Concerned about cracks in our house...

Quentin

hairbrain05 wrote: »

when huckster says don't register a claim - is that the same as dont contact them at all until our own investigations done?

Yes .

Smi1er

huckster wrote: »

Don't register any claim until you know whether it is something you can claim for or not. The last thing you want is an Insurance claim for subsidence on your record, as that will be a pain in the *ss and will make future arrangements more difficult/expensive.

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more.

Most insurance co's have a subsidence excess of £1K, but normal excess of £50/£100

I've had something similar where I noticed cracks in a dorrstairs bathroom. Transpired it was a collapsed drain. I had to pay a £50 excess, £300 to repair the drains, and the insurance company picked up the bill for the investigations and repairs which were approx £10K.

Not much point having insurance if you're going to do all the investigations yourself.

Quentin

Once you report it to the insurer it goes on your history and has to be reported to future insurers!

huckster

hairbrain05 wrote: »

when huckster says don't register a claim - is that the same as dont contact them at all until our own investigations done?

sorry i know i'm being dense but i'm sure the cracks are widening & I dreamt the house fell down whilst we were in it!!!

If you are worried about it, then the first point of call, will be to get a couple of experienced builders to have a look for you. If they think there could be a subsidence or drain problem, then you have no choice but to speak to your Insurers.

But I think I would find out from builders first, who will give you an opinion for free, before you start incurring expense. You really should have done this, after your last post. No point posting here, having nightmares, posting again and then probably still doing nothing. If the cracks are definitely getting wider, then you need to get some urgent advice. The choice is your, as to whether you get some free advice first from builders or you go directly down the Insurance route.

Subsidence_Help

If you do decide to call your insurance company as a first instance, they will usually run through a series of general questions about the damage: Are the cracks internal and external? Do they taper in width? How large are the cracks? Do you have any trees close by? etc.

If your insurer doesn't immediately suspect any subsidence damage, they often recommend that you seek the advice of a local builder or a chartered building surveyor, and under such circumstances they won't register a claim against your policy.

At this stage you might consider it prudent to seek the advice of a builder or a building surveyor rather than involving your insurer. Hopefully you'll find that the cracks are nothing to worry too much about and are merely quite common and perfectly normal thermal/shrinkage cracks caused by the materials of your home contracting and expanding, which means that you can tackle them if you wish through routine maintenance and decoration.

In the event that your builder or surveyor does feel that you have a minor subsidence problem then that's the time to let your insurer know. Yes they will register a claim for subsidence, but they'll also deal with the cause and any repairs in the most appropriate way. Plus, in the event of a valid subsidence claim some insurers will agree to reimburse you with any costs that you have reasonably incurred for example from you getting a building surveyors report to comment on the damage before you involved your insurer. Check your policy wording; it probably says something along the lines of "we will pay for surveyors fees necessary to repair the building, and incurred with our consent." The wording will be quite strict, but some insurers are also a little more flexible if you can demonstrate that costs were incurred reasonably and in best interest.

Regards.

Quentin

Subsidence_Help wrote: »

...If your insurer doesn't immediately suspect any subsidence damage, they often recommend that you seek the advice of a local builder or a chartered building surveyor, and under such circumstances they won't register a claim against your policy.....

Well.......although you are factually correct when you advise that a "claim" won't be registered, this is poor advice.

The insurer will record that the policyholder has suffered a loss, and that "subsidence" is a possibility. This will have to be disclosed to future insurers and may blight the property unneccessarily!

The whole point of the other advice in this thread NOT to go to the insurer in the "first instance" is to keep the insurer out of the picture and keep your record clean until at least a builder has had a look!

Subsidence_Help

Quentin wrote: »

Well.......although you are factually correct when you advise that a "claim" won't be registered, this is poor advice.

The insurer will record that the policyholder has suffered a loss, and that "subsidence" is a possibility. This will have to be disclosed to future insurers and may blight the property unneccessarily!

The whole point of the other advice in this thread NOT to go to the insurer in the "first instance" is to keep the insurer out of the picture and keep your record clean until at least a builder has had a look!

With respect, I don’t believe that this is poor advice. Simply seeking advice from an insurer isn’t a loss, and insurers don’t treat it as such. An enquiry doesn’t ‘blight’ theproperty and neither is it taken into account when it comes to the policy renewal terms and premium.

Please read my earlier post again. You’ll see that my advice IS to seek the advice of a building contractor or a building surveyor rather than involving the insurer, and in the event that subsidence damage is suspected, THEN inform the insurer.

Quentin

Subsidence_Help wrote: »

With respect, I don’t believe that this is poor advice. Simply seeking advice from an insurer isn’t a loss, and insurers don’t treat it as such. An enquiry doesn’t ‘blight’ theproperty and neither is it taken into account when it comes to the policy renewal terms and premium.

Please read my earlier post again. You’ll see that my advice IS to seek the advice of a building contractor or a building surveyor rather than involving the insurer, and in the event that subsidence damage is suspected, THEN inform the insurer.

If you contact your insurer and ask what to do about cracks in your wall, then it will be recorded that you have a loss which may result in a future claim.

This then is on your history! And must be disclosed in future!