Indemnity Policy Against Rising Damp in Buildings or Homes

greatcrested

The policy is useless, a waste of money, and unecessary.

Homer_home

FreeBear said:

Terry9999999 said:  You can stop Rising damp as you suggest (JGB) its a capillary matter within the fabric of the building only an effective damp proof course will stop it, its a £200 million pound industry operating at RICS directions,, my house is technically flawless and maintenance undertaken by a management company.

OK, I'll bite... Most houses built since ~1875 have a DPC - This will be a layer of slate, hard engineering brick, bitumastic (either poured or felt), or a plastic membrane. Whilst some bricks are soft and porous, many are pretty hard - None will suck up water like a sponge. Modern properties use portland cement in the mortar between the bricks. This stuff is fairly impervious to water and would stop any capillary transfer of water between adjacent courses. The huge variety of brick types, and mortar used, these damp proof companies always seem to think that "rising damp" reaches a height of ~1m. Yet common sense would say that if there was rising damp, the affected height would be heavily dependent on the type of brick & mortar used.

Looking at the headline "cover" of this policy you linked to - "Indemnity guarantees for Rising Damp contracts – this includes chemical injection, electro osmosis, vertical damp proofing, cover for existing damp proof course against erosion."

A DPC does not suffer from erosion - It is protected by brick and mortar, and if slate/engineering brick. or plastic, is just not going to perish. As for the "elctro osmosis", have you ever taken a look at it ?

Sticking bits of wire in to a wall and waving pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo around is never, ever going to cure a damp problem - The companies peddling that carp (and that includes Kenwood) need to be prosecuted for fraud.

If RICS as a body stops climbing in to bed with these PCA charlatans (there are a few RICS members that do not follow the PCA mantra), the damp proofing industry would be a lot smaller and doing far less damage to properties up and down the country.

If your property is "technically flawless" and any structural issues dealt with by a freeholder, then an indemnity policy is really a total waste of money. If you want to throw money away, please, donate it to a worthwhile cause - NHS Together would gratefully receive your £350 and make better use of the money.

No no no £350 plus VAT! 

This has all the hallmarks of a terrible attempt at spam , why on earth would anyone take insurance on maintenance/repairs when they don't pay for them anyway? You would have to be nuts to do that 

Op - epic fail