Historic settlement / subsidence issue

BrainDrained

Buyers enquiries revealed settlement problem that was the subject of an insurance claim and was signed off in 1998.

Sellers cannot provide the structural engineers sign off, says it has been misplaced due to the time that's elapsed.  So only have their word about what happened.

Property is built on clay and they say the problem was due to a couple of exceptionally dry summers and the presence of several trees too close to the house, which were removed on the advice of the structural engineer.  After monitoring for a further 2/3 years the problem was said to be resolved and the only work done on the house was cosmetic, underpinning was not deemed necessary.

Would you think this is a cause for concern? Should I back out of the purchase?  

DullGreyGuy

What have they been declaring on their insurance? That subsidence claim was made? Who are their current insurers?

Your main issue is going to be if you can buy insurance or not for Subsidence... If you can't then it will be a major issue if you aren't a cash buyer and could limit your future sale to another cash buyer if you are. 

BrainDrained

DullGreyGuy said:

What have they been declaring on their insurance? That subsidence claim was made? Who are their current insurers?

Your main issue is going to be if you can buy insurance or not for Subsidence... If you can't then it will be a major issue if you aren't a cash buyer and could limit your future sale to another cash buyer if you are. 

They say insurance hasn't been an issue. Original claim was with Direct Line but they have changed companies a couple of times since.

DullGreyGuy

BrainDrained said:

DullGreyGuy said:

What have they been declaring on their insurance? That subsidence claim was made? Who are their current insurers?

Your main issue is going to be if you can buy insurance or not for Subsidence... If you can't then it will be a major issue if you aren't a cash buyer and could limit your future sale to another cash buyer if you are. 

They say insurance hasn't been an issue. Original claim was with Direct Line but they have changed companies a couple of times since.

You need to find out explicitly what they were declaring the claim as... if its subsidence then most insurers as if you've ever made a claim, if it was movement then tends to be just the normal 5 years and may even not be covered as seen as a maintenance issue

user1977

BrainDrained said:

Sellers cannot provide the structural engineers sign off, says it has been misplaced due to the time that's elapsed.

Has anyone tried to find a copy via the engineers (or other involved parties)?

mark_cycling00

That's positive because they've managed to get new insurance and not been limited to the one who dealt with the claim.

From my experience, an insurance job to fix minor subsidence followed by monitoring and closure means that the insurance company decided that the problem is now fixed and they are insuring the previous state of the property once again.

This is now 22 years ago and no subsequent problems despite a couple of crazy years of weather recently which would have really stressed the property.

You'd be "crazy" to back out based on just these facts. You could ask what their excess is for subsidence; £1-5k is probably fine, £10k+ maybe less so. 

If the claim was within a couple of years then you would have less assurance that this was a one off problem.

If the buyers won't let you view a room or have piled boxes up against one wall rather suspiciously then that's different.

But doesn't seem like they're hiding any ongoing problems as you would have put 2+2 together by now.