Insurance History of my Home

329002

I moved into my property last year. The valuation report said 'the property has suffered previous movement but no signs to suggest this is ongoing'. Because of this my insurance company will not insure me against subsidence. I decided to switch insurerers and selected 'yes' when it said 'history of movement' on the online application. The site then asked 'have there been any claims in the last 25 years at the property for movement or sunsidence?' - I do not know the answer to this. I have had no luck contacting the seller or finding out who they had the property insured with.

I've heard there is a database, CUE which logs claims on properties. Do you know how I can obtain a CUE report for my property? I've seen that you can pay £10 to find out what they stored about you as an individual but I want to know what they have stored on my property. Advice would be REALLY gratefully received

InsideInsurance

The request from CUE for data comes under the data protection act and a subject access request and so as you say you can only ask for your personal claims not a properties.

Really if the survey came back with a note that the property has had subsidence then further checks should have been done prior to purchasing the property even if it states that it currently appears to be stable.

If I were you I'd contact the solicitor that did the conveyancing and ask them for assistance/ to contact the vendor

329002

Thanks for the info regarding CUE. I'm having no luck contacting the vendor so far - the solicitors are ignoring my emails, as are the estate agents I used. The vendor is listed on my mortgage documents as Homes4Cash and I can't come up with a phone number or email address no matter how hard I search the internet.

I've asked my current insurer (who have added a clause saying no cover for subsidence) if they could run a CUE report on the property and they've said no. I've applied for insurance with a new company, who want to know if any claims have been made for subsidence in the last 25 years, to run a CUE report and they've also said no.

Does anyone know HOW I can get a CUE report for my property so that I can set up appropriate insurance? I'm suprised by how difficult this is. I'm quite happy to pay a higher premium if there is damage - I just want something in place in case my house falls over...

rs65

CUE doesn’t log claims on properties. It logs claims.

My experience of CUE from an insurers perspective is certain information is submitted to CUE when a policy is taken out (or sometimes at claim stage) and if certain factors match, the insurer would get a positive report. Factors would be things like post code, name, date of birth. If a claim had been made the insurers might get a positive report but only if enough other factors matched such as date of birth. I am not aware of a facility to get a CUE report on a property. If it was possible, then you could end up with personal information on previous owners therefore the information couldn’t be released to you. My experience is a number of years out of date so may have changed.

Anyway, the question you are being asked doesn’t sound right as not many people could be expected to know if any claims had been made on a property in the last 25 years – unless it is qualified to say ‘to the best of your knowledge’ or the like.

Usual questions are more like – have you made any claims – has your home ever suffered from subsidence – has your home ever been underpinned or had foundation repair.

If I was you I would look for an insurer with better questions.

InsideInsurance

329002 wrote: »

Thanks for the info regarding CUE. I'm having no luck contacting the vendor so far - the solicitors are ignoring my emails, as are the estate agents I used. The vendor is listed on my mortgage documents as Homes4Cash and I can't come up with a phone number or email address no matter how hard I search the internet.

Sounds like one of these dodgy outfits that buy houses for well under market value from people in negative equity etc.

Looking at companies house the company is just about to be dissolved:

HOMES4CASH LIMITED
54 RIDGESTONE AVENUE
BILTON
UNITED KINGDOM
HU11 4AJ

Director(s):
MR ASAF BALAL
335 HOLDERNESS ROAD
HULL
YORKSHIRE
UNITED KINGDOM
HU8 8SH


The registered address for the company is clearly a residential property and BT has a Mr Balal living there on (01482 813130)

The Directors address is for an Estate Agents called Next Move (01482 229960)

They may however not be forth coming with information as they buy low from people in a distress situation and flip them as quickly as possible to make a quick buck. Subsidence is one thing they're willing to take on but as its all about turnover they probably dont probe that deeply into it themselves

329002

Thanks for all of the information. I must say I'm finding this forum much more useful than the other avenues I've tried. After considering everything here I'm going to try a different insurance company. I'm also going to try to contact Mr Balal to see if he can provide any information about previous insurers and any claims on the property.

Let's say none of this is successful. What would my next step be if I knew that 'The property has suffered previous movement but I saw no evidence to suggest this is ongoing' but I couldn't find out anything else about any previous claims on the property or who the previous insurance was with. What would be my next step to get insurance on my house which covers me for subsidence?

I'm thinking maybe it's possible to pay for some kind of survey which would tell me the extent of the movement (there are cracked walls and uneven floors in the house). Hopefully with this information I may be able to get insurance?

Thanks for all of the contributions peeps

InsideInsurance

If you honestly answer you dont know the insurers will assume the worst as we are typically a cautious bunch.

Without knowing who the previous insurers are and no dates as to when the movement was/ what was the cause/ what was done to rectify it then you are going to be stuck speaking to one of the specialist insurers that are happy to take on subsidence properties.

I would be concerned if my solicitor had seen this and not advised that this needed further investigation before exchange though!

stugib

329002 wrote: »

The valuation report said 'the property has suffered previous movement but no signs to suggest this is ongoing'.

Isn't this just the standard valuers backside-covering term in case there's any future subsidence? "Ooh, small crack in the plasterboard, that's probably previous movement"

InsideInsurance

329002 wrote: »

Thanks for all of the information. I must say I'm finding this forum much more useful than the other avenues I've tried. After considering everything here I'm going to try a different insurance company. I'm also going to try to contact Mr Balal to see if he can provide any information about previous insurers and any claims on the property.

Would be interested in knowing what his response is.

He's the director of a series of companies so hopefully is aware than others but sometimes you do get people who think they can hide behind limited companies and get quite shirty when you trace them using Companies House etc

rs65

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Would be interested in knowing what his response is.

He's the director of a series of companies so hopefully is aware than others but sometimes you do get people who think they can hide behind limited companies and get quite shirty when you trace them using Companies House etc

I don't see the point of this.

InsideInsurance

rs65 wrote: »

I don't see the point of this.

Dont see the point of what?