insurance companies overreacting to minor subsidence

roqchiq

I'm looking at buying a house and got a homebuyers report which mentioned 'evidence of movement' in the porch, an extension, not part of the main building. A further structural engineers report showed that the movement was due to settlement shortly after construction and that there was no evidence that the main property was affected.

However insurance companies are over reacting and charging us around £500 pa for buildings cover only, if we include contents it will take us over £600 pa. This is more than friends who have fairly serious subsidence problems are being charged. :huh:

Is there any way to get the underwriters to take a more balanced approach to our situation? If we can't get the insurance premiums down we're going to have to walk away, having spent quite a lot of money and knowing suitable properties in the area we're looking in are pretty rare....

magpiecottage

Two options - see if the existing insurer will accept it or, if it took place more than 15 years ago, try Legal & General who seem to take a more sensible approach.

kingstreet

So this is movement, not subsidence?

Is the report specifically calling it "longstanding and non-progressive movement?"

If it is, I'd use a broker. The likes of Paymentshield and Select & Protect normally run such issues past an underwriter and they come back ordinary rates.

roqchiq

@kingstreet the engineer's report calls it 'consolidation of the ground beneath foundation level' so the underwriters who've seen the report are calling it subsidence because the ground had moved.

Unfortunately the report doesn't specifically say "longstanding and non-progressive movement" as he has only seen the property on one occasion although it does say 'I would consider that the cracking has been present for many years' and 'it is possible that the porch has moved and now stabilised'.

One hope (albeit slim) may be to get some evidence from the vendor as to when the porch was built? Possibly early 90s so that might be in our favour.

@magpiecottage I'm not sure speaking to the current insurer would help as no one was aware of the issue until the homebuyer's report was done.

However I will try the people you've mentioned as someone else also mentioned to me that L&G can be more sensible, and I've not heard of Paymentshield or Select & Protect so will try them too. Thanks!

*Scarlett

Also maybe try

http://www.homeprotect.co.uk/home-insurance/subsidence-insurance.aspx

roqchiq

Thanks, but I've tried them already.

They were only prepared to include subsidence cover (can't get a mortgage without it) if we got a full structural report on the whole house, and from the contact I've had with other brokers once subsidence is included the premium doubles from the price originally quoted.

Legal and General referred me on to another company, who were worse than useless as they wouldn't even quote unless I gave them exact dates for exchange and completion. I explained that we weren't going to get to exchange contracts if I couldn't sort the insurance out but they wouldn't budge!

On the plus side, the vendor has told us that the porch was built in the early 80s so that could help, although I assume the underwriters would want written proof which I don't (yet) have.

roqchiq

Had a thought about contacting the existing insurer. Would the fact that they already insure the property and haven't had any issues with it go in our favour? (although not sure how long the vendor's been with the same company) Or could it just make it harder for the vendor to renew?