seller or his solicitor, quite possibly after you bought, as part of a package of historical documents relating to the property. They could be from when he, the seller, bought the property. Or they could be older still. Might be an idea to have a detailed look at them.........?

cantworkitout

shar46y wrote: »

If it just said that it was worth £X, that was just a valuation and does not cover the house condition (I've heard they often just drive by to check the house exists).


Yes this is basically what the report said

I could be wrong and maybe Halifax really inflate their prices, but £500 sounds about right for a homebuyers report, I would expect a valuation to be a lot cheaper!

It is quite possible i was ripped off and also paid commision to the financial adviser as she arranged all of this for me and took my payment

If so, I do not understand why you think you paid for a second homebuyers report via the estate agent - that doesn't make sense to me. And if you paid the Halifax for a homebuyers report, it belongs to you and you should have a copy.

Sorry I was referring to the hips I purchased for the sale of my first home in order to sell


Sounds like several lots of people didn't explain things clearly to you and you may have the wrong end of a lot of sticks.:(

Nodding !

Re the cracks, please do contact (in writing ultimately) whoever did the "survey" or valuation (it should name the surveyor or at least company responsible on your valuation documentation) and ask them to come and have a look. Take photos of the cracks if possible and include them in your correspondence.

This is what is worrying me , that if as you pointed out what i had was a simple valuation and not a survey at all ( I cannot believe Halifax would mortgage a house without one) then I have nobody to ask.

Thank you for your time
Caz.