Advice on Underpinned Home Insurance

monktey

Hi All, am in a bit of a dilemma.

One wall of our home was underpinned 20 years ago due to tree roots causing subsidence. The tree was removed and all has been well since. We bought thew house 2 years ago and managed to get buildings insurance with Santander, fully knowing about the underpinning, coming up to renewal they have now quoted us £100 more than the previous year at £363. I have spoken to Swinton today, and they have quoted me £168, but if any subsidence occurs, then we wont be covered. Surely if the house hasn't subsided in the last 20 years, then we should be safe? I don't know whether to switch to Swinton, but a saving is a saving!

Help!

huckster

Not sure I would risk it. You can get cover elsewhere with subs. Legal and General will quote, if the subs was 15 or more years ago. See what they quote.

Remember that if you had to sell the house, any prospective buyer may ask about the buildings insurance. I don't think it would helpful mentioning that you had cover with subsidence not being covered. It is a condition of most mortgage lenders, than the Insurance must include subsidence cover.

choccyface2006

I am having the same issue but I got a very reasonable quote from Legal & General who were only interested if the subsidence had occurred in the last 15 years. Go through quidco for £50 cashback too!

Sarah

Quentin

monktey wrote: »

Hi All, am in a bit of a dilemma.

One wall of our home was underpinned 20 years ago due to tree roots causing subsidence. The tree was removed and all has been well since. We bought thew house 2 years ago and managed to get buildings insurance with Santander, fully knowing about the underpinning, coming up to renewal they have now quoted us £100 more than the previous year at £363. I have spoken to Swinton today, and they have quoted me £168, but if any subsidence occurs, then we wont be covered. Surely if the house hasn't subsided in the last 20 years, then we should be safe? I don't know whether to switch to Swinton, but a saving is a saving!

Help!

It hasn't burnt down in the last 100 years, but you are going to insure against it.

Use your common sense!!

dacouch

A property that has only been partially under pinned has one part of the house stronger than the other, so further subsidence is a posibility.

If you take the Swintons policy you will have problems when you try and sell the house, if you take the L&G you have a small chance that they will stop offering cover. If this happens they will normally carry on offering cover but not allow a purchaser of the house take cover with them.

It's a small chance but I've seen it happen with other Insurers who tried offering cover on the same basis to previous sub properties with no further problems when they take them on.

Subsidence claims can cost many tens of thousands, it only takes a few to worry an Insurer especially a conservative company such as L&G

Subsidence_Help

Do not take a policy with an insurer that excludes subsidence damage.

A property can suffer subsidence damage at any time, regardless of whether it was subject to previous underpinning. Your home is often your single biggest investment, and if it were to have a subsidence problem, you'd be glad that you had the cover in place.

Insurers will provide cover for a property that has a subsidence history as long as the risk to them is acceptable. A home that had a subsidence claim 20 years ago and no further problems since is no doubt more acceptable than trying to get a quote for a house that has signs of continuous movement. You'll probably be better to speak to insurers directly rather than relying say on the online quotes, some of which reject the quotation when subsidence is disclosed, but this isn't because the property is uninsurable, rather the quote criteria falls outside of being standard.

Regards.