Buildings Insurance claim

elvis_girl

Hi, I may have to make a buildings insurance claim for subsidence. Any insurance experts give me any advice on this (ie how long it could take, how likely it is to pay out, and if I should even bother at all). I'm really worried about even bringing it to their attention. Thanks in advance!

mattymoo

First off it is likely you will have a £1000 excess for this type of claim.

It is a very long winded process. The insurer will either appoint an adjuster or better still, a structural engineer to investigate the cause. Structural Eng is better because they know what they are talking about. Some adjusters do but normally they appoint a struct eng to do the investigation so insurers realised they may as well cut out the middle man.

The investigation will vary according to cause. Things to consider:-
Old mine workings.
Proximity of trees / tree root damage
Collapse of underground drains.
Swelling / contraction of the soil, particularly clay type soils that can act like a giant sponge.
Differential movement where a new extension settles at different rate to original property and cracks appear as a result.

Drains and trees are normally easy to spot due to their proximity to the cracks. If it is soil type they will fix movement "tell tale" guages over the crack in order to monitor its progress. This monitoring will take a year as it needs to go through all the seasons. Sometimes cracks appear and then close up again.

Mine workings and other underground openings (old chalk pits for instance) entail digging bore holes to establish what is under the property.

Once the cause is known a schedule of works can be compiled to rectify the problem. At the top end of the scale is a full underpinning of the property. A very messy, disruptive process that may entail the need for alternative accomodation.

Good luck and I hope it turns out to be a simple case to rectify.

elvis_girl

I thought it would probably be a long drawn out process! Any idea of how long from start to finish, and how likely is to be paid out by the insurance? Like I said I'm a bit nervous about even bringing it to their attention as once I do so it will be out of my hands.

mattymoo

12 months for investigation and monitoring (depending on cause) and a further 6-12 months for the works. Time of year can have an impact although some modern repair and underpin techniques are designed to work with less disruption and less reliance on weather conditions.