Historic movement cracks - declare to insurer?

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! 

dunstonh

You absolutely must declare it.   

sarahftb

Thanks @dunstonh we do plan to declare, we just have no idea about when the crack appeared which seems to be what the insurers need to know so now we're not really sure how to navigate this 

dunstonh

sarahftb said:

Thanks @dunstonh we do plan to declare, we just have no idea about when the crack appeared which seems to be what the insurers need to know so now we're not really sure how to navigate this 

You don't need to.  To give you an idea, part of our house is 17th century with Victorian add ons and has had movement over hundreds of years.  I cant tell when the iron ties went in or when the floors started to tilt or when the multitude of historic cracks were repaired.  Apart from the new cracks that appeared two summers ago (as with millions of houses).  The insurer just knows the house has had historic movement for centuries and is in on clay so will be expected to continue suffering movement for the rest of time.   The insurer didn't bat an eyelid or increase premiums.   In some areas, every house older than 50 years has cracks like that.

That said, there is no chance I could buy my insurance via a comparison site as they wouldn't know how to insure it.   So, you may need to speak to a provider that has human decisions and not computer decisions.

Movement and cosmetic level cracking is not a concern for most insurers.   Yours looks cosmetic rather than serious.

sarahftb

That's really helpful, thanks so much @dunstonh Is there an insurer you would recommend?

We've found a couple online and are going to speak to our surveyor tomorrow to see if she knows any particularly good for older houses 

isplumm

daft question - but why don't you ask the people you are buying off who they insure with? Assuming of course they declare the cracks. 

sarahftb

Hi @isplumm we have asked but we're waiting for a response on this. As they've said they've never had any issues with insurance before we're not convinced they've disclosed the crack to their insurers.