Bing house, valuation ok but past structural movement.

mrbg07546

Got a valuation from nationwide.

It says

Has the property ever been affected by structural movement caused by subsidence, settlement, Yes landslip or heave? YES
If Yes, is this movement considered to be long-standing in nature and the risk of further Yes movement taking place acceptable? YES

Will this affect my imsurance, we did a home buyers and it all seemed OK?

theartfullodger

Very probably: You'd certainly need to tell any insurer. Only an insurance company could tell you if the premium increases or, indeed, if they would cover you at all: (Sadly I cannot see into the minds of each & every underwriter at each and every insurance company in UK: But I am working on it).

What is a "Bing House" when it's a home??

andybenw

The long standing in nature bit means you are ok. Assuming this is an older Victorian type property these buildings were designed to cope with movement as the lime mortar is much more flexible than modern cement mortar.

Most older buildings will get a Yes/Yes to these questions.

More important are the next few re underpinning, drains etc, hopefully these are all no's.

mrbg07546

1962 semi with brick work and the rest are no as you mentioned

mrbg07546

From home buyers


The walls are of cavity masonry construction.
The structural condition of the walls appears to be generally satisfactory and we found no evidence of significant cracking, subsidence or structural movement. The main walls all appear to be satisfactorily straight and true to the eye, and generally well pointed.
Some repairs are required to the wall surfaces including areas of re-pointing.
The property has been affected by past structural movement, evidenced by settlement around openings. From a single inspection the movement appears to be long-standing and does not appear to be progressive.
We noted that some of the larger openings, particularly above the kitchen may require additional support. A builder should inspect this area and quote for introducing lintel support.

kinger101

Settlement is entirely normal, and happens in almost every building to some extent. Subsidence and other land movement (heave, landslip) they are more concerned about, but when you are obtaining your insurance, you are answering the questions to the best of your knowledge.

Direct Line for example want the words "historic, longstanding and non progressive" included.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they ticked a box for "settlement". In which case, it's not related to land movements. When you apply for insurance, if you read their questions carefully, you'll usually see they are not asking about settlement.

An insurers database would also usually pick up a land movement risk, and they'd either refuse your insurance, or more likely, increase the excess.

EDIT: Based on your last post, don't worry about it. The home buyer report is more thorough than the valuation, and as I said, you're completing the insurance questions to the best of your knowledge. I presume nothing showed up on the TA6 regarding insurance.

mrbg07546

Would doing a structural be good for establishing subsidence??

kinger101

A full structural survey would give you the same answer. Those exact same words appear on the vast majority of surveys. It's the stock answer anytime they spot hairline cracks. I'm sure many surveyors put it down without the evidence as an @rse covering exercise.

You'd need a structural engineers report to determine if there is any current land movement, and they need to observe the house over a period of time if you wanted a categorical answer. From your homebuyer's report, it would seem you're being overcautious, but if you want the reassurance, then it's your purchase, not mine.

andybenw

Settlement is entirely normal. Judging by your report you have no issues with subsidence which is entirely different.

Subsidence would be checked for by insurance over a period of months monitoring cracks with fixed pins to see if they are getting larger.