Neighbour's tree caused me subsidence - what to do?

easypeezy

Hi all, I've lived in a Victorian house (over 100 years old) for 10 years and whilst there have always been signs of previous movement (i.e cracks that have been filled, painted, cornices repaired etc) there's been nothing recent until about a year ago.

Our neighbour (directly attached - we're both semi-detached) had planted a Euchalyptus tree in their postage stamp sized garden, which was apparently planted by them over twenty five years ago - the tree was no more than 10m from my house. It had subsequently grown quickly and was so big (taller than our houses!) they opted to cut it down a couple of years ago. I was wary of this as I have some building knowledge and did know there would be a maze of roots under our gardens (and foundations?) that would die off and possibly cause movement in our houses.

I can't speak for them but I can see number of cracks on a corner wall that appear over two floors and have been getting slightly bigger over the past year or so.

I have subsidence cover (with £1000 excess) and wanted advice on how much if any of the claim can be made (and proven) against the neighbour - not in a malicious way but I do feel they more than contributed to the situation and what the process is in beginning the repair of my property - which I guess would involve underpinning.

Do I get independent advice from a structural surveyor first, do I contact my insurer and what sort of can-of-worms would this open? I'm very aware that I can't 'unsay' things once they've been said and ignorance, to a point, is bliss but this situation should not be left to deteriorate. All advice would be gratefully received!

prudryden

Claim against your insurance - fill in the forms correctly. The insurance will most certainly investigate and ask the appropriate questions. It will be out of your hands.

zzzLazyDaisy

Contact your insurer and explain the situation. They will make their own investigations, which will probably involve sending out a structural engineer to assess the damage. You should mention the tree to the engineer, as well as any other facts that might be relevant. The engineer will provide a report to the insurer, which will include any relevant factors, such as the neighbours tree. If the insurer takes the view that the tree was a contributory factor, they will contact the neighbour and ask for details of their insurance company. The insurers will then sort it out between themselves. What you should NOT do is delay and let things get worse, as that may invalidate your insurance

courtjester

A note of caution - subsidence has many causes and often is a combination of several factors that may, or may not, include the presence or removal of a tree - you can't make that assumption.

The advice to contact your insurers is the correct action - they will carry out a full investigation adn you will be responsible for the costs up to the point at which your excess is exceeded after which the insurers will pay the rest.

What is needed to be done depends on the findings - it may have nothing to do with the tree at all. Underpinning is not necessarily the solution either. It is important to get the professionals involved and not jump to conclusions at this time.

easypeezy

Thanks for the prompt replies - looks like a call to my insurers is in order!