New house - photographic evidence of old repairs for insurance company?

dc197

Hi folks
I've just moved into a house which we knew had suffered structural cracking due to trees back in the 1990s. Our survey said all is fine now, and we proceeded to buy.
There is evidence, probably both from the 1990s and more recently, of repairs to hairline cracks around the 1970s brick building. There are no current cracks.
Because of the property's history, I'm aware that there is an increased chance of problems in the future. I've taken photos of the repairs, and in each frame I have a post-it note detailing the address, date and location within the house of the repair. The reason for this is that I am protecting myself in the event that further cracking occurs due to the old issue, enabling me to show that it was fine when we moved in and that a crack that appears can be shown to be a new crack, not a crack that already existed when we bought.
Would you recommend to print and send these photos to my home insurer now, pre-preemptively, while there are no problems? Or would that only be necessary should a problem occur in the future?
Please note that my sole objective is to document the house's current condition so that any future damage can be shown to be new and not pre-existing.
Thanks

EdGasket

I'm surprised you can get insurance at all. Since our house suffered subsidence and was repaired to the appropriate standards under my insurance at that time, I have not been able to obtain insurance with any other company at all.

I assume you have declared that it has suffered from subsidence to your insurer?

FutureGirl

You don't need to send them to your insurer now.

System

If I were an insurance company I'd immediately be worried about the risk of insuring someone who is so keen to assure me that there is no risk.

eddddy

Did you have a survey when you bought the house?

A surveyor's report would provide a more conventional record of the property's condition on a particular date. An insurer will probably trust an RICS surveyor's report more than they trust your photos.

dc197

Thanks folks.
Yes, insurance was no problem. They are aware of the 1990s issue but because it occurred more than x years ago they insure on standard terms. Many insurers do this. EdGasket you will be able to change insurers once x years have passed. Usually 15 or 20.

Yes we had a RISC survey done. It noted the historical repairs and commented that no significant issues were present, but did not take useful photos of the repairs (photos taken but unusably low resolution).

I'll not send anything now.

Thanks

rs65

dc197 wrote: »

They are aware of the 1990s issue but because it occurred more than x years ago they insure on standard terms. Many insurers do this.

There are a couple mentioned on this forum occasionally but not many. It may help others if you share what you have found.