Historic movement crack - declare to insurers?

sarahftb

Hi there, 

We had a survey done on the house we're hoping to buy and this stated

 "To the front elevation a crack was noted between the ground floor and first floor windows in a diagonal fashion. This has been previously infilled and does not appear to have

reopened since being infilled. We also noted slopes to the first-floor front bedroom and the

ground floor front reception room, both indicating slight movement towards the front right-hand side of the property, as also indicated by the crack externally.

The movement seen appears to be old and longstanding, and fairly consistent with the period age

of the property. (However, with only one inspection it is impossible to say whether the movement is

progressive or not, as this can only be ascertained over a suitable monitoring period. This is normally

at least 18 months or more, so as to allow for any seasonal movement.)"

Unsure as to whether to declare this to the insurers, erring on the side of caution we would, but having called up a few insurers they've said they won't insure without knowing the cause of the cracking, when it was filled in and how much the repairs cost. 

We asked the current owners and they said that the crack was filled in before they moved in, so at least 8 years ago

Sorry for the long post but any advice would be greatly received! 

Doozergirl

All houses move to some degree.  The question that insurers ask is whether or bit the house has suffered from subsidence.  The answer to that is no. 

Your surveyor has told you that it is consistent with age ie. normal.
 

sarahftb

@Doozergirl thanks for your reply. The issue is the survey does mention structural movement, which insurers are asking about.

We're happy to declare this, but the insurers want to know when the crack appeared, which we have no idea about