Home insurance after subsidence

landyandy_2

Hi

In dec 2010 I made a claim on my house insurance, a large crack had developed on one corner of the house. The insurance company said it was down to a couple of near by trees which they have removed. They haven't repaired the house yet and are simply messing me about with it but that's another story.

The thing is if the trees were the problem and now they have gone I should only pose the same risk, from an insurance point of view, as I did before the claim. I could even be classed as a lower risk because the trees are gone. However my insurance has gone from £270 to just under a grand. I simply can't afford to pay it.

So my question is can I get a bespoke insurance policy for my home. I can't just go elsewhere but was wondering if I could get some insurance without any subsidence cover or one that had a very high excess on such a claim in order to get the cover down in price, I already have a £1250 excess to pay.

thanks in advance

huckster

If you have a mortgage, you have to have Buildings Insurance including cover for subsidence. This will be a condition of the mortgage.

Have you tried to see if you can arrange Insurance elsewhere, but with the same Insurance underwriter. Depends on which underwriter you are with, but some will be the underwriter for many different branded policies.

Sometimes it is not a good idea to move Insurance, particularly so soon after you have had damage, which has not been repaired. Have you had your drainage inspected using CCTV, to see if that has been damaged by the tree roots ?

I think before you look to move Insurance elsewhere, given these issues, I think you should speak to someone senior at the company you are dealing with. Complain about the increase in premium, given that no repairs have been carried out to your property, since the claim was reported.

HomeProtect and Bureau Insurance Services are brokers that will look at Insurance for subsidence affected properties.

*Scarlett

There are companies that will consider properties that have suffered subsidence.

Maybe try

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

If you are still going through a claim with your current insurer that will pose another problem until it has been settled..

Some insurers will consider cover with an ongoing claim but I'm not sure about subsidence and they would probably want to know that the property was restored to good condition and without cracks, etc.

If you are having trouble with your current insurer sorting out the issue you could try

http://financial-ombudsman.org.uk/

landyandy_2

Thanks for your input.

I was going to try and pay this years premium and then move next year. Yes there is a mortgage on it which is why I woundered if I could have done it with a very high excess. We don't have any drians as such just a very small run from the kitchen to the bathroom then to the cesspit which is on the other side of the house from the damage.

I have stampped my feet a bit and made some progress with the repair but I don't think it will be compleated before the insurance needs renewing

If I could turn back the clock I shouldn't have told the insurance anything and just done the repairs myself. If I add the excess to the increase in the insurance I could have sorted it out for that, and been finished by now. Live and learn!

Rupert_Bear

We have our mortgage with Nationwide and about 7 years ago we noticed problems in the kitchen area. We called the insurers in who were Nationwide and was subsidence caused by a leaky drain pipe.

Everything was rectified and thought our premiums would go through the roof so to speak. However we were paying £35.00 per month and this included contents but to our amazement the premium a few years afterwards is now down to £24.00 a month and that includes contents again and bicycle cover.

huckster

If you have a mortgage, you can't have a large excess for subsidence. Under the CML handbook bit about Insurance, which the mortgage companies usually apply, the maximum excess allowed is £1000.

Kick up a stink with the Insurance company you are with, about the increase in premium, in view of the claim not even being settled yet. Tell them that you will involve the FOS, if you have to, because you believe that you are being unfairly treated.

rs65

huckster wrote: »

If you have a mortgage, you can't have a large excess for subsidence. Under the CML handbook bit about Insurance, which the mortgage companies usually apply, the maximum excess allowed is £1000.

I thought it varied by lender? Most being £1,000 but some are £5,000 and some (such as RBS) are unlimited.

Rob_192

landyandy

One thing you need to be aware of - subsidence caused by trees ocurres due to the trees taking up water from ground. In shrinkable clay subsoils this causes the ground to slowly shrink and the extent of this will depend type of subsoil, the size and spicies of tree and how close they were to the building, however when the trees are felled, the soil goes through a process known as heave, when the soil expands as the ground water gradually returns to normal. This process can actually take several years and it is not necessarily a good idea to carry out repairs immediately. If you have not already done so, I would ask the insurance company to appoint a structural engineer to advise on this and the most appropriate type of repair - as I say, there are many factors which will have a bearing on this.

R