Conservatory "subsided"

past_1999

Hi

I am sure someone else must have been in a similar situation. During the course of the dry, wwarm summer we had last year, I noticed that the conservatory has moved and cracks started to appear where it moved itself away from the house, plus the big conservatory doors to the garden started to cause problems etc etc ... to cut a long story short, I knew something was terribly wrong. At that time, I informed our buildings insurer (Halifax) about this and asked what can be done. They have sent out a specialist who straight away said that it is subsidence and probably caused by a few nearby trees. He said that the movement of the conservatory could be reversed by getting rid of all the trees in the garden and to allow the soil get re-hydrated again, which will take time. He confirmed that in writing to me and we agreed to wait until March/April time this year before we would get engaged in further discussions, but he was high hopes that once we got rid of all trees in the garden the situation would improve. We are now in March and the situation has not changed at all. Despite our efforts and cost of getting rid of all of our trees in teh garden, the cracks and gaps of the conservatory are the same. We had a pretty wet autumn and winter, so the ground should be re-hydrated by now .... the problem is that my insurance is due for renewal in a couple of weeks. Should I stick with my current insurer or shall I switch, as there are others out there that give me a bit better cover for the premium I pay. I contacted the Halifax surveyor last week and mentioned that nothing has really changed from the last time he visited us in August; he still insists that any claims would be under subsidence, which carry the £1000 excess, plus I am uncertain about potential negative effects of future insurance I want to take out (either with the same or a different insurance company). Also, if I would do a claim under subsidece to get my conservatory repaired/replaced, wouldn't that have a (negative) effect on the new home buyer report if I want to sell the property?

Any help, guidance, advice appreciated please!

Astaroth

You are going to struggle getting insurance elsewhere now that you have to say that the property has suffered from subsidence. Generally only your current supplier or mortgage provider will be willing to touch you and still cover you for subsidence (and whilst others will without covering you for subsidence this most likely will be against the terms of your mortgage)

past_1999

Thanks Astaroth

Just to clarify, the house itself does not show any signs of subsidence, only the conservatory, which was build after the house was completed. Does this make any difference to your comments?

Astaroth

Not much as generally the question is based on the property, land or neighbouring land... you are also potentially getting into semantics of the definition of a building on if the perminant structure that is physically attached to the original building is considered part of the building or not.

past_1999

Thanks, Astaroth

Would you therefore suggest that I rather not claim on subsidence at all, and rather get the conservatory fixed in another way if I can (ie. get the cracks filled by some professional people) as this would save me £££s and headaches in the long run when it comes to insuring the property? As I mentioned above, I can get a slightly better cover (with a different insurer) but for a little less than what I would pay with my current insurer (based on the recent renewal quote).

Astaroth

The claim will make a difference but the question is not normally around if you have claimed for subsidence or not but if you are aware of it affecting the neighbourhood so irrespective of if you had claimed or not you would still legally need to say yes.

Claiming will however increase premiums for having made a claim and some insurers will also further increase the excess for subsidence once you have had one claim for it.