Unable to get subsidence cover.

KT1966

Hi

Just posting asking for advise about building insurance relating to a subsidence claim.
In Oct 2022 I started a claim that turned out to be subsidence, at the time I was insured by Integra (actually the policy says insured by HDI Global Security are administered by Integra). For the year 2023 /2024 this continued and in 2024 to March 2025 my insurers were Royal Sun Alliance (Swinton acted as the broker through out).
The subsidence work completed 14th Feb 2025 and at same time I was told by Swinton they would not continue to insure me after 9th March 2025.
Having read articles on getting building insurance that included subsidence cover initially I wasn't too worried, as everyone said they managed to get insurance, I started asking for quotes but so far to date (21st Feb 2025) I've no insurance that will include cover for subsidence.
I'm told no one will cover me for approximately 12 to 24 months.
I've been told one of the previous insurance companies (not sure if that would HDI Global, Integra or RSA) should provide cover regardless so that's my next step, to call and see what they say.

If it comes to the worse I may just insure what I can (but if subsidence isn't included why has my premium increased four times?) and see if I can employ an engineer soon to check all is okay & hope we don't have another drought ( as it was a combination of overgrown trees/bushes, clay soil and drought).

Has anyone any ideas regards this please? I.e. why can't I get subsidence cover? is this normal?
Do I get a surveyor in to check as way of security against problems that may arise?
Thank you.

DullGreyGuy

It is normally difficult to get subsidence cover once a claim has been made for it, the normal recommendation is to stick with the insurer that handled the claim because the ABI agreement is that they should continue to offer terms and even if an insurer isnt an ABI member the Financial Ombudsman uses it good industry practice. Having not renewed with them however they then arent obliged to take you back. 

If you google for something like "home insurance after subsidence claim" you will find a fairly lengthy list of brokers who claim that this is an area they've a good panel for, its just a matter of going through and seeing who'll offer terms. 

Its one of those things where sometimes its easier if its a bigger problem and so underpinning is required because you then get a certificate of structural adequacy which may give comfort to some insurers (though not your mass market who wasnt the 95% of cases that are straight through processing, not people looking at reports)

KT1966

Thank you for your reply.
I have tried a few brokers who often say, "we've got cover for you" only at the end to say, " but they won't cover for subsidence without a certificate dated 12 months from the end of the work" in our case that's not til Feb next year. 
I'm going to try Integra the insurers who dealt with the claim but I'm not holding much hope & if they do, I dread to think the cost, current building & contents quotes without subsidence is £400 to £600. 

DullGreyGuy

You may want to reach out to @Annemos who's a member on here who's had a lot of issues with subsidence claims and continuation of insurance. 

Integra is a Managing General Agent, we seem to have fully adopted US terminology as we'd normally call them a coverholder, so they themselves are not an insurance company but HDI Global had delegated their authority to Integra to write business in their name. Integra however now appear to have their capacity provided by a different insurer Accredited Insurance, based out in Malta. The change of capacity provider can be another big problem

Annemos

Good evening KT1966.  It is a truly horrible situation to find oneself in.

(For me it was the worst thing of the whole Subsidence Claim. And for every renewal since then, I now almost have a panic attack!) 

As I understand your case, the actual main Underlying Insurer who handled the Subsidence Claim was HDI Global. (Integra was just their MGA: Managing General Agent.)

In my opinion, what should have happened, is you should have been staying under cover with HDI Global who handled your claim. 

And HDI Global should also continue with ongoing cover after the Claim is completed, IF they are still offering any Home Insurance Policies in the UK Insurance Market.    HDI Global is indeed a member of the ABI and their members agree to carry this "ongoing cover" out as Good Industry Practice. 

This applies to domestic homes. (It would not normally apply if a property is rented out.) I am assuming in the below that yours is a domestic home. 


https://www.abi.org.uk/about-the-abi/abi-members/?sw=h

Now, unfortunately, Swinton did not advise you of this. Had you been told this, you could have fought this out as soon as that first renewal came up in the middle of the claim, instead of being passed to RSA. 

======================================

A couple of side notes. 

RSA is pulling out of the Home Insurance Market, anyway, and they did not even handle the Subsidence Claim. So RSA seems to be a non-starter. 

Integra was also just the MGA on that first policy where you had raised the claim, so they are not obligated to continue any cover, either. It is the main Insurer that handled the Subsidence Claim that has the obligation to continue cover (HDI Global). 


Also note, that I am in the process of helping someone on here, who was passed to three different Insurance Companies by a Broker, during an ongoing Subsidence claim, for 3 subsequent renewals. This was not an active choice by the homeowner. There kept being a change of relationship between all the companies involved. That one's Subsidence Claim is still ongoing......  and now four years into their Claim, they have been dropped from Insurance and it is now impossible to get Subsidence cover in the middle of that ongoing claim. That person has now issued a Complaint to the very first Insurer who handled the Claim. And if Cover is not reinstated, they will likely complain to the Ombudsman. I have not heard back on this one yet. I believe their case perhaps stands a good chance of success, because that claim is still ongoing. And the FOS recognises it is impossible to get Insurance Cover while a Subsidence Claim is ongoing, for any reasonable premium. Also I know for sure that that first Insurer does still offer lots of Home Insurance Products. 

=======================================

So let's try and tackle your own scenario. I have to stress, I am not an Insurance Expert and I cannot forecast how HDI Global and/or the Ombudsman will judge your position. 

But I can tell you what I would be doing in your position: 

Firstly here are some cases for you to read, so that you can get the feeling for the correct terminology. 


https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-3897491.pdf

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-4190935.pdf

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2213774.pdf

I am now going to move into a new Post. (There is nothing worse that falling out of a Post and losing it all.) So back with more in a few moments. 

KT1966

Hi. Thank you. 
One question please, you said " for every renewal since" how long have you experienced this? I thought it maybe affect me for a year or two, is that not right? 
I read in other articles (but from 2020) they had little problem with finding insurance.  
Thank you 

Annemos

Step 1.   

Gather all the information you have of not being able to get Subsidence Cover. E-mails, proof of reasons, etc etc, so you can produce this to HDI Global and eventually the Ombudsman to support your case that you are having difficulty.



Step 2. I have seen Ombudsman cases where the Ombudsman has said it is really difficult to get Subsidence cover in the first years after a Subsidence claim. So it should not come as a surpise and your claim was only finished this month. 


Step 3  See towards the bottom of this link below. 

Submit a Formal Complaint.     Address it as "URGENT: Subsidence Cover ceasing on March 9th, 2025. Subsidence Claim with HDI Global. Unable to get ongoing Subsidence Cover."   (Also telephone them about it, so it is on their radar as very urgent.)  

Use the style of wording in those cases I sent you above.

Explain you are now unable to get Insurance Cover with Subsidence cover. (Attach the evidence from Step 1.)

Give a brief history of what your Polices were and who with, under Swinton  and how you were switched by them to RSA.) 

Tell them when your claim was finished (very recently).  

Tell them when your current policy ends. 

Explain how Swinton did not advise you that you should have been staying with HDI Global once you had had a Subsidence Claim and also afterwards once the Claim is concluded. Point out to them that HDI Global SE is a member of the ABI and that there are now many Financial Ombudsman cases that have pointed out to Insurers that this Continuation of Cover is expected of them as  "Good Industry Practice". And that this is also expected to be done by the ABI members. (Although FOS cases can only be used for each indivual case.... I found that when I sent cases across with that highlighted bit contained in them, it did seem to help my case.) 


https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000000MfWocAAF

See in the above where to complain to the Firm HDI Global SE .... half way down. Mr John McCammon HDI Global SE. 


Or is yours HDI Global Speciality SE??   Complaints to Lucy Dormer.  I think this is perhaps the correct one.... I found FOS cases in the next Post under this name. 

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000000h5FwVAAU

But note that the ABI member is the HDI Global SE !!  (Although in my own case, the Company had submitted the wrong entity name to the ABI! It was in fact the other one!  So maybe HDI forgot to tell the ABI to insert "Speciality"??)  In any case, these days, there have been several FOS cases now that say even if not ABI, they are still expected to follow the Continuation of Cover Good Practice, if we have a domestic home. (Not rented.) 



Step 4.   Say you are respectfully requesting for them to provide you with Insurance Cover (including Subsidence) on an ongoing basis from now on, as they are required to do. 

 Ask them outright.. "Do you still provide Domestic Home Insurance Polices in the UK Insurance market"  

Ask them to set you up with one of those policies as soon as possible.

Point out that if you have not heard from them by March 9th, you may be forced to take out a Policy without Subsidence Cover. This will cause many complications: HDI Global will have to set up their Policy as soon as they can after that. They will have to give you a Letter to say you were covered for Subsidence Cover throughout the intervening period of this new Insurance Policy, until the new HDI Global policy is instated. And that once the new HDI Policy is instated, you will have to then cancel the Policy that did not have the Subsidence Cover.   (This is what happened to me. I had to get a stand-in policy without Subsidence Cover for 5  months. Once my Insurer then found me a Policy they gave me a letter to say I was covered for Subsidence thoughout those 5 months. And I then also cancelled the stand-in Policy with the other new Insurer.)

See what happens. They have 8 weeks to respond to you with a final response. Then you can go to the FOS. 

=======================================

POTENTIAL PROBLEM: we do not seem to know at the moment if they do indeed still have Home Insurance Policies in the UK Market. Your Complaint will hopefully settle that question. 

1    If they do and they refuse to give you one... go to the Ombudsman.


2.   If they don't do any now, then I think you will have to call a lot of brokers. Search on-line for any that seem to offer cover for homes that have had Subsidence. Say that you can ask a Structural Engineer to do a Report for them about the stability of your Home, now that the Claim has been concluded.  (I presume you also have a Certificate of Structural Adequacy, which is also required from the Claims Handlers??)   If you are charged very high premiums, you might like to try the Ombudsman to see if they could ask HDI to fund a reasonable premium for say 3 years. (Pay the difference in premium you have had to spend.) 

If you cannot even get Subsidence cover at all. Ask HDI if they can just cover you for Subsidence for 3 years. Try the Ombudsman maybe if they refuse to offer that. 


===================================================

Let's hope for the best... that they do still have policies and they agree to give you one. 


As I say, I cannot speak for HDI or the FOS. I cannot guarantee that any of the above will work for you. 

But GOOD LUCK. Go into Battle!  

Annemos

Found some HDI Speciality Subsidence cases for you......

this one is quite relevent, when it comes to how excess premiums and a missing policy might be dealt with, if the FOS agrees there should indeed have been a policy in place. (What I was getting at above, in fact.) 


https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-3327677.pdf




24 cases here (search Subsidence.     Company HDI Global )  Had a quick look. Not so relevent. 


https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decisions-case-studies/ombudsman-decisions/search?Keyword=subsidence&BusinessName=hdi+global&Business=hdi+global&IndustrySectorID%5B3%5D=3&Sort=relevance

Annemos

KT1966 said:

Hi. Thank you. 
One question please, you said " for every renewal since" how long have you experienced this? I thought it maybe affect me for a year or two, is that not right? 
I read in other articles (but from 2020) they had little problem with finding insurance.  
Thank you 

Mainstream Insurance Companies (and their Policies), will not normally want to touch a property that has had Subsidence within the last 10 and some even up to 25 years. 

So, we have to resort to brokers and hope we can get a policy at a decent price.

That's why the Ombudsman and ABI try to help us with their Good Practice, of staying with the same Insurer who did the Claim. They recognise the difficulties we can encounter and that this Good Practice should be done wherever possible, for the stability of the UK Housing Market. 

Typically folks say that after 10 years, things get easier.

But even with that Good Practice proposal in place, I still worry about this issue. 

I have been dropped twice. My claim was 2018. And every June/July I still get stressed about this issue again. 


The problem for all of us is that the Insurance Industry is in such a state of flux, one never knows if your Insurance Company will continue to offer polices. And if it does, will they still be offered through the same channels? 

For example, RSA a long established provider has just stopped providing home policies and has exited the market. 


In my case, the companies involved in the set-up of my policy, kept getting bought out. This was both for the MGA and then also the Arranger. And when this happens, the Brokers also stop working with the same product. So, each time there was any type of a  buy-out or re-organisation, I would get dropped without warning at the next renewal, as the Insurance Company changed channels for offering products. (I then had to fight to get one back again with the original Insurer. I was still in the middle of the Claim, both times.) 

Even when the Insurance Company does start a new channel of selling policies, the contract is often only for 5 or 6 years and then it comes up for tender again and so the uncertainty starts all over. 

And it looks to me like yours may be a non-UK Company and so was mine. So that makes me more worried they might one day exit the UK market. 

No company (Insurance Company, Broker, MGA, Arranger or even Senior Claims Handlers/Loss Adjusters), in my experience, ever keeps an eye on their Subsidence claimants and tells homeowners what they should be doing.(See my anecdote at the end of this post.) 

In some cases after a reorganisation, "the book" of policyholders is passed on to another Insurance Company. (A lot of RSA policyholders have been suggested to move to Admiral.) The Homeowner who has had a Subsidence Claim often does not even know, that it would be better to try and fight to stay with the same Insurer who handled their claim, if that original insurer still has policies, through another available route. 

(Any new Insurer has no obligation to continue cover, because they did not handle the claim.)

I hope that explains some of what is going on. And why we might suddenly find we have no Subsidence cover. You seem to have been caught up in this type of thing, because for some reason you were switched to RSA. And that other case I mentioned to you certainly had encountered all these issues over 4 years and had never been told what they ought to have done. 

=============================


Anecdote. When my claim started, it was "reassuring" to read in the Claim Acceptance Letter "Your Insurer will continue to provide you with Insurance Cover, as long as the premiums have been paid." 

Of course, as a complete novice, I had not focussed in on the fact that this sentence was really as useful as a chocolate teapot! Because when you are dropped, you won't be paying any premium anyway!  

Now this was 2018. Have they since changed their letters to say something along the lines of   "Once you have had a Subsidence Claim, you should endeavour to try and stay with the same Insurer who handled the Claim."   I suspect not. 

KT1966

Hi Aneemos, I have had some time reading your post and greatly appreciate you advise and support ). 

I checked and does seem to be Lucy I need to contact, I have drafted an email I plan to send to her, would you have time to quickly read it? I understand if not ).

Can also ask, as the date is close, will be a future problem for me if I take  non subsidence insurance cover after the 9th as I feel HDI won't action it that fast. 

Thank you.

KT1966

I'm trying not to get stressed (it's working so far ) and accept the lesson, I'm learning far more than I ever thought I would about insurance, houses etc and that's not a bad thing I guess. 
I might still pay out for a surveyor or specialist arborist company to check that I've prepared everything I can so if there's no insurance I know I've done my best to protect myself & family.
We where thinking of moving before this all began, I think I'll resign myself to staying here, it's a lovely house so that's a blessing ).