advice on subsidence and insurance please

buder

Hello all,

Im after some advice regarding a substantial crack which has been noticed to the upstairs rear addition where it meets the main part of the house.

Its an old property est around 1930's. When you reach the top of the stairs its a split landing where entering the rear addition which is surrounded by sort of wooden frame where the 3rd box room and small bathroom is.

We have been aware for some time of the fact the frame around the entrance to the rear addition has been comming away from the wall, there is also a gap where the wall paper meets. We always thought it was a case of the frame in disrepair its an old house with traditional features sort of thing and needs some maintenance upstairs.

whats worrying me is we had our neighbour round who is a carpenter with a view to replacing the frame etc and he said the wall has actually pushed the frame away in part from itself. We picked some of the corking away which had stretched in places and could see a large crack as if the wall is separating at the rear addition. There is also evidence when you look above on one side the wall is clearly off line and pushing the top of frame outwards towards one side the adjoining wall of the rear addition part.

Ive spoken to the neighbours and they have the same cracks / gaps in the same place although ours seem worse. Our side is end of terrace.

My concerns are that the insurance company will deny liability as this has clearly been present for a long time and I have not brought it to their attention in a timely fashion ??. I dont know why ive ignored addressing this for so long but I didnt think it was a as serious as it seems now I can see it properly. The gap is over an inch most definitely. It only seems to be present upstairs and I cant see anything outside but then I may not if this is the separation point ?.

what has had me thinking is there was some corking covering the gaps in the frame so also what concerns me is that we bought the property like this some 4 years ago and efforts were made to hide it at the time with it now getting worse to the extent its plainly obvious.

what do you people think, My ultimate concerns are over my insurance company denying responsibility and where that leaves me. Have I invalidated anything by not contacting them sooner etc ?

many thanks, sorry if my terminology is not accurate when it comes to building and stuff I know nothing.

keith969

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying you want to claim from your insurance company to have this crack fixed?

When you bought the place, was there any mention of suspected subsidence in the survey? If not, then why are you worried - its not your fault if it a few cracks were covered up and you didn't notice. Have any of your neighbours who have similar cracks had theirs classed as subsidence by a surveyor?

Old buildings often have cracks, when an extension is added you often end up with cracks, real buildings move but that doesn't always mean there is subsidence.

buder

Apologies for the confusing post.

I have contacted my insurer as of today to assess the extent of the problem. I can cancel the claim if need be which I will do if the cause is not subsidence however i am certain it is after speaking to the neighbours this evening.

There insurers suspected damaged drains somewhere and want to dig some holes but confirm cracks are from movement due to subsidence.

I'm concerned that the insurers will deny some liability due to this damage pre dating our ownership. The survey did not mention subsidence when we purchased.

phill99

But neither you or your neighbour know whether it is or isn't subsidence. The only people that will know that are the trained surveyors employed / contracted by your insurers.

It isn't appropriate to start second guessing because you will end up confused. Let the insurers do their stuff and come to an appropriate and FACTUAL conclusion.

If it is subsidesnce, then your insurers will fix it (excess to pay). Thats the reason you have insurance.

gas4you

I had this many years ago.

The insurance wouldn't pay because they said the house was moving before they took over the cover.

Unless you had a full structural survey that stated beyond doubt there was no movement at the time you bought the property, I cannot see them paying out.

I hope I am wrong for your sake.

buder

gas4you wrote: »

I had this many years ago.

The insurance wouldn't pay because they said the house was moving before they took over the cover.

Unless you had a full structural survey that stated beyond doubt there was no movement at the time you bought the property, I cannot see them paying out.

I hope I am wrong for your sake.

That's my big concern and what's worries me the most.

I've lived here for 5 years so whether they can accurately calculate the likelihood of movement being present before that period I don't know