Buildings insurance - tree root damage

PaulStat

The house we're about to buy made a claim for damage done by tree roots over twenty years ago. We've been told that this could have a big impact on the cost of the building insurance, in fact Swinton our current insurers said the price went from roughly £300 to £600, despite the tree no longer existing and no further claims for twenty years.

We were advised by our solicitors we will need to inform insurance companies of this past claim, also our surveyors reported there was a crack running up west side of building likely caused by blocked soak away but the crack hasn't shown any signs of getting worse. Have since learnt that the tree was what caused that damage not the soak away

Is there any way to make insurance companies see sense over something like this

huckster

What damage did the tree roots cause ?

What repairs were carried out ?

Is there a survey report available from the date the damage was detected ?

If I were buying a house in this position, I would want to identify the exact position so I knew how to proceed.

My advice is to arrange cover with the existing Insurers that the vendor uses. Get the current owner and the Insurers to agree, that any Buildings Insurance you arrange is a continuation of the previous policy.

Have the drainage inspected, by getting CCTV pictures to see what the state of this is like. If there is a problem found, the vendor may be able to claim for it, under their policy. Or if not, the vendor will have to sort out. I have recommended this on numerous occasions and in some instances it has saved clients thousands of pounds.

PaulStat

As mentioned it caused a crack running up western corner of building which hasn't changed since tree was removed, don't know for sure what work was carried out so need to find that out.

We have spoken to our surveyor again since finding this out and his opinion is it won't cause any more problems for the building.

As for the drains, we've already done that, no problems found

huckster

Suggest that you continue Insurance with the existing Insurers of the property, as advised above.

If you go elsewhere and declare the subsidence, if there is another subsidence event, you may get into an argument, as to whether it relates to the previous issue or not. Legal & general will consider providing cover for subsidence affected properties, if there has not been an issue for 15 years, but the downside is that you don't have the continuity of having the house Insured with the same company.

This of course, presumes that the vendor uses the same Insurers that dealt with the subsidence issue. (if they used Insurance). They may not have used their Insurance and they may never have declared any subsidence issue to the current Insurers they are with. If this is the case, approach legal & general to see if they will quote.

dacouch

As Huckster has advised, you would be best to take over the existing policy or remain with the existing Insurers (Existing being the current owners Insurers).

Homes with subsidence / tree root damage are more difficult to sell and any future buyer's solicitor would want to ensure there is full cover for the previous subsidence damage and any future damage. This is normally done by remaining with the existing Insurer.

As properties with previous subsidence / tree root damage are more difficult to sell, it would be wise to follow Huckster's advice and also ensure the house price includes a suitable discount to cover future loaded premiums and the possible future difficulty in selling. Any future buyers from you will normally also want the house price discounted from the standard market value

magpiecottage

Legal & General are only interested in subsidence within the last 15 years, I believe.

PaulStat

^ brilliant thank you that's just the sort of information I needed . I've checked and you're right