Structural movement

kinger101

The problem you are having is that you are telling the insurers you have structural movement, when you most probably don't. At least, not current anyway. I know it's difficult with the ambiguous rubbish surveyors put in their reports (@rse-covering), but you need to get some clarification from your surveyor.

I know Direct Line will issue insurance if the movement is described as "historic, long standing and non-progressive". It seems you're almost there. See if your surveyor is prepared to issue a statement to that effect.

class2ldn

Was going to say direct line will cover it as they did with ours but you beat me to it.
We had the same issue and I even spoke to the surveyor who said it was probably just settlement but he had to put it to cover himself.
Our premium isn't any higher then somewhere that doesn't have structural movement and to be fair they were one of the few insurance firms who actually knew the difference with subsidence and explained in detail why they insure for structural movement and the difference.
Some of the other high Street insurers I spoke to were clueless.

acealfa

Just to give an update to this.

Most companies I have spoken to want more information but the surveyor won't speak to me & want me to speak to the lender. Reading from your posts this doesn't seem a great idea.

I spoke to my solicitor & explained the situation. She dismissed my worry and said the lender has already said they will release the money but advised me to just go with Direct Line and not mention it. I asked if it is an absolute necessity and she said it's not. It put my mind at ease but I will have my doubts.

Anyway if I decided to go with Direct Line my concern is now that I've already had my insurance cancelled by another company so I fear it will be logged on the CUE database and I will just be digging myself a deeper hole.

What a nightmare! :beer:

kinger101

acealfa wrote: »

Just to give an update to this.

Most companies I have spoken to want more information but the surveyor won't speak to me & want me to speak to the lender. Reading from your posts this doesn't seem a great idea.

I spoke to my solicitor & explained the situation. She dismissed my worry and said the lender has already said they will release the money but advised me to just go with Direct Line and not mention it. I asked if it is an absolute necessity and she said it's not. It put my mind at ease but I will have my doubts.

Anyway if I decided to go with Direct Line my concern is now that I've already had my insurance cancelled by another company so I fear it will be logged on the CUE database and I will just be digging myself a deeper hole.

What a nightmare! :beer:

Did you get your own survey done, or just the bank's valuation? The surveyor should speak to you if you commissioned it.

I specifically wouldn't go with Direct Line unless you can get the exact wording they want. Why not find out who the current owners use?

acealfa

It was the banks valuation. I'm regretting not getting the more expensive survey done. There is a company that will cover me but it excludes subsidence cover. My concern is the lender won't release funds unless I have full cover but I'm assured this isn't the case.

If there is hiccup I may have to find out who they used to insure it but then I might have the same problem.:(

kinger101

Personally, my interpretation is that the surveyor doesn't think there is any current movement in the property. The bank wouldn't have agreed the mortgage without further investigation otherwise. A building survey can't ever give a categorical assurance of this, as they're not qualified to do so, and it takes months anyhow.

The problem you get when you phone insurance companies is you don't actually speak to the underwriter. But when you're answering their questions, you should be answering to the best of your knowledge.

In an ideal world, the surveyors and insurers would work together to make people's live easy. But they both like shifting risk.

melstar11

Sounds to me as though you are telling insurers there is structural movement when it's historic and you don't need to mention it as it isn't progressive. Most older houses have this and it's really common that it comes up in surveys.

ruggedtoast

acealfa wrote: »

Just to give an update to this.

Most companies I have spoken to want more information but the surveyor won't speak to me & want me to speak to the lender. Reading from your posts this doesn't seem a great idea.

I spoke to my solicitor & explained the situation. She dismissed my worry and said the lender has already said they will release the money but advised me to just go with Direct Line and not mention it. I asked if it is an absolute necessity and she said it's not. It put my mind at ease but I will have my doubts.

Anyway if I decided to go with Direct Line my concern is now that I've already had my insurance cancelled by another company so I fear it will be logged on the CUE database and I will just be digging myself a deeper hole.

What a nightmare! :beer:

Your solicitor sounds appalling. You signed the contract and then she exchanged before the agreed date. This went ahead without insurance cover being in place on the property.

When I exchanged I had to send the policy to my solicitor as a final condition before they would exchange.

She hasn't left you with much choice other than to be sparing with the truth with a new policy.

Some insurers like Bureauinsure and Aviva will cover as long as there hasn't been any movement in the last 5 years. I presume you can say that.

lewishardwick

I'm having this exact problem with my surveys.
Mortgage valuation survey highlights nothing at all and the mortgage is offered with no caveats.
Homebuyers survey shows significant wall tie failure...

Surveyor won't respond so beginning to think it was a waste of money... Nevertheless it still leaves me between a rock and a hard place...

class2ldn

Direct line wants it to say it's longstanding and non progressive. The guy I spoke to said they are the magic words lol. No increase in premium. He also said legally the current insurers have to renew insurance on the property but what they may charge noone knows