Buildings and Contents + Subsidence

tallpaulhunter

I am having a small problem with getting Buildings and Contents insurance.
We had a rainwater drain collapse which caused a small amount of movement (3-5mm) in a one storey extension of our home due to the ground becoming saturated. This happened in 2005
This was all fixed by a company working for our present insurance provider. The guarantee for the work will only stand if we stay with our present insurer.
There was then a monitoring period of 6 months in which there was no further movement.
2 years on and there is no visible movement presenting itself, however insurance companies will no longer consider us.
Is there any way or any type of survey that we can obtain that will satisfy insurers that our home is no longer a risk?

Our insurance for both the buildings and contents at the moment is incredibly expensive?

Thanks in advance.

EmberJDIns

Insurers are very wary of taking on policies where there has been previous subsidence, even in your case when there is a sound reason which has been rectified. Some may require a Full Structural Engineer's Report, as your expense, before considering and even then there's no guarantee they will quote. Maybe you should ask your current Insurer of how the premium is broken down, could any loading be reduced, are there any savings to be made?

You could try and place the Contents elsewhere, but will still have to disclose the subsidence. Some insurers may decline, incase it happens again and they are caught for some costs of providing Temporary Alternative Accommodation. Unlikely I know, but you must still disclose as a material fact.

Good luck

tallpaulhunter

Thanks Ember,

We already have our contents with another insurer (Zurich) for our Buildings (Fortis).
We arranged our insurance through Lloyds TSB originally and Fortis say that they will not deal with us directly.
We rang Lloyds to see what the insurance for buildings and contents would be together with Fortis, but they would not go quote us due to the subsidence???:mad: