Subsidence House Insurance or No

Dave1984

We have recently concluded that we have to consider that we might have subsidence in our mid terraced home, a slightly noticeable step ladder crack has appeared in front wall of mid terraced home and various clues over the past 6 months indicate that maybe the rear part of the property is sinking due to it appearing to be coming away from the main section of the property (at the top).

Does anyone have any experience of how best to deal with this? I see the options as contacting insurance, and having the insurance survey and repair the damage, or commissioning a surveyor and considering the cost of repair ourselves although I cannot see any benefit in doing this, other than to obtain a qualified opinion before contacting insurance.

I really want to find out what disruption and timescale is likely in having the repairs undertaken, can anyone relay their experience of this? We have a daughter at school due to undertake GCSE from september this year and a cat in the home, I am thinking, would we have to vacate, for how long, what resulting damage would there be, I mean, if they have to dig up under the wall in the kitchen, do we then have to replace/refit the kitchen ourselves or is that likely to be done by the insurance.

Many thanks

SonOf

Subsidence can be minor and easily resolved or it can be a major costly issue. Many know the scare stories but in reality, most are just cosmetic and resolved with relatively minor fixes.

A structural engineer may well be your best bet. They will take a look at grade the movement. Anything at 2 or less is cosmetic and you should take care of that yourself without the insurer. If its above 2, then the work becomes greater.

in our case, the structural engineer rated our movement as grade 2. We were told to repair with new mortar and replace damaged bricks and put helifix ties in between with a resin bond. This gives some stretching ability. We also removed two willows that were within 5 metres of the house and found that the guttering had been leaking in three places for at least 10 years prior to us moving in. The guttering was fixed. The insurance company was not involved as this was seen as maintenance.

So, my opinion is that you should engage a structural engineer first and then go by what they say. From what you have said, I think that at the moment, you are fearing the worst whereas it is far more likely to nothing like that.

Zorillo

Whatever it is, you will need to declare it to your home insurer at the next renewal date to allow them to assess whether they wish to continue to insure you for subsidence.

So you might as well report it to them and let them assess it. At best, it won't be subsidence so you will have a small claim for investigation fees. At worst, it will be subsidence and the insurance will pay to fix it.

As for repairs and timescales, you are firmly in how long is a piece of string territory. Some claims take many years, and some cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. But most don't, as Sonof has said.

Relatively few subsidence incidents cause the building to be uninhabitable although a major repair will inevitably cause some disruption. But if you have a valid claim, the cost of all works including reinstatement of fixtures and fittings would be covered as part of the claim.

Dave1984

Many thanks.